Kamran Shafi

The writer is a retired army officer and a freelance columnist

kshafi1@yahoo.com.uk

Let me say at the outset that I am a great and unashamed admirer of General Musharraf's, that I pray constantly for his success, his long life. Let me say also that whilst I have harshly criticised his government on many an occasion, just so that the message gets there loud and clear, I still think he is one of the very few good leaders that Pakistan has had. But what is this thing about the elections in October? What is this thing about the "soft" state? What is this shameful thing about Mansur-ul-Haque being released?

So then, elections are definitely being held come October. Are we to believe, then, that the military government has succeeded in what it set out to do when it assumed power - to make Pakistan a better place for its people? Has the police been reformed even a teensy-weensy bit? The bureaucracy? Are the civic services working any better? Are our cities any the cleaner? Our villages any the safer? Have the thieves and the robbers who looted the national treasury been held accountable? Have those that looted the people, such as the Gujrat Mafia, been brought to book? Are the country's borders safe, so that an exercise like an election can be carried out? Is the war on domestic terrorism won? Have the obscurantists been expelled from their positions of power? Have the Qabza Groups been taken to task? What sort of elections will these be please, when except for some few changes for the better, the country is as much at sea as it was when the worthless Nawaz Sharif was overthrown? What sort of elections will these be, when Laat Sahib Punjab General Shiekh Khalid Maqbool, is reported to be bending muscle and sinew to bring back the worthless Shahbaz Sharif, whilst others within the government are reported to be working overtime, trying to keep the People's Party out?

Which great milestones have we reached, that an election is being considered? Or is it the case that the many self-servers who surround(ed) the General, and who don't have a chance in hell of winning a single seat in a fair election open to all parties, are whispering more nonsense into his ears? Has our General received advice that by bringing in an "elected" government, the costs of siding with the Americans (a position that I have supported, and still do support, mind) can be spread around, that it will then not only be on his head? Let me disabuse him of this immediately: "Sir, the die has been cast; you have done what you should have done; the buck has already stopped at your desk. May God keep you in His care." Or is this simply another Pakistan-style cop-out - what the worthless people around the worthless Nawaz Sharif were widely known to refer to as "mitti pao, Mian Saab Ji"? Is this government "mitti-paoing" too? Is it walking away too, and leaving Pakistan to wallow in the mud pit in which we had hit "rock-bottom" - remember Mein General?

What sort of elections, what sort of government will they throw up? Will Mohammedmian Soomro, the Sindh governor be nudged into the prime minister's house; with the Gujrat Mafia, the sons of two late Generals (no prizes for guessing who they are, sorry) who have so much to explain as their fabled riches, and other such assorted, as his ministers? Maybe even the quite brilliant Sartaj Aziz, the man who has the dubious distinction of ruining both, Pakistan's economy, and its foreign relations? Maybe even Mushahid (Mandela) Hussain, who is credited with saying to the worthless Nawaz Sharif, "Mian Saab Ji, Musharraf layee tae Rathore (the PM's House SP security) hi kafi aye", as the dolt was planning his foolish move against the army Chief? Does the President really think that because he will himself sit in the Presidency (may he be President for fifteen years, not five), that he can get the job done through this tried and tested and failed lot? Does he really think that this lot will serve him, and the gentlemanly Mohammedmian faithfully? Is Mohammedmian, indeed, thought to be a credible counter to the People's Party in Sindh? Has no one learnt anything at all from all of our country's travails?

And what is this report in our newspapers of January 30th: Quote. President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday acknowledged Pakistan was a "soft state" lacking writ of the government with poor law and order situation. Addressing the Darbar of Punjab Police at District Police Lines, the president said the government was trying its best to establish writ of government. He pointed out that poor law and order situation was hampering smooth progress of the country. The president elucidated the "soft state" as a country with deteriorating law and order situation and lacking writ of government. He said he himself and international community rated Pakistan as a soft state.

"In Pakistan, law breaking is considered a prestige point and it is regarded as a symbol of power by the influential and resourceful people. Every law enacted in Pakistan is neither followed in letter and spirit nor there is any check on such violations which has aggravated the situation ...I am constrained to think one thousand times before signing any ordinance owing to the fear of its open violation and improper implementation. Implementation of the proposed laws in letter and spirit has become a big challenge for me in this situation," he said. Unquote.

This is what the most powerful man in Pakistan says, to the brutes of the Punjab Puls! Will that admission of helplessness not spur them on to greater savagery, even greater thievery? Should the General not have announced the sacking of the ministers and officials responsible for helping make Pakistan a "soft" state at the police Darbar? And then given Punjab's finest a piece of his mind, for most times they are hand-in-glove with the law-breakers? Yes, Pakistan is a "soft" state, into and out of which, has wandered every malcontent, every deviant, every petty criminal, every homeless bum. Look at the beauty called Reid, the shoe-bomber. How in heavens name did he get a visa? Who issued him one, has anyone tried to find out? What recommended him to our visa officers? His appearance?

But why are we so surprised? Why, Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of the Land of the Pure are themselves known to have recommended drug smugglers to visit our poor country as "official guests"! I refer, of course, to that rascal Nanguande of the great country of Equatorial Guinea who was caught red-handed trying to smuggle heroin worth thirteen million dollars into Madrid, from whence he got his "official guest" visa! Why are we so surprised? Of course Pakistan is a soft touch - every body doing exactly as they please with the government looking on helplessly.

Finally, the scoundrel Mansur. The treatment the man got at the hands of the Americans will serve as more of a lesson to others who might steal Pakistani money and hide in the US, than the "soft" treatment he got at the hands of our "soft" country. At least the Americans put him into bright yellow prison dungarees, and chained him hand and foot in manacles and shackles. We just let him go free after striking a distasteful "plea-bargain" with him, to enjoy his huge riches on some palm-bedecked tropical island.

Every single day brings more opprobrium onto our "soft" country. If it is Reid one day, a foreign reporter gets kidnapped the next. But, elections we must have! As if they are the be-all, the end-all. No, my dear sirs, not this way; not until Pakistan remains a "soft" state. Have elections by all means, but not until you have reconciled the country; not until you put together a credible Truth and Reconciliation Commission which alone should have the power to disqualify, or and indeed, "qualify" politicians. And please, graduates for this assembly and intermediates for that, is the most undemocratic of all