“BOILER ROOM”; MUSH TO GO ON TRIAL

The self proclaimed emperor of Pakistan, the very person who ruled this land for 9 years at his free will, is all set to face the music of justice, which he hated so much personally. The debate was on from the day he left the office, or more precisely the day he surrendered to the popular will, that he should be brought to justice for the sins he had committed.

            Till now, all we could hear was Mush and the electricity bill scandal, but finally he has been taken by the neck for precisely his 3^rd November act, where he imposed emergency in the country, ransacked an entire system known as judiciary and sent Pakistan into turmoil, from where we have yet to recover. Agreed!

            But before going any further into what future holds for him once under trial, its better to point what implications are attached with this trial, which is no wonder a historic moment, as in the past elements like him have hijacked the entire identity and founding principles of this nation, and yet they have departed gracefully after that. The complexities for this case are no different from what we have seen in BB’s murder, where one after another hidden actors and conspiracies have derailed the entire proceedings. In case of Musharaff its hard to come with a clear charge sheet, as one after another his reign is filled with brutalities and actions which were in no way directed to help or accommodate Pakistan. Even before his showdown at the top office on October 12, Kargil episode still stands as a mystery. It is yet to be decided who was the architect of that operation, which caused so much diplomatic humiliation as well as loss of lives. His coming into power, the whole hijacking drama followed by Martial Law clearly shows that an international campaign accommodated his seizure of power.

           

 

 If this seems puzzling, unfortunately its just the start. His alliance with US after 9/11 is also a big question mark. Where it has been debated that we had no other option and the so called most civilized country was all set to transform us into “stone age”, we are yet comparing how much different we are after that. A nuclear power with no sovereignty, economy, power and foreign policy, isn’t it what we term as a modern stone age society? And ofcourse its his legacy and policy. On criminal grounds, he has his hands filled with Lal Masjid massacre and Nawab Akbar Bugti’s murder. If this is not all, don’t forget that the war we are fighting today was never our war, and it was his short term policies which has brought this menace into our own home land, and no doubt it has today become our war of survival.

            History will also term his as a General who compromised Kashmir for good. By terming the freedom struggle as a terrorist movement, he betrayed the blood of thousands who died fighting for this cause. But to give the devil his due, I must claim that he still qualifies for Indian Medal of Humanity Service  for releasing a spy like Kashmir Singh and stopped short of the same with Sarbajeet. This charge sheet can go on as long as we desire, but lets cut it short. The reality is that odds favour the fact that this trial is too complex and a lot of foreign elements will not enable it to take place in the transparent way. But the more scary fact is this that the trial can land some very important institute in Pakistan into a conflict with the rest, and the consequences for this can be very fatal for the democracy which is still a bit novice in Pakistan.

            A new breath has been filled to those who support his immediate trial after US Envoy Halbrooke gave a clear signal that US considers it an internal matter of Pakistan, but don’t buy American words. Mush’s legacy is closely linked with US aspiration and game plan in this region. His coming into power, his smooth sail initially, happening of 9/11, US intervention into Pakistan and BB murder, they all are tied with the same string. Though Americans are famous for disposing their special friends gracefully as we saw in General Zia’s case, this time around it seems that they have a different frame of mind. The government presently is supporting this stance and Raza Rabbani recently recorded a very harsh statement against Musharaff, its difficult to understand how they can proceed with this initiative, where it is clear that they were also largely facilitated by his blessings.

            To sum up, if this trial happens, it will be the trial of the century along with some very intresting or rather horrific surprises attached with it. From one trouble to another, it seems that too many cooks are preparing food in the executive kitchen. They have yet to sort Swat and Wana, 17^th Amendment and other crisis. A new frontier at this stage, seems intresting.      

Hamid Majid Abbasi