Giving Musharraf his due

He has guts and unfortunately, in this land of cowards, hypocrites, our people are blind to what he was able to do.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, US: This is with reference to M Ziauddin’s article “Musharraf” (January 22). I would like to point out that unlike what is mentioned in the article, the Gross Domestic Product of the country does not shoot up because of consumerism. Indeed, some industries were fundamentally restructured during General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s time. We must give due credit to the military ruler’s achievements instead of discounting his work to comply with popular, anti-Musharraf opinion, which is devoid of the truth.

There was more infrastructure put in place during Musharraf’s time than in any other time in the history of Pakistan, save the Ayub Khan era. We should not be quick to discount the achievements of Musharraf regime just because we are being forced to acquiesce to popular sentiment. One must speak and write the truth even if it does not sell.

I do agree with the writer that Musharraf is anything but a coward. He has guts and unfortunately, in this land of cowards and hypocrites, our people are blind to what he was able to do for Pakistan vis-a-vis the messy politics of former president Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Assad Hasan

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2014.

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