Pakistan

Military brought country on right track, civilians derailed it: Musharraf

Former military dictator says people don’t care about system of governance until they are prosperous

News Desk August 03, 2017

Former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf. PHOTO: AFP / FILE

Former military dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has said that the military brought the country on the right track every time it came to power but civilians always derailed it.

“Whenever martial law was imposed in the country, it was the need of the hour,” Musharraf told BBC Urdu, defending the military rules in the country. “Whether it is a dictatorship, communism, socialism or kingdom people don’t care until they are prosperous and the country is progressing.”

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Claiming that all Asian countries progressed because of dictatorships, the former president said Pakistan was also set on the right path by military rulers but when they left the civilians derailed it. “Check the records of both civilian and military rules and you will find that dictators always led the country towards prosperity,” he maintained.

Replying to a question, Musharraf said organising elections and giving liberty to the people does not hold any meaning to the people unless they are made prosperous. Although Musharraf held Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto responsible for the fall of Dhaka, he, however, said General (retd) Yahya Khan was also partially responsible for Bangladesh’s independence.

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Musharraf lauded the role of former military dictator Field Marshal Ayub Khan, saying his 10-year rule set records of progress in the country’s history. Accepting that General Ziaul Haq’s era was ‘controversial’ as it pushed the country towards religious extremism which still plagues the country, he insisted that Zia’s decision to help the US and the Taliban against the Soviet Union at the time of the Afghanistan invasion was a right move.

COMMENTS (12)

rao amjad ali | 7 years ago | Reply What a malicious rendering of Pakistan's contemporary history! Mr. Bhutto's judicial murder by Zi-ul-Haq, according to your convoluted reasoning, was therefore justified as he posed an imminent threat to a democratic set-up and was bent upon derailing the system? Even his closest allies have now had a rethink and believe that Zia-ul-Haq inflicted the worst dictatorial rule on Pakistan from which the nation is struggling to unshackle. Whether you have a care in the world or not, the fact is that your usurpation of power made that struggle significantly more difficult and history will not spare you even if a handful of paid Pakistani sycophants do. And, by the way, if you are interested in making a quick buck or two, you should put out a pamphlet on how to extract monetary gifts from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

HASAN ARIF | 7 years ago | Reply Dear Musharraf, Ayub + Yayha ( 1958-70 ) = Bengali bye bye Zia ( 1977- 1988 ) = Tolerance bye bye Musharraf ( 1999 -2007) = Peace bye bye

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Sheikh Sa'adi | 7 years ago | Reply Military brought country on right track, civilians derailed it: Musharraf How can anyone trust a fugitive and a violator of Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan?

Humza | 7 years ago | Reply @Wajahat: Musharraf was in power illegally for a decade after taking over his own country. The gut made the country look like a Banana Republic like all the other Muslim nations run by kings, dictators and generals. Musharraf was the biggest embarrassment to the country and now she shamelessly boasts about the benefits of dictatorship. I for one wait to see this coward tried for treason and served justice. What about the money his family has amassed illegally. He should be charged for that as well as treason. He can now return from his emergency overseas medical treatment to get the real treatment he needs in jail. Usurpers like Musharraf and Zia have done more to damage Pakistan than any elected PM. Look at the Pakistan's economy the last 4 years - better than anything Musharraf could have done in a decade of illegal and incompetent rule.

quattro | 7 years ago | Reply Arrogant man who epitomizes much of what is wrong in Pakistan. The SC letting him flee the country demonstrates that true justice in Pakistan has a long way to go.

007 | 7 years ago | Reply Someone should question how he got money to properties in London, New York and Dubai and where all that $ 40 billion U.S aid went ?

mad mamluk | 7 years ago | Reply @Wajahat: for which he has apologized publicly several times and admitted it was a mistake in hindsight.

reader | 7 years ago | Reply musharaf zindabad we r waiting for his RETURN

Rollin & Trollin | 7 years ago | Reply Fact of the matter, corruption is ubiquitous and permeates all levels of society (civilian and non-civilian) The point is to make corruption work for the country as a whole at this stage, or let's say progressive corruption. An IK-Musharraf joint front would be interesting

Amir | 7 years ago | Reply when miitary is in power, Pakistan saves 50% from corruption. When civilians are in power, zero percent is saved

Wajahat | 7 years ago | Reply He actually was far better than the so-called democratic leaders who got elected based on the money they spent and agendas they pushed. But He shouldn't have done that infamous "NRO" making way for all the looters to come back to Pakistan and plunder all over again. Also Democracy is one of the ways to govern, not the "Only" way to Govern, its not some holy religious method which we are made to see it as. He`s right in saying that many Asian countries have grown without any Democracy. U.A.E or China did not need democracy. A country needs to choose which is the appropriate mechanism to Govern, is Pakistan suitable for democracy with illiterate people with no civic sense made responsible to elect a good leader.Is democracy useful when the voters are clueless and the candidates are all corrupt. Its like asking a tangay wala to pilot a plane.

Parvez | 7 years ago | Reply Sir please tell the full story : ...civilians derailed it because you allowed the corrupt back....to save your own set....and you failed in saving that too.

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