An open letter to “All Concerned” This is for PTI UK Coordinator: As Musharraf is arriving in UK, kindly make my little piece of work public and also in print media.
European Union consists of 27 member
states with complete civil liberties for the citizens one can only dream of in
the third world country like Pakistan.
But it is very unfortunate that whenever there is a minimal chance of establishing
democracy in our country, of course not like yours, international community somehow
supports or I would say does not take strong steps as should be taken against those
elements that derail the process of democracy. As a citizen of a ‘sovereign’
country, one should not be writing to you in first place but when I see international
community very keenly taking interest in our local affairs, it does not make me
feel I am citizen of a ‘sovereign’ country. Therefore, I am compelled to draw
your attention toward the very serious and deteriorated situation in our
country. Whenever a military dictator like
the present one in our country invades and conquers his own country after every
10 years, international community which includes US, EU, UN, Commonwealth come
out with kind of ‘lip service’ only. International community condemns, threatens
and warns dictators of ‘dangerous consequences’ before and after the occupation
(coup), at the end here comes a very big “BUT’ and that ‘BUT’ works as ‘oxygen’
for dictators and that ‘lip service’ gives us the impression of International
community’s support for the unconstitutional and illegal steps of dictators. Hussain Haqqani, Director of the
Center for International Relations and Professor at laceName w:st="on">BostonlaceName> laceType w:st="on">UniversitylaceType>,
in his article “Why the General amnesty?” of July 19, 2004, has very rightly stated that
“Giving Pakistan’s military rulers a free pass has historically served only to
embolden them in pursuing contradictory policies. Musharraf, who took power in
a military coup in 1999, claims that he wants to transform Pakistan into a
moderate Muslim nation. But his performance is, at best, mixed. He represents
the tradition of US-backed military strongmen that goes back to the Cold War
and that is part of Pakistan’s
problem, not its solution. Pakistan has a long history of
US-backed military regimes achieving high economic growth rates and a mirage of
socio-political reform in the short-term, without long-term stability in the
country, says Hussain. There are many examples of
supporting military dictator, as we, very frequently experience military
interventions in our country but I would like to quote here the last ‘occupation’
i.e. so-called ‘Bloodless Coup’ on October 12, 1999. The
EU response was swift in its condemnation of the coup. Finland, the current EU president, said:
``The EU can in no circumstances approve extra-constitutional and
non-democratic means in any country and therefore urges the Pakistani military
to respect democracy and the
parliamentary process.'' [We don’t find
here any ‘respect for democracy, judiciary, human rights, judiciary and civil
society’.]
US response: In light of the recent coup,
Clinton administration invokes Section 508 of Foreign Operations Appropriations
Act that requires US aid be cut off to any country whose democratically elected
head of government is deposed by military coup or decree. Move is largely symbolic because Pakistan
is already prohibited from receiving US assistance under nuclear
sanctions. (Inside US Trade, 15 October 1999; International Trade
Reporter, 13 October 1999; CRS 2002a, 3; Washington Post, 15 October 1999, A24;
16 October 1999, A21) (See also Case 79-2 US v. Pakistan –: Nuclear
Missile Proliferation])
EU: 17 October 1999, European Union condemns
military coup and threatens to suspend all assistance except for humanitarian
aid channeled through private agencies unless Pakistan announces a clear timetable for the restoration of
democracy by mid-November. EU also postpones signature of the EU-Pakistan
Cooperation Agreement that is based on commitment to human rights and
democracy. (New York Times, 17 October 1999, 6; European Report, 16 October
1999) [European Union
demand for a clear timetable for the restoration of democracy by mid-November was
not met until August 2001. and we all witnessed how the elections were held and
the parliament came in result of those ‘elections’.] FRANCE: 5 November 1999, France releases submarine and Mirage fighters
held since the coup to Pakistan.
French foreign ministry states that aircrafts and submarine already belong to Pakistan and therefore France cannot
legally prevent their delivery. (Financial Times, 5 November 1999, 6) [France finds it illegal ‘not to delay delivery
of submarines and Mirage fighters’ but, with due respect, ‘violation of
constitution’ by military dictators goes well with France.
EU: 15 November 1999, EU Council of Foreign
Ministers again calls on Pakistan
to announce a binding timetable for
restoration of democracy, but does not suspend development assistance.
