Nuancing Musharraf’s divisive legacy

It is an enigma how history has a tendency to redefine itself. After all, it is a story that has already been written, so how can it change? But it does. And it usually happens at key junctures.

On an individual level it may happen when a catastrophe occurs or perhaps when a bucketful of happiness lands in one’s lap. The past, however, never looks the same twice.

The perspective of what was, changes within moments. Our memories are as fickle as our emotions and it’s rather fascinating to be on the outside sometimes, peering at a scene from a wide-angle lens, observing the sudden changes occurring in the wake of tragedies and euphoria alike.

On the death of the former Pakistan president, General Pervez Musharraf, I could feel that same vibe of history reimagining itself. It was quite sad actually, how his death gave his foes the opportunity to define his years in power in any way that suited them and broadcast only the nuggets that harmonised with whatever agenda they were a part of. It shouldn’t have been a surprise though, as that’s generally what opinion makers do. They grab any opportunity ― particularly death, disaster and destruction ― to drive home their dogma.

In the case of General Pervez Musharraf, his past present and future have been a series of unfortunate events; unpredictable, critical, ad-hoc, reckless and hazardous ― either in stages or all at once.

For the general public of Pakistan, his presence as a man of significance was revealed on October 12, 1999. It started in hushed whispers in the early evening and then by nightfall of that date, the ruling party was overthrown. Nawaz Sharif was no more prime minister and the Pakistan army had taken over the country’s governance.

On the morning of October 13, 1999, the citizens of Pakistan woke up to see front page pictures of a very sociable soldier in mufti fashion, cradling two beautiful canines and smiling genially at his granddaughter. Was this guy our new head of government? A military chief from a middle- class, Urdu-speaking family?

Pakistanis were stumped for the first time in the country’s history which thus far had been replete with bloody assassinations, extra-judicial mutinies, Pharaonic leaders and their despotic governance.

What happened while we slept? That was the question in every ones’ mind, and with it was skepticism by the left and right wingers who were vary of the uniformed presence on the one hand, and an obviously modern thinking Head of State, on the other. Especially, one who kept dogs and obviously imbibed in his free time. Later they were to know that he also loved to sing and dance!

How the ‘coup’ unfolded, has been a story told, re-told and disfigured several times so no point in going over it. However, having been a relatively new and active journalist at the time, agog to wield the mighty pen for the justice of the people, there is sense of fairness now that compels me to say it as I saw. Untainted by any political opinions or leanings.

General Musharraf was actually a regular kind of man, who had taken over the extraordinary task of ruling Pakistan. By regular I mean to say, seeing life with regular standards of a family man, a conventional countryman and having a normal penchant for the arts that are commonly indulged in by most of us. In his own words he was a, ‘reluctant coup maker’.

Having come into prominence by being at a particular place at a particular time, it was a misfortune for him that history placed him in the compromising position of running a country which needs connivance to begin with, and where corruption dogs you till you are eaten alive by your own collaborators.

His tenure and the errors of his governance are at this moment being discussed ad nauseam so there is no point in raking the same leaves.

However, on a personal level, I will never forget the general sense of relief in the country on October 13, 1999. Nawaz Sharif’s plans of creating his pyramids of wealth had brought the country’s middle and lower classes to a crippling state that year. High handedness of the Sharif brothers and their governance, along with escalating corruption and monopolisation of all state institutions including the judiciary and the media, had created an abject sense of despair. While a martial law is never a preferred form of government for any nation state, General Musharraf’s takeover, was taken as a breath of fresh air, with people actually expecting general betterment, especially for the working classes.

Musharraf’s coup did not even feel like a coup. It did not instill the fear that previous coups had.

Anyone who has had the misfortune of listening to Zia-ul-Haq’s first live address to the nation after his martial law takeover, will agree, that Musharraf didn’t even look like a martial law administrator.

Being an emancipated and ‘moderate’ individual, General Musharraf’s progressive and avant-garde personality floored the most die-hard critics of ‘dictatorship’ at the time, and hopes of his progressive outlook benefitting Pakistan even encouraged expatriates to return home and invest. His charm stumped even our national foes in Delhi, where the media literally fawned over him on his memorable yet blighted Delhi trip in July 2001, for a Pak-India peace summit.

It was soon evident however that breaking through Pakistan’s existing bureaucracy would be his most challenging task. Musharraf couldn’t easily thwart the old political players and had to include them in his inner coterie of officials, giving birth to his own party, the PML-Q (comprising the breakaway faction of Nawaz’s party).

Whether political engineering with hardened politicians was his slow poison; the import of Shaukat Aziz as prime minister was his error; joining hands with MQM was his worst judgement or taking on the corruption in the judiciary was his final nemesis, will always be the subject matter in discussions on the former President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf and his nine years of power.

While most history books will go on and on about Musharraf’s political wrongs, if there is any integrity left in historians, analysts and journalists, the fact that his initial years saw a rise in the economy and cleaned up our tarnished image on the international front will also be mentioned.

The news channels which shriek all kinds of brash opinions in tasteless language twenty fours a day, should remember that had it not been Musharraf’s opening of private channels, their crass shenanigans might not have seen the day. Though I am now wondering if that would have been so bad!

His love of the arts, especially music, breathed a new life into Pakistan’s music culture and it’s been an amazing journey for our music makers since then. The Karachi Music Festival brought back the worth of Eastern classical music and the youth welcomed it all with open arms.

These nuggets from his achievements will however, not be remembered when the annals on Pakistan’s politics will be written.

Musharraf’s role in Pakistan history ― always being someone’s version of a story ― will unfortunately mostly be about the prejudiced treason charge on him, sanctioned in revenge by ruling dictators or the impeachment process which had begun when he was forced to resign or perhaps the bartered deal with US to allow indemnity and a safe exit for Musharraf in return for Asif Ali Zardari’s entry back into politics.

Some of us though will still remember that we felt safer and hopeful for Pakistan’s future in the nine years’ tenure of General Pervez Musharraf. We saw a glimpse of Pakistan without the threat of extremism in religion being used to monitor individual actions. We also saw our local arts grow, and at least that growth became an unstoppable force.

And for the first time in this country’s history, we also saw a president peacefully stepping down (August 18, 2008) and retiring to his civilian dwelling, taking his last salute from his comrades. To acknowledge the end of the road with dignity is something the current rulers or opposition leaders will never be able to even spell out.

Maheen A. Rashdi is a former magazine editor, and columnist covering social and geo-political issues and can be reached at maheenrashdi@gmail.com. All information and facts provided are the sole responsibility of the writer