Leaving? No Chance

Last night Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rasheed stated “The retired general(Pervez Musharraf) is not a threat politically to Nawaz Sharif. (Mumkin–Capital TV–20/01/14)

Could this be the reason of the treason and all the other cases? Could the reasoning behind this constant removal of PervezMusharraf from Pakistan be revolved around fear of a political movement? Why shouldn’t they fear? The man who masterminded the Kargil operation and accessed 10km into enemy territory without them knowing!! imagine what he could do in Pakistan?

The first sign of this came when the Quaid of the All Pakistan Muslim League(APML) Pervez Musharraf returned to Pakistan to contest in the May 2013 Pakistan elections which he was later disqualified for due to so called treason charges. Although the same court that had banned Pervez Musharraffrom elections was the same court that allowed one of his candidates to run from Chitral. Why would they bar PervezMusharraf but let his candidate run, thats like barring NawazSharif from elections but letting the rest of PMLN contest or barring Imran Khan from elections and allowing the rest of PTI to contest elections, it just doesn’t make sense.

Barring Pervez Musharraf from elections was the first sign of fear from the corrupt government, to prevent PervezMusharraf coming to power. Who knows? If he had been allowed to contest elections we may be seeing a complete different parliament and Pakistan today.

As of recently he was given bail in all major cases, he was no longer under house arrest and was able to make TV appearances airing his concerns for Pakistan. This was soon put to a stop when Ch Nisar announced that the current government was to proceed with treason charges against thePervez Musharraf. The call for treason charges has now raised even more fear for the Pervez Musharraf haters. By doing so they have opened a can of worms, this is now being escalated and may snowball out to major issues for Pakistan.

One of the major problems it has raised is support for PervezMusharraf from former allies including, the military (SheikhRasheed reiterates “army uske saath hai”, the MuttahidaQaumi Movement(MQM) and the Pakistan Muslim LeagueQuaid (PMLQ). The MQM has a major stronghold in Sindhincluding Karachi and Hyderabad. The PMLQ who didn’t secure any seats in the May 2013 elections have taken a strong stance on the media supporting Pervez Musharraf, we must not forget that in the 2002 elections the PMLQ won with a majority.

Another problem that has been raised is the support highlighting ‘injustice’ from media persons and even from those who are against Pervez Musharraf like Asma Jehangir.Mubashar Lucman, Jasmeen Manzoor, Rana Mubashir andNajam Sethi are just some of the media persons highlighting injustices with this case mainly stating that the original offence was the 1999 military coup and not the 2007 emergency also if treason charges should proceed then all those who joined Pervez Musharraf at the time should also be tried.

One major issue that has been raised in all of this is PervezMusharraf’s exit from Pakistan to a safe haven. Recently the visit from a Saudi Arabian minister raised concerns thatPervez Musharraf may be given a clean exit as was given toNawaz Sharif. Whereas there is speculation never once hasPervez Musharraf said he wants to leave Pakistan to run from the cases! This has been speculated in the media and by opposition but Pervez Musharraf stated that he knew these cases would be against him and like a soldier he will fight the cases, not run away.

So the exit of Pervez Musharraf to a safe haven, where does this come from? If Pervez Musharraf came to Pakistan only to return back to exile then what was the point of returning? It doesn’t make sense! The speculation of going abroad comes from many sources, the doctors who state he needs to be treated abroad, the media stating he needs to see his ill mother or the opposition stating that he is running away from politicised cases.

Though the first 2 may have some standing and why shouldn’t they? In a country where the judiciary and the government are as corrupt as each other how can Pervez Musharraf trust that doctors would give him the best treatment (unless of course in an army hospital) plus his mother is ill and he should be allowed to see her. (I will not compare Pervez Musharraf toAsif Ali Zardari, the 2 are incomparable one saved Pakistan the other returned it to its dark depths. Asif Ali Zardari by the way has been exempt from appearing in court in all legal cases and who was taken to Dubai instantly after falling ill).

Pervez Musharraf was put on the Exit Control List(ECL) by the courts and now this has bitten them back as they now cannot get rid of him. The speculation of leaving is only to build up once again a negative image of Pervez Musharraf attempting to highlight that he is trying to run away from the politicised cases that have been mounted up against him. He doesn’t want to leave as he has stated before he has come to save Pakistan and that he shall do. The fear stacked against the government has clearly shown as the stance before from the PMLN was that if found guilty he can be hanged or life imprisonment, yet more recently it seems they may just pardon him. As stated by Najam Sethi “it is an invitation for a military coup.” Asma Jehangir clearly states “agla dictatoraayega aur vo jaldi aayega...bees pachees logo ko khatam karke aayega.”

The current government’s days are numbered because of their politicised and corrupt ways, their fear,ignorance and vengeance will be the end of them. Pervez Musharraf cannot stand trial for treason for any of his actions as they was all in the interest of Pakistan.