Pakistani performers – singers and musicians - unable to get a break in their own country would come to India. Ghulam Ali, Mehdi Hassan and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan made it big once they had entertained and been appreciated by Indian audiences. It is here that their art flourished and only then were they recognised in their own country.
Gen. Musharraf was the latest of such performers. His goal though was different. He was here to impress his dwindling audiences back home with his belligerence on ‘enemy soil’ and regain relevance in Pakistani politics. One does not know whether this was audacity of hope or the harsh reality of a future imperfect of a floundering Pakistan that continues to seek enemies. After the usual bellicosity, meant for his hard line audience in Pakistan, he offered himself as the next President, provided he was made a ‘real’ president. This was a humble offer to serve the nation in any post so long as he could live in the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Many do not know that the General has been a fan of Clint Eastwood but the difference is that the General shoots from the lip. That is why he got into all sorts of tangles during his marathon and excruciatingly boring session at the India Today Conclave. It was obvious that the General does not know how to answer awkward questions except by being offensive. After he gave his rambling and muddled world view (he did refer to South America to show his breadth of vision) he talked of confidence building measures between India and Pakistan.
When it was suggested to Gen Musharaf that Pakistan make a declaration of faith by handing over Dawood Ibrahim, a clearly flustered General and after the usual evasive tactics, said even if Dawood were handed over relations would not improve. This was a tacit admission of fact. His argument was that since India was supposed to be in touch with Brahmdag Bugti, this allowed Pakistan to harbour an international criminal. Unfortunately, no one then asked him about the various Sikh extremists like Lakhbir Singh Rhode of the International Sikh Youth Federation , who continue to live under Pakistan’s loving care in Lahore or Wadhawan Singh Babbar of Babbar Khalsa International and others whose well being is supervised by the retired Lt Gen Javed Nasir, a former Director General of the ISI.
Later, he elevated himself as an arbiter between India and Pakistan but also threatened more Kargils if Pakistan were not granted what they demand. A man cannot be a peacenik and also threaten war. However, the General assured that relations could improve if Kashmir were handed over to Pakistan. Justice thy name is Pervez Musharraf. The general also pretended injured innocence about how Bangladesh got its independence – alluding to Indian intervention but conveniently omitting the fact the Pakistan Army had killed three million innocent Bangladeshis before the Indian Army stepped in.
Other contradictions featured. For instance, according the General, the ISI and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) are alike, and later said that the Army and the ISI were the centre of gravity in Pakistan. That is the core issue in Pakistan, the power of the Army as an institution and the pelf of the Pakistan Army officers. Surely, the General must know that in India neither the Army nor the RAW are centres of gravity. The people are the centre of gravity. Pervez Musharraf, imaginative with the truth, also said that terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed were born because of India. He did not add that weapons and training for the Lashkar came via the ISI and loads of Saudi money went into the Jamaat ut Dawa. The world knows this.
The one person who immediately understood what Musharraf was trying was Rajya Sabha MP Maulana Mahmood Madani. And he was quite forthright when he said that the General was beginning his career in Pakistani politics in India. Musharraf was livid with rage when the Maulana proceeded to tell the General that his gratuitous advice about how to handle problems was not only not needed it was detrimental to Muslims where the majority had defended them. A flustered angry and truculent Musharraf then accused the Maulana of hypocrisy. Yet the General’s Army and its terrorist surrogates has killed more Muslims in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan than any other country anywhere else in the world. And since it is still a work in progress, Pakistan ceased to have the right to be the Defender of the Faith a long time ago.
In his autobiography – In the Line of Fire – which is the same title as Clint Eastwood’s Academy award film about a psychopath wanting to assassinate the president, the General modestly describes himself as a statesman, qualities that were singularly absent when he answered questions about the Mumbai massacres. He did not have a single soft word of sympathy for the innocents who were killed; there was no condemnation of even the act of terrorism if not the terrorists. Instead, he launched into a tirade against the Indian media, the politicians and everyone else for this war ‘hysteria’ against Pakistan. But for decades now Pakistan has inculcated enmity and obscurantism by consistently teaching its young in madrassas and in mainstream schools jihad and hatred; leaders of various jihadi outfits have constantly spoken of the need to conquer and divide India; and, the General himself when in power had referred to India as the enemy.
Events seem to have upset the General’s ambitions to make a triumphant return to Pakistan politics as the now rejuvenated Supreme Court may want to ask a few awkward questions about the General’s unconstitutional orders in November 2007.
