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Bringing Musharraf Back

In the recently concluded India Today conclave in which the former Pakistani dictator General Musharraf also participated, there was some loud thinking about the return of the General to save Pakistan from total disintegration. In fact, in answer to a question he said that he would not mind coming back as the President if asked to do so. However, he qualified it by saying that he would come as a useful President only and not otherwise. This is an anti-climax to the happenings just a year back when every one was hailing the return of democracy in Pakistan. It is a pity that when the General was in power the people did not listen to him and wanted him out at all costs. Even the people on this side of the border hailed his departure stating that the Pakistanis were finally rid of the dictator who had scuttled democracy and freedom. The only disappointed people on his departure were the members of the civil society on the two sides who had been working for the Indo-Pak peace process which virtually froze shortly after he relinquished his office. During his tenure as the ruler of Pakistan he made umpteen attempts to bring peace between India and Pakistan.

In fact, he was the first Pakistani ruler to propose an out of box solution to the most intractable problem of Kashmir. His four point proposal still seems to be a very practical approach to resolve this vexed problem which is at the heart of all Indo-Pak troubles. Kashmiri moderates too had hailed him as a possible saviour. It was very unfortunate that he did not get a positive response from the Indian side which still believes that prolonged dithering can ultimately make people forget about this basic problem. Such problems with many stake holders and vast number of vested interests benefiting from these have a habit of not only perennially persisting but raising their ugly heads off and on. No one can deny the fact that the General had not only offered to sort out all issues right from Siachen to Sir Creek but had successfully kept in check the extremist forces which are now having a ball in different parts of the sub-continent. The Lal Masjid episode, the Balauch uprising, the FATA campaign against foreign elements clearly showed that the General had the guts to take extremists head on. The buckling of the civilian authority in Swat has vindicated General’s stand in dealing harshly with the extremist elements. In the Delhi Conclave he made it clear that the Army and ISI alone can save Pakistan and asked his Indian hosts to support these.

The situation in Pakistan is not only worrying for the people of India but it is sending panic signals across the globe. The most talked about frightening scenario is the Taliban having access to Pak nukes. This type of apprehension was evident even after the recent Mumbai events of 26/11. After the Mumbai attacks the tensions between the two neighbours in the sub-continent rose very sharply and the war cries became louder. No sane person in both the countries wanted war but then it is said that no one intentionally starts a war! It is said that the wars have always been started by an accident. Usually such minor tensions spiral out of control and the countries are at war before they know it. The history of earlier conflicts in the sub-continent is an indicator of this unpredictable phenomenon. All these clashes resulted from miscalculations and can be termed as wars of accident. In 1947, the Pakistani tribesmen marched towards Kashmir and the result was the first Indo-Pak war even though it remained confined to J & K. In 1965, Pakistan infiltrated army regulars in civilian clothes to start an armed rebellion in the valley but the engagement did not remain confined to J & K and the first major Indo-Pak clash across the international border took place.

The 1971 war was again started by the refusal of the main political party from the western wing of Pakistan to accept the verdict of a popular election which had thrown up a possible Prime Minister from the Eastern wing. Had they done so, the country may not have broken in two even though it was an unnatural combination, two parts of country separated by thousands of kilometres of hostile territory. The Indo-Pak tensions have been rising and subsiding regularly for last 60 years but both the countries have always been able to overcome these and return from the brink of total destruction. The peace has usually been brought about by the quick exhaustion of the limited resources of two countries to make war and the external intervention. The peace prevailed during recent Mumbai attacks because the Indian side in spite of very bellicose utterances and tall claims of the possibility of undertaking surgical strikes against terror camps had a lurking fear that the Jihadist Fanatics of Pakistan were the only people in the world capable of using nukes regardless of the consequences. After all suicide bombing was a regular weapon being used by these elements and it did not matter if the suicide engulfed the whole sub-continent! General Zia-ul-Haq is credited with getting the menace into Pakistan. According to news reports the army officers inducted and then patronised by him may soon be Generals in the Pak Army. Again it is reported that President Zardari is trying to get Generals of his choice in key positions. Both the developments with the advancing Taliban seem very ominous.

It is reported that Taliban have already infiltrated into many areas of Punjab after totally taking over Frontier areas. Even President Obama has admitted that the US is not winning the war in Afghanistan. This is a diplomatic way of admitting that the US has virtually lost Afghanistan to Taliban and their puppet regime is limited to Kabul only. Indians may shudder by simply imagining the scenario of Taliban standing across the Indo-Pak border and the Line of Control with nukes in their possession. There cannot be more nightmarish thought than this. Historically, the most of the destructive and plundering forays into Indian sub-continent came from across the Hindu Kush Mountains. Imagine these people having already reached the middle of the sub-continent without a major fight! It is because of this that it may have appeared to some people in the India Today conclave that there is only one way to avoid this disturbing scenario. Let Army take over Pakistan once again and bring Musharraf back. In fact, some political pundits have been predicting that an army coup is imminent in Pakistan. This is more so after the Nawaz Sharif’s call for long march. These political predictions may be representing an inner feeling not essentially only for the stability of Pakistan but for the very survival of the entire sub-continent in one piece. People now seem to prefer stability to democracy because of their own apprehensions. However, the revolution this time may not be all that peaceful and bloodless as in 1999 and it may still have some disturbing fall out for the entire region. One can only keep one’s fingers crossed and pray!

About the Author

Mohammad Ashraf is the former Director General of Tourism of Kashmir. He is presently a regular columnist to Greater Kashmir, the largest circulated english daily newspaper of Srinagar, Kashmir.He is also the Vice-President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, the apex body of adventure sports in India.

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