(Council conclusions on Pakistan, 15 November; Bulletin of the European Union,
November 1999) 30 November 2000, IMF approves a $596 million loan to Pakistan to help it avoid
defaulting on its $36 billion foreign debt. The money is to be disbursed over
next 10 months. (New York Times, 1 December 2000, A7) 20
June 2001, General Musharraf dismisses Pakistan’s president and appoints
himself head of state. He also dissolved the suspended Senate,
National and Provincial Assemblies and dismissed the Chairman of the Senate and
the Speaker of the National Assembly. On top of that, after assuming the new office as President, General
Pervez Musharraf announced, "The
change will augur well for the future of Pakistan". [more than 8
long years, we are still awaiting the change which will augur well for Pakistan.] 30 April 2002, a referendum was held on
April 30, 2002 for General Pervez Musharraf to be elected as the President of Pakistan
for another five years. [The electoral
process was described as “flawed” by an EU Election Observation Mission (EOM). A
referendum that presented voters with no opponents. Musharraf himself went on
TV and apologized to the nation for "irregularities" in the
referendum. How would any of EU
member states take those ‘rigged’ referendum?] When Musharraf was leaving for Europe
tour and particularly I was looking for EU meeting in Brussels, I was hoping (ambitious), perhaps,
but nevertheless, strong demand for the reinstatement of deposed judges,
release of lawyers, political workers, members of civil member, restrictions on
media but as usual only tough questions asked and as usual even tougher answers
came from Musharraf. Unfortunately that ‘tough question answer session’ is not
going to change the life style of those 70% people of Pakistan living
below poverty line. I watched on BBC that session of questions & answers, I
got the feeling that he is unstoppable. He will keep doing what he has been
doing since 1999. He himself said ‘I am the same person whish was in 1999’. He is
dictating terms. After all, he is a dictator. Musharraf replying to a question
on ‘Restoration of Democracy’, he bluntly said “Don’t expect from us the kind
of democracy for which it took you centuries to achieve”. The question arises
here is that would you allow him or any other dictator to take centuries to
keep dismissing the elected civilian governments, keep hanging, exiling and
assassinating Prime ministers, keep sacking and house arresting the Chief
Justice of Pakistan, keep arresting and brutally beating lawyers, politicians,
media personnel, members of civil society at the hands of police and other
agencies? "I believe very strongly in
democracy and human rights," Musharraf assured. I don’t understand how one
can take his (Musharraf’s) assurances seriously who interprets ‘democracy and
human rights’ by not having both? Who knows better then you the
true meaning of ‘Democracy’, but when Musharraf calls himself the ‘Champion of
Democracy’ and introducer of ‘Essence of True Democracy’, why don’t you ask him
in which ‘Democratic’ country a single man does what he has been doing for the
last more than 8 years in the name of democracy? Musharraf pledged (and mind you
this is nothing but only pledge) on Monday that Pakistan's elections next month
will be ‘free and fair’, and urged Europe to back, not criticise his regime as
it stood in the forefront of the fight against terrorism. It is true that only
democratic governments can handle the issues of ‘terrorism’ properly, but the
thing is we are not going to see any free, fair and, as Musharraf says
‘peaceful’ elections, if any. World witnessed how 2002
elections were engineered. In 2002 elections in order to promote the MMA, according
to the EU Election Observation Mission, all opposition parties expressed
concern that the Pakistan Election Commission was diluting strongholds of
parties that opposed the regime while favoring parties that supported it.
