11-15-2007, 04:13 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Â op-ed in Deccan Chronicle,Â
<b>Fallout of Musharrafâs second coup </b>
By Dr P.C. Alexander
It may be too early to assess the impact of General Pervez Musharrafâs coup of November 3, 2007, as there is still no clear indication as to where it will lead and when and how it will end. However, certain developments relating to the coup deserve special attention.
Pakistan has witnessed several coups by military chiefs; in fact, men in khaki have ruled it for as many as 32 of the 60 years of its history as an independent nation. The coups in the past have always been on the pretext of saving the country from anarchy caused by the misgovernance and corruption of politicians. Musharraf has claimed in his autobiography, In the Line of Fire, published in 2006, that "it is not unusual in Pakistan for the general public and the intelligentsia to approach the Army chief and ask him to save the nation." According to him, "In all crises, everyone sees Pakistanâs Army as the countryâs saviour."
But the present coup by Musharraf is rightly seen by everyone not as one to save the nation, but only to save himself. He has claimed that he was forced to declare emergency in the interest of the country, but no one has been taken in by such tall claims. The people know that he staged this coup only to pre-empt the sure prospect of losing his office through the judgment of the Supreme Court, which was expected to be delivered in a couple of days. Unlike in the past, "the general public and the intelligentsia" this time chose to come out on the streets to demonstrate their anger and protest against the subversion of the Constitution and the abrogation of the rights and freedom of citizens by Musharraf and his unthinkable action in placing the Chief Justice and several judges of the Supreme Court under house arrest. For the first time in Pakistanâs history there has been a genuine uprising by the ordinary people and the intelligentsia together against a dictator, and in this process, the coup has triggered off a strong movement for democracy in the country.
<b>Equally significant is the fact that the protest against the coup has exposed the limits of the 16th century concept of sovereignty of states, and even of power, under a tight military dictatorship</b>. People have begun to realise that in the new age into which the world has emerged after the events of 9/11 in New York, the concept of national security has acquired a new dimension and that is, just as terrorism has become international, security of nations has also become international.
Danger to the security of states situated in certain sensitive regions of the world is now taken as having the potential to endanger security in the world as a whole. If Pakistan plunges into anarchy because of the confrontation between the people and the government, the gainers will obviously be the forces of militancy and terrorism already entrenched within its borders, and that is why the United States, the European Union and others who have the clout to intervene had warned Musharraf that he has to retract his steps before it becomes too late. Musharraf had announced for public consumption that he "will not take dictation from the US," but it is very clear that he had to eat his own words within a couple of days of making this heroic statement and announce that elections will be held early in January 2008.
If telephone calls from Condoleezza Rice to Musharraf were not enough to make him agree to conduct the elections as scheduled, President Bushâs telephone could convey the message more effectively. In any case, the $10 billion cheque promised earlier could pull its own weight with Musharraf, and he has fulfilled at least part of what he was asked to do by the US, though in his own way. This will not satisfy the people as elections are to be held while the country will still be under emergency.
The firm warning given by the Commonwealth to Musharraf that Pakistan will lose its membership of this organisation unless Constitutional rule is restored is another proof of the limitation of sovereignty of states in the world of today. The next few days will show how far Musharraf will go in ushering in a democratic administration in the country.
Whatever may be the hurdles to cross or the time taken for reaching the goal, Musharrafâs Coup No. II has had the unanticipated result of strengthening the case for democracy in Pakistan. In the midst of the confusion and anarchy which followed the coup by Musharraf, some very disturbing developments in certain parts of the North Western Frontier Province and Waziristan seem to have escaped the attention they deserved. A few important towns in these frontier areas have already come under the control of the jihadi and the Taliban forces who have set up governments of their own in open defiance of the government of Pakistan. A very alarming feature of these developments is that there have been several cases of surrender of Pakistanâs security forces to the militants without a fight in this region. There have also been disturbing reports that the Al Qaeda is making serious attempts to establish an Al Qaeda state in the tribal belt of Pakistan with plans for territorial accretion from both Afghanistan and Pakistan. These territories are now under the firm control of the militants of the ultra Taliban variety who have no respect for rights or liberties of the people except in the manner allowed by the fundamentalist mullahs.
A cause of special concern to India is the fact that Pakistan is withdrawing a large number of its troops posted near the Line of Control in Occupied Kashmir in order to supplement the troops engaged in putting down rebellion and mass protests elsewhere against the military regime. It is obvious that the jihadi and Taliban elements will now find it easier to step up their terrorist activities in India.
<b>A far more serious fallout of the Musharraf coup of November 2007 is the concern about the safety of the nuclear weapons now in the possession of Pakistan. In the absence of a genuine democracy with its own checks and balances and systems of accountability, there is every reason for being concerned about the safety of Pakistanâs nuclear weapons. One can only hope that normalcy will soon be established in this disturbed nation and the coups of the type which had plagued it all through its existence will become an unpleasant memory of the past never to be repeated because of the strength and vibrancy of democracy which is to be established on the debris of Musharrafâs Coup No. II. </b>
<i>Dr P.C. Alexander was the Governor of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu and is at present a member of Rajya Sabha </i>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Fallout of Musharrafâs second coup </b>
By Dr P.C. Alexander
It may be too early to assess the impact of General Pervez Musharrafâs coup of November 3, 2007, as there is still no clear indication as to where it will lead and when and how it will end. However, certain developments relating to the coup deserve special attention.
