Ejazul Haq a spoiler of feel-good mood

Things since the suicidal landing of Musharraf in Pakistan early this year have moved beyond the controlling capacity.

For being a firm believer of undiluted and dynamic democratic system, I would have preferred to consider the Monday of June 24, 2013 as the happiest day of my life. An overwhelming majority of my youngish colleagues dampened the feel-good mood, however, when I walked into the press lounge after witnessing a historic speech delivered by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the national assembly on this day.

Without any exception, all of them instantly expressed the opinion that insidious operators of the so-called deep state would just not swallow the idea of General Musharraf’s trial for treason. A vicious game of either/or has rather been set between the elected government and the deep state after Nawaz Sharif’s dramatic announcement to prosecute the former dictator. They had no doubts in their mind as to who would prove the ultimate winner in this battle and anxiously started to speculate about the possible timeline of the end game. The collective anxiety of my colleagues made me worriedly realize the path dependent defeatism that rules the discourse in our mainstream media. Let me add, though, journalists were not alone in feeling pessimism on this count. Even the majority of PML-N legislators felt the same way in spite of endorsing their leader’s position with spirited desk thumping while sitting in the house. Off the record sharing of thoughts does not permit naming them.

I have it from highly reliable sources that Nawaz Sharif had delivered the Monday speech after preparing its draft after many rounds of brainstorming sessions in Raiwind over the weekend. For more than two hours, he also made himself disconnected with the world before summoning the speechwriter to dictate points for his Monday speech. Both the cell-phones of this speechwriter remained switched off during the past 48 hours.

Without defending or laughing at the cautious and secretive conduct of Nawaz Sharif, one has to admit that things since the suicidal landing of General Musharraf in Pakistan early this year have moved beyond the controlling capacity of a mere individual, even for a formidable politician like Nawaz Sharif.

We have a fiercely independent and hyperactive judiciary in Pakistan these days and it had firmly asked the government to state its position on June 24 regarding the question of trying Musharraf under the treason charges. The PML-N leader could just not afford to act forgetting and forgiving at this stage. After all, throughout the previous five years he had been harshly criticizing the PPP-led government for letting the former dictator leave, first the presidency and later Pakistan, with a formal sendoff glamorised by the guard of honour. After consistently agitating on this issue, he could not act “generous” while deciding on the same question after being elected as the Chief Executive of Pakistan.

Notwithstanding the obvious political compulsions of Nawaz Sharif at this point, we must think twice before setting ourselves to watch the suspense and thrills filled trial of General Musharraf. Discreet messages to the former dictator are still being sent to persuade him for adopting a position that could help find the safe passage for him in the end. In spite of desperate combing and beseeching, my sources are not willing to go beyond merely hinting at the strategy that Dr Qadeer Khan had adopted to elude trial when it came to selling Pakistan’s nuclear capacity and some redundant tools to some states, considered ‘rogue’ by the US-led international community.

For another time, Mehmood Khan Achakzai showed his large heart and calibre by stressing that the civilians should not take the decision of Monday as demeaning or maligning the armed forces per se. The Pakistan Army, as an institution, must not be held responsible for being thus undermined by the opportunistic and self-serving doings of a cabal of ruthlessly ambitious officers. Even if sounding an exceptional critic of Nawaz Sharif’s decision to try Musharraf, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad also preferred to strain his mind and leash his tongue for using a restrained language.

Ejazul Haq remained the one and only spoiler of the feel-good mood. The son of General Zia was deliberately provocative to recall Zulfikar Ali Bhutto with scathing words. Doing this, he somehow failed to notice that Aseefa Bhutto Zardari was sitting on a front bench in the visitors’ gallery. She witnessed the national assembly proceedings with studious keenness. With her watching so intently, the crowd of PPP legislators felt doubly annoyed with Ejaz-ul-Haq’s conduct unbecoming of an experienced parliamentarian on such a somber and epoch-making occasion. With his admirable vigilance, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan saved the day for another time with sobering intervention. Although, Ishaq Dar opted to stand as well to protect the government, but in the process quoted those articles of the Constitution that in effect would help those in the end, who passionately demand that General Musharraf should be tried for enforcing “the second martial law” on Nov 3, 2007. He and his collaborators deserve a trial for making the first move on October 12, 1999 as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2013.