Anti-Musharraf resolution

The Senate put paid to General Pervez Musharraf's plans to return to the political arena when it passed a unanimous resolution that calls for his arrest upon arrival in Pakistan, and institution of a treason case against him under Article 6 of the Constitution. Aside from demanding his trial for twice abrogating the Constitution, the resolution lists a number of other charges against him, including damaging national security interests through deals and agreements with a foreign government, arresting judges, and involvement in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Bugti. So united were the senators in their opinion that they decided to dispense with any further debate and discussion on the subject - the MQM though adopted an ambiguous policy neither signing the resolution nor opposing it. What the general fails to realise is the fact that politicians can have nine lives, military dictators only one. The reason is simple: whereas politicians derive legitimacy from the people, usurpers get acceptance because of the brute force they wield. General Musharraf should have known better considering that as soon as he doffed his uniform he was shown the door by his political opponents. Some of his most trusted allies deserted him. The opportunists and sycophants who had gathered in his Q League to share the spoils of power - including the one who had vowed to get him elected ten times in uniform - too distanced themselves. Yet a hangover from the glory days persisted, creating a highly inflated self-image, far removed from reality. So the general insisted on returning home to lead his very own new party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, in the next general elections. It did not seem to matter that the party did not grow beyond a handful of old and little known loyalists; he still saw himself as a great saviour of this nation. Planning to return he had told an interviewer "I am not a small man," and that only he knew how to fix things in Pakistan. Amid threats, among others, from Interior Minister Rehman Malik as well as Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wassan that he would be arrested upon arrival for the murder of Benazir Bhutto, General Musharraf, once again, looked to his old colleagues and addressed a retired military officers association in what looked like an attempt to gain the backing of the Army for a safe return and possible support in the furtherance of his ceaseless quest for pomp and power. The association responded by passing a resolution that said that General Musharraf "should be provided a level-playing field in the political arena as well as protocol and security by the government as befits any ex-president of the Republic of Pakistan." Thence came a befitting response from the Senate. Whether or not general has received what he actually deserves as a former dictator who belongs to an unsavoury chapter of this country's chequered history, only history will tell. Copyright Business Recorder, 2012