Musharraf meets his nemesis

Syed Nooruzzaman

Pervez Musharraf When Gen Pervez Musharraf staged a bloodless coup in Pakistan in 1999 and captured power by dethroning then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he left no opportunity unused to discredit the political class there. He tried to prove through his utterances that politicians were solely responsible for what Pakistan was today --- a backward and terroristinfested country in the eyes of the global community.
He also gave the impression that all credit must be given to the army for whatever Pakistan had gained after its appearance on the world stage in 1947. He then tried to establish that the armed forces were the real saviours of that country.

Almost the same feeling was expressed by the Pakistan army after Musharraf was sentenced to death on December 17 following his conviction on charges of high treason by a special court constituted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He was found guilty of imposing an emergency by suspending the constitution and subverting the judiciary in November 2007. He filled the apex court with pliable judges, turning the judiciary into a laughing stock.

However, he appears to have a different kind of image among the top generals of the army. After all, he was once the Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Committee. The Pakistan army's statement commenting on Musharraf's sentencing to death says, "An ex-Army Chief; Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff Committee; and President of Pakistan, who has served the country for over 40 years, fought wars for the defense of the country, can surely never be a traitor."

According to the statement issued by Pakistan Army spokesman Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor, the due legal process seems to have been ignored, "including the constitution of a special court, denial of fundamental right of selfdefence, undertaking individual specific proceedings and concluding the case in haste."

Asif Ghafoor According to the statement issued by Pakistan Army spokesman Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor, the due legal process seems to have been ignored, "including the constitution of a special court, denial of fundamental right of self-defence, undertaking individual specific proceedings and concluding the case in haste."
Ghafoor went beyond the legal process obviously to explain to the people that the court judgement was not fair so far as the army's image was also concerned. He said, "The Pakistan army is not just an institution. It is a family. We are the armed forces of the people (and) are strengthened by the people's support ... We know how to defend the country and we also know how to defend the respect and dignity of the institution."
The army's reaction goes to prove that even its retired chiefs are treated as being beyond the pale of law. The inference can also be drawn that any court judgement which does not fit in with the scheme of things of the armed forces will have no meaning and, therefore, cannot be implemented.

Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan has virtually endorsed this viewpoint by declaring through his two trusted aides that the government would support 76-year-old Musharraf when he goes in appeal to the apex court against the special court's "unfair" verdict.

Anwar Mansoor Khan Firdous Ashiq Awan Attorney-General Anwar Mansoor Khan, accompanied by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan, reportedly asserted on December 18, "I will defend the law in the case, but not an individual." Addressing a press conference, Mansoor Khan raised certain questions about the "urgency" in pronouncing the verdict when the ex-army chief was in a critical condition in a hospital's ICU in Dubai.

The Attorney-General expressed the view that Musharraf did not get the right of fair trial and that the special court pronounced the judgement in absentia without recording the exGeneral's statement as required under the law. This is a lie as he himself did not appear in the court and, therefore, the judgement was pronounced in absentia.

The Pakistan army has been trying to save Musharraf ever since the case was instituted against him in 2013. He was allowed to leave his country on medical grounds in 2016 when Musharraf got the hint that he might be sentenced to death for his actions which he took as President of Pakistan, keeping the country's constitution aside.

Qamar Javed Bajwa Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was reported to have felt more irked because of the expressions used in the judgement, though Musharraf's fate evokes little sympathy from the public.
The verdict asked the lawenforcement authorities "to strive their level best to apprehend the fugitive/convict and to ensure that the punishment is inflicted as per law and, if found dead, his corpse be dragged to the D-Chowk, Islamabad, Pakistan, and be hanged for 03 days."
What the army says about its former chief and the "dignity" of the armed forces, people in Pakistan are reportedly no longer interested in treating their armed forces as they did before Musharraf usurped power through a bloodless coup.
The Pakistan army's fall from the grace is linked to the army attack on Lal Masjid in Islamabad and the two madarsas in its vicinity. The madarsa students, mostly from the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, were treated so harshly by army jawans that the tribals reportedly started hating their armed forces.

The Pakistan army has been trying to save Musharraf ever since the case was instituted against him in 2013. He was allowed to leave his country on medical grounds in 2016 when Musharraf got the hint that he might be sentenced to death for his actions which he took as President of Pakistan, keeping the country's constitution aside.

This is one reason why it is believed that no army chief can now gather courage to capture power through a coup.

The Pakistan government under Gen Musharraf made two highly unpopular decisions which affected the peace in the entire South Asian region.

He was the architect of the Kargil war in which Pakistan was taught a lesson by India. The war damaged the India-Pakistan peace process which could have led to huge economic and social gains for Pakistan had it been allowed to go on till its logical conclusion.

During his regime Pakistan used extremists initially to mislead the world that its armed forces were not involved in it. But when the US-led NATO forces invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York and Washington, the Musharraf regime took a U-turn and dissociated itself from the Taliban and handed over their leaders to the US forces. So, his crimes are not only for which he has been sentenced to death; he committed more crimes. He has ultimately met his nemesis.