The saner choice

This refers to General (r) Pervez Musharraf’s statement that military dictators have always brought the country back on track while civilian leaderships have derailed it or reduced it to ruins. He added that: “we cannot ruin the country in order to save the constitution. We can disregard the constitution to save the people”. He also criticised Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for what allegedly ‘dismembering the country’. But he deliberately ignored what he did with this country and where it stands today. Is an innocent citizen safe in this country today? Is there no civil war-like situation in certain parts of the country? If it is, does the credit not go to him and his autocratic policies? If the politicians are bad and inefficient, why did he invite political leaders to join his dictatorial set-up when he was the head of the state? It was the charismatic Zulfikar Ali Bhutto whose statesmanship and political acumen were recognised across the world. He made this country a nuclear power despite the fact that there was tremendous pressure on the country and a threatening reaction from the US. But the treatment meted out to him by the then dictator, General Zia, and his judiciary is known to all. What happened during Musharraf’s dictatorial regime was the murder of another seasoned politician and daughter of Z A Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, and the veteran Baloch leader, Akbar Khan Bugti. Did his policies bring the country on the right track or vitiate peace in the country?

A military dictator is always in pursuit of expanding his power instead of protecting the people’s rights. He abrogated the constitution to rule the country in an unimpeded manner and as per his own will. If one is beyond the grip of law and develops a legal framework in order to run the affairs of a state, what improvement and justice can be expected by the common man? Putting the constitution in abeyance causes chaos in a country and this is what happened during the Musharraf era. A dictator has no value in the eyes of the people because he is beyond their access.

Guldar Khan Wazir (Loralai)