In a startling statement in the Senate on Saturday, Senator Mushahid Hussain, extended a hand of reconciliation towards the two major Opposition parties, the PPP and the PML-N. Said he, "time has come for a grand national reconciliation... all political prisoners, Asif Zardari, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Yusuf Raza Gillani should be released."
Coming as it does from the ruling party's Secretary-General, who is believed to enjoy the confidence of the powers-that-be, the assertion is reflective of a radical, and indeed a very welcome change in governmental policy.
Notably, it is for the first time that a top ruling party official of the stature of Mushahid Hussain has said that these three jailed Opposition leaders are political prisoners. In other words, they are not guilty as charged. Asif Ali Zardari's prison term, commensurate with his position of being the spouse of the PPP Chairperson, Benazir Bhutto, has been the longest - stretching to about eight years.
He has been tried for a number of crimes ranging from financial corruption to the murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto. Each time a court has found him free of guilt in a case and ordered his release, both the previous and the present governments have been quick to come up with new charges to keep him incarcerated.
The fact that they have found it necessary to confine him in various jails rather than to allow him to face the due process as a free man clearly shows that the reasons behind his unending ordeal have more to do with his political status than legal compulsions.
The PPP leader Yusuf Raza Gillani was recently sent to jail for his alleged misuse of official position as the Speaker of the National Assembly and hiring a number of people for government jobs on the basis of their political affiliations.
The PML-N leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has the grave charge against him of sedition for creating disaffection in the armed forces.
Mushahid Hussain has now only confirmed what these hapless leaders as also independent observers have been saying all along: that they were political prisoners-victims of political vendetta. It is good to see that, for whatever reason, the powers-that-be have now come to the realisation that it is time to change the old tactics and offer a hand of reconciliation to the Opposition.
This hope is kindled by the logical assumption that Mushahid would not make such a call without clearance from the real forces that govern the country, although the comment of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz that the cases against these persons are subjudice and will be decided by the courts, does raise serious questions. Is there is a split between the party and the government on this issue (a highly unlikely occurrence) or is it that Mushahid is privy to something that Shaukat is not or is it just a tactical move by Musharraf as the deadline to doff the uniform approaches, the parliamentary approval to retain two offices notwithstanding?
Both civil society organisations and some perceptive outsiders have, for quite some time, been pointing out that in order to effectively face the twin challenges of religious extremism and poverty, the government must allow all political forces, in particular the two mainstream parties, the PPP and the PML-N, to play their due role in the national politics.
It is rightly argued that in pushing these two parties to the fringes, the government has created a big space for extremist groups to occupy, whereas, traditionally, they have managed only to have negligible public support at election time.
The political scenario that has emerged, as a result of political manipulations, may give the government a sense of security in terms of its grip on power, but it does not ensure the country's political and economic stability.
In fact, right now the country is faced with extraordinary pressures from within and without. While poverty and sectarian terrorism refuse to abate, the situation along the Afghan border poses serious problems vis-à-vis international expectations, and national cohesion, peace and security.
The need to create a national consensus on these fundamental issues, therefore, was never as great as it is now. It is plain that in order to produce such a consensus the government needs to bring all the parties, in particular the two major Opposition parties, on board. Given the context, the PML-Q Secretary General's call to create a "grand national consensus" has a special significance.
One only hopes it will soon be translated into action, and as a first step in the desired direction the government will free the 'political prisoners,' and also allow the leaders of their parties to return home without fear of arrest and imprisonment. The charges of omission or commission against them can take their own course in courts of law.