Low desk-thumping greets spirited words of a trio

Not many persons sitting in national assembly were keen to discuss 'historic charge-sheeting' of former dictator.

While writing this column, I could yet not find out whether the ‘hawkish-looking’ position that the trio of Achakzai, Khawaja Asif and Pervaiz Rashid took in the national assembly regarding the case of General (retd) Musharraf surfaced after an approving nod from Nawaz Sharif. One thing has been too obvious, though: not many persons sitting in this house on whatever benches were so keen to discuss the “historic charge-sheeting” of the former dictator Monday morning.

The anxiously awaited decision of the Special Court related to the issue of his travelling abroad, ostensibly with a humanely understandable desire to visit an old and hospitalised mother, was being announced precisely at the moment when the national assembly began its sitting ninety minutes behind schedule.

Condoning the compulsion of going through the question hour, the government also tried to act business like by coming straight to legislate on a relatively trivial matter. Dr Shirin Mazari tried hard to block its passage, but with the specific intent of blocking foreign companies’ involvement in digital mapping of Pakistan.

While the house was rushing through the passage of this law, Mehmud Khan Achakzai left his seat for sitting next to Pervaiz Rashid. After finishing talking to him, he also exchanged whispers with Khawaja Asif and quietly went back to his seat. Finally, he asked for the floor to express joy over the “historic decision of March 31.” As a diehard democrat, he hardly surprised a person for doing this.

His speech took a dramatic turn, when he came to regret over the silence of politicians and civil society. He strongly felt that all of them should have stood up in firm defence of judges hearing the Musharraf’s case. The previous set of lawyers had continued to act rude and provocative to these judges, but they appeared as if abandoned by hardcore politicians and fierce representatives of civil society. After the regret came the hard part, where Achakzai spoke plainly for stressing the point that everyone is presumed equal before the law. No one should ask for special treatment for being once the commander of the armed forces.

While not wanting to sound heartless, Achakzai fully empathised with the deteriorating health of Musharraf’s mother and firmly forwarded the position that she should be transferred to Pakistan for appropriate treatment by an “air ambulance” that the government should provide.

The idea of arranging an air ambulance might not have earned any worth, if Mehmood Khan Achakzai had suggested it like a weighty but non-government member of this house. As the defence minister, Khawaja Asif owned it and then Pervaiz Rashid described it as the official gesture by the government of Pakistan.

The trio if Achakzai, Khawaja Asif and Pervaiz Rashid certainly sounded very firm and committed to assert that position that Pakistan had finally reached a state where no one could dare contemplate usurping power via extra-constitutional means. The spirited words they used for asserting the said message did not trigger much hearty desk thumping. The historic path-dependency of the elected politicians appeared embarrassingly loud and clear. Yet both Mehmood Khan and Khawaja Asif preferred to vend the feeling as if merely a “spineless set of media persons habitually addicted to massage egos of the military dictators was essentially responsible for spreading confusion regarding the fate of General Musharraf.” Khawaja Asif rather went a step further by strongly asserting that the military and the political elite of Pakistan remained on “the same page when it comes to defend and promote the democratic system”. And there was no pressure from any foreign country either for bailing out the former dictator.

Personally, I might prefer trusting the defence minister, but the cold reality remains that most people with right political access and reach in Pakistan continue to view the happenings of March 31 as win-win type way out for all parties involved in Musharraf’s case.

Through intense whispers the friends and supporters of the former president and COAS have certainly succeeded in building up the story that “historic happens of March 31” were somehow connected with the gift of 1.5 billion dollars that quietly came to Pakistan’s official kitty by a “friendly country which does not want to be named.”

After listening to the spirited speeches by a trio of diehard democrats, one would now want to disregard the plethora of wishful sounding scenarios that are being spread regarding the fate of General Musharraf. My very own ‘path dependency’ compels me not to commit anything firmly in the said context, however.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2014.