Serious concerns were also raised regarding which voters were registered. The
Election Observation Mission noted: “The electoral process was marked by the
introduction of a new set of qualification criteria for the nomination of
candidates, some of which [were] not in accordance with international standards
or [were] clearly targeting specific prominent politicians.” For example,
university bachelor’s degrees (Keep in mind the literacy rate in Pakistan) were
required of candidates but madrassa diplomas were considered equivalent. This
measure significantly benefited the MMA, particularly in Balochistan, where
some prominent nationalist leaders without university degrees were prevented
from running in the election even though several had previously exercised the
functions of governor, or chief minister, or both, of the province. Rallies and
the use of loudspeakers were forbidden during the entire campaign. The length
of the campaign was reduced to a minimum. Most of the political and
religious parties like PPP which took highest number of votes in 2002
elections, PML-N second largest party, JUI-F and number of nationalist parties
of Sindh, NWFP and Balouchistan have reservations on the maneuverings in election
process before elections and hundreds of complaints have been registered with
the ‘Partial’ election commission loyal to Musharraf. But none of those
complaints has been entertained. In 2005– 2006, the way the local
elections were rigged to ensure the success of the PML-Q, the main civilian
support for Musharraf. Those local elections paved the way to ensure king’s
party PML-Q success in the upcoming February 18, 2008 elections. As the local
bodies are in charge of the logistics of the elections on the ground, the
machinery is now in place to ensure the success of whatever party or
combination of parties the executive thinks will best serve his interests. There is cry of massive ‘pre-poll
rigging from almost all the political parties who are contesting elections also
who are not contesting except king’s party. Speaker National Assembly
Chaudhry Ameer Hussain, was elected MNA on PML-Q seat, is now care taker
President of Pakistan in absence of Musharraf and mind that Chaudhry Ameer
Hussain is also contesting elections. Care taker Prime Minister, Mian Muhammad
Soomro was elected as PML-Q senator. Governors, Chief Ministers and cabinet
members of all four provinces belong to king’s party PML-Q. Leaders of political are barred
to hold rallies and processions in the name of ‘security concerns’ and ‘for
their own security’. But on the other hand PML-Q and other Musharraf’s allied
parties are campaigning ‘openly and safely’. So, how do you expect ‘free, fair
and safe’ elections under the prevailing conditions which suits Musharraf, when
there is no level playing field for all? Only holding elections would not solve
the problem but even can deteriorate the situation further. A comprehensive research report
on ‘Pre-Poll Rigging’ prepared by The Citizens Group on Electoral Process –
CGEP tells it all. http://www.pildat.org/events/08-01-09/pdf/Pre-poll%20Assessment%20Report.pdf When Bush said that the general (Musharraf)
"hasn't crossed the line" and "truly is somebody who believes in
democracy", Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee and a presidential candidate replied, "What exactly
would it take for the president to conclude Musharraf has crossed the line?
Suspend the constitution? Impose emergency law? Beat and jail his political
opponents and human rights activists?" "He's already done all that.
If the president sees Musharraf as a democrat, he must be wearing the same
glasses he had on when he looked in Vladimir Putin's soul." How much longer this country
would keep suffering in the name of ‘True Democracy’? He is doing nothing for
democracy but talking. I read an editorial ‘Gen. Musharraf's Lies’ n Washington
Post dated Saturday, October 1, 2005. I quote a piece from the article. “Gen.
Musharraf, too, deserves the reputation he is earning as a ruler who cares more
about how he is perceived in the West than in implementing the policies he
claims to espouse, or even in speaking the truth. The general, who seized power
in a coup six years ago, has reneged on promises to retire from the army or
restore democracy. He has not carried out the reform of Islamic religious
schools that he promised in 2001. He has allowed the extremist Afghan Taliban
movement to base itself in Pakistan's
western provinces with virtual impunity. All the while he has gone on
collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in aid each year from the Bush
administration, which accepts his words and ignores most of his actions”. In an interview to CNN in July
2001, Musharraf insisted he would not be a candidate. "I am not at all a
politician. I don't think I'm cut out for politics," he said. "I am
certainly not going to stand for election." He talks about the ‘Economic
growth’. There is always manipulated figures are declared in Pakistan as far
as economy is concerned. Pakistan produced not more than 22 million tons of
wheat in 2006-2007 and it was enough to meet our domestic consumption and with
that wheat production the GDP growth was looming around 6.6%, but just to
sustain the GDP growth over 7%, his government intentionally declared false figures
of wheat production i.e. about 23.5 million tons. This is how our economic
growth is port raid (proudly) internationally. We are not sure about, keeping in
mind Musharraf’s track record of lying, the elections are actually going to be
held on February 18 or not. NATO Secretary General Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer, who also held talks with Musharraf, said the Pakistani leader
was "part of the solution and certainly not part of the problem". I totally agree with Secretary
General. Mushrraf ‘was (if it was) part of the solution’ but not anymore and
that’s for sure. |