Pakistan has witnessed several coups by military chiefs; in fact, men in khaki have ruled it for as many as 32 of the 60 years of its history as an independent nation. The coups in the past have always been on the pretext of saving the country from anarchy caused by the misgovernance and corruption of politicians. Musharraf has claimed in his autobiography, In the Line of Fire, published in 2006, that "it is not unusual in Pakistan for the general public and the intelligentsia to approach the Army chief and ask him to save the nation." According to him, "In all crises, everyone sees Pakistanâs Army as the countryâs saviour."
But the present coup by Musharraf is rightly seen by everyone not as one to save the nation, but only to save himself. He has claimed that he was forced to declare emergency in the interest of the country, but no one has been taken in by such tall claims. The people know that he staged this coup only to pre-empt the sure prospect of losing his office through the judgment of the Supreme Court, which was expected to be delivered in a couple of days. Unlike in the past, "the general public and the intelligentsia" this time chose to come out on the streets to demonstrate their anger and protest against the subversion of the Constitution and the abrogation of the rights and freedom of citizens by Musharraf and his unthinkable action in placing the Chief Justice and several judges of the Supreme Court under house arrest. For the first time in Pakistanâs history there has been a genuine uprising by the ordinary people and the intelligentsia together against a dictator, and in this process, the coup has triggered off a strong movement for democracy in the country.
<b>Equally significant is the fact that the protest against the coup has exposed the limits of the 16th century concept of sovereignty of states, and even of power, under a tight military dictatorship</b>. People have begun to realise that in the new age into which the world has emerged after the events of 9/11 in New York, the concept of national security has acquired a new dimension and that is, just as terrorism has become international, security of nations has also become international.
Danger to the security of states situated in certain sensitive regions of the world is now taken as having the potential to endanger security in the world as a whole. If Pakistan plunges into anarchy because of the confrontation between the people and the government, the gainers will obviously be the forces of militancy and terrorism already entrenched within its borders, and that is why the United States, the European Union and others who have the clout to intervene had warned Musharraf that he has to retract his steps before it becomes too late. Musharraf had announced for public consumption that he "will not take dictation from the US," but it is very clear that he had to eat his own words within a couple of days of making this heroic statement and announce that elections will be held early in January 2008.
If telephone calls from Condoleezza Rice to Musharraf were not enough to make him agree to conduct the elections as scheduled, President Bushâs telephone could convey the message more effectively. In any case, the $10 billion cheque promised earlier could pull its own weight with Musharraf, and he has fulfilled at least part of what he was asked to do by the US, though in his own way. This will not satisfy the people as elections are to be held while the country will still be under emergency.
The firm warning given by the Commonwealth to Musharraf that Pakistan will lose its membership of this organisation unless Constitutional rule is restored is another proof of the limitation of sovereignty of states in the world of today. The next few days will show how far Musharraf will go in ushering in a democratic administration in the country.
Whatever may be the hurdles to cross or the time taken for reaching the goal, Musharrafâs Coup No. II has had the unanticipated result of strengthening the case for democracy in Pakistan. In the midst of the confusion and anarchy which followed the coup by Musharraf, some very disturbing developments in certain parts of the North Western Frontier Province and Waziristan seem to have escaped the attention they deserved. A few important towns in these frontier areas have already come under the control of the jihadi and the Taliban forces who have set up governments of their own in open defiance of the government of Pakistan. A very alarming feature of these developments is that there have been several cases of surrender of Pakistanâs security forces to the militants without a fight in this region. There have also been disturbing reports that the Al Qaeda is making serious attempts to establish an Al Qaeda state in the tribal belt of Pakistan with plans for territorial accretion from both Afghanistan and Pakistan. These territories are now under the firm control of the militants of the ultra Taliban variety who have no respect for rights or liberties of the people except in the manner allowed by the fundamentalist mullahs.
A cause of special concern to India is the fact that Pakistan is withdrawing a large number of its troops posted near the Line of Control in Occupied Kashmir in order to supplement the troops engaged in putting down rebellion and mass protests elsewhere against the military regime. It is obvious that the jihadi and Taliban elements will now find it easier to step up their terrorist activities in India.
<b>A far more serious fallout of the Musharraf coup of November 2007 is the concern about the safety of the nuclear weapons now in the possession of Pakistan. In the absence of a genuine democracy with its own checks and balances and systems of accountability, there is every reason for being concerned about the safety of Pakistanâs nuclear weapons. One can only hope that normalcy will soon be established in this disturbed nation and the coups of the type which had plagued it all through its existence will become an unpleasant memory of the past never to be repeated because of the strength and vibrancy of democracy which is to be established on the debris of Musharrafâs Coup No. II. </b>
<i>Dr P.C. Alexander was the Governor of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu and is at present a member of Rajya Sabha </i>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->