One wonders if he still has space in Neherwali Galli.
Source : Asian Age , 24th March 2009
Gen. Musharraf was the latest of such performers. His goal though was different. He was here to impress his dwindling audiences back home with his belligerence on ‘enemy soil’ and regain relevance in Pakistani politics. One does not know whether this was audacity of hope or the harsh reality of a future imperfect of a floundering Pakistan that continues to seek enemies. After the usual bellicosity, meant for his hard line audience in Pakistan, he offered himself as the next President, provided he was made a ‘real’ president. This was a humble offer to serve the nation in any post so long as he could live in the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Many do not know that the General has been a fan of Clint Eastwood but the difference is that the General shoots from the lip. That is why he got into all sorts of tangles during his marathon and excruciatingly boring session at the India Today Conclave. It was obvious that the General does not know how to answer awkward questions except by being offensive. After he gave his rambling and muddled world view (he did refer to South America to show his breadth of vision) he talked of confidence building measures between India and Pakistan.
When it was suggested to Gen Musharaf that Pakistan make a declaration of faith by handing over Dawood Ibrahim, a clearly flustered General and after the usual evasive tactics, said even if Dawood were handed over relations would not improve. This was a tacit admission of fact. His argument was that since India was supposed to be in touch with Brahmdag Bugti, this allowed Pakistan to harbour an international criminal. Unfortunately, no one then asked him about the various Sikh extremists like Lakhbir Singh Rhode of the International Sikh Youth Federation , who continue to live under Pakistan’s loving care in Lahore or Wadhawan Singh Babbar of Babbar Khalsa International and others whose well being is supervised by the retired Lt Gen Javed Nasir, a former Director General of the ISI.
Later, he elevated himself as an arbiter between India and Pakistan but also threatened more Kargils if Pakistan were not granted what they demand. A man cannot be a peacenik and also threaten war. However, the General assured that relations could improve if Kashmir were handed over to Pakistan. Justice thy name is Pervez Musharraf. The general also pretended injured innocence about how Bangladesh got its independence – alluding to Indian intervention but conveniently omitting the fact the Pakistan Army had killed three million innocent Bangladeshis before the Indian Army stepped in.
Other contradictions featured. For instance, according the General, the ISI and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) are alike, and later said that the Army and the ISI were the centre of gravity in Pakistan. That is the core issue in Pakistan, the power of the Army as an institution and the pelf of the Pakistan Army officers. Surely, the General must know that in India neither the Army nor the RAW are centres of gravity. The people are the centre of gravity. Pervez Musharraf, imaginative with the truth, also said that terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed were born because of India. He did not add that weapons and training for the Lashkar came via the ISI and loads of Saudi money went into the Jamaat ut Dawa. The world knows this.
The one person who immediately understood what Musharraf was trying was Rajya Sabha MP Maulana Mahmood Madani. And he was quite forthright when he said that the General was beginning his career in Pakistani politics in India. Musharraf was livid with rage when the Maulana proceeded to tell the General that his gratuitous advice about how to handle problems was not only not needed it was detrimental to Muslims where the majority had defended them. A flustered angry and truculent Musharraf then accused the Maulana of hypocrisy. Yet the General’s Army and its terrorist surrogates has killed more Muslims in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan than any other country anywhere else in the world. And since it is still a work in progress, Pakistan ceased to have the right to be the Defender of the Faith a long time ago.
In his autobiography – In the Line of Fire – which is the same title as Clint Eastwood’s Academy award film about a psychopath wanting to assassinate the president, the General modestly describes himself as a statesman, qualities that were singularly absent when he answered questions about the Mumbai massacres. He did not have a single soft word of sympathy for the innocents who were killed; there was no condemnation of even the act of terrorism if not the terrorists. Instead, he launched into a tirade against the Indian media, the politicians and everyone else for this war ‘hysteria’ against Pakistan. But for decades now Pakistan has inculcated enmity and obscurantism by consistently teaching its young in madrassas and in mainstream schools jihad and hatred; leaders of various jihadi outfits have constantly spoken of the need to conquer and divide India; and, the General himself when in power had referred to India as the enemy.
Events seem to have upset the General’s ambitions to make a triumphant return to Pakistan politics as the now rejuvenated Supreme Court may want to ask a few awkward questions about the General’s unconstitutional orders in November 2007.
One wonders if he still has space in Neherwali Galli.
Source : Asian Age , 24th March 2009
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