25
September 2006
Traitor of Islam or a great patriot of Pakistan?
In line of fire!! Musharraf
autobiography
I think this is a great
book. With the benefit of hindsight, one can safely say
Musharraf had very similar options like Omar, Saddam and Nasrullah. Going by Saddam, Omar and Nasrullah's politics of stubbornness he could have helped wipe out Pakistan as it is today from
the map of the world. The politics of shock and awe is
ruthless; but post 911, Indians
across the border would have been very satisfied to see increasing prospects of a militarily
defeated Pakistan. That would have neutralised the nuclear threat
that Pakistan imposes. If Yugoslavia
could balkanize, what would have saved Pakistan from thousands of daisy-cutters; a
nation with people who would have heartily joined the new powers to balkanize portions of
Pakistan into a conglomerate
of weak states under Indian hegemony.
Going by what this troika of failed leaders of
radical Islam did and seeing what happened
to their countries after their foolish decisions,
Musharraf did a great job in saving Pakistan from total annihilation. Unlike
Afghanistan, where 90 percent of the
populace is used to living
in a cave age, or Iraq or Lebanon, where possible reconstruction from
oil revenues and deep-pocketed Sheiks makes damage short-lived, in
Pakistan, taking out economic
infrastructure would have been irreplaceable.
Leadership
today is about pragmatism and helping Pakistan evolve into the 21st century.
This is a very difficult task for a nation caught in medievalism and modernism; on the one hand, it is a nation bestowed with state-of-the-art technology, and on the other, wretched
minds looking to re-establish the supremacy
of Allah in the subcontinent. The
ability to retreat and accept surrender
of wills in face of an overwhelming
adversary is the finest form
of diplomacy. The art of turning an adversary into a permanent ally is a greater art. Post Iraq, USA
has learned new lessons: some nations will tear each other
apart in the absence of a strong man. The banning of the Iraqi Army was
one such step, quick de-baathification did not pay, and quick de-militarization of the Pakistan
would also not be helpful. The
sectarian divisions and ideological problems between the demands
of elites and requirements of Jihadis are far too converged; they can only
be suppressed and tamed over
the next few decades. All nations become subdued at some
point in time. Time is a great
healer; it is not necessary to be led by Fascists,
like Hitler, and destroy the nation first and then reconstruct.
Mush saved Pakistan from Fascists who
wanted to put the country
on a collision course with a superpower.
The result would not have been a Stone Age
Pakistan, but a divided Stone Age country, with five predecessor
states under Indian hegemony.
Jihad and Holy wars are diametrically opposite
to progress and development. Pakistanis suffer from a severe
dichotomy - they love Jihad but they love their Rupee/dollar parity too. They
also want their exports to be driven by western demand and they want
their stock markets to perform.
It is generally believed in Pakistan that politics of the nation and Jihad-driven agenda would have no impact on Pakistani
economy. Pakistan depends
on Tarbela and Mangla. Take them out and
Pakistan goes back to Stone Age; take
Pakistani exports out and 20
million people will have no jobs; the
stock market will reel to below 1000. This is the price
of Jihad and no one but Musharraf calculated the sums right. The bottom line is that he
made the right choice and the right decisions
for his country, otherwise,
Pakistan would have lain in
ruins like Iraq, which has the benefit
of 2 million barrels of oil every
day. Without Tarbela and Mangla, we
would have had to switch the lights
off; today, a blackout in
Pakistan is a timely reminder of what life in Pakistan
would be had we stood
up for Osama or Omar the blind-eyed.
Islam
is handicapped by examples who always
supported losers, time and
time again - from the First World war, when the
Ottomans instead of siding with the Allies went with the
Germans and lost the Empire, to the Second World War, when the great
Mufti of Palestine wanted to create
Auschwitz in Palestine and created
the Bosnian crack brigade
to help the Fuehrer. The leadership is all about self-destruction. Pakistan would
not have been any different
had it not been for the pragmatism of Musharraf who finally
saw reality, which he did
not until Kargil, and made a great decision to live and let live. No
one agrees with him on Kargil, but that was the
old Mush, this is a new one.
Iqbal
Latif (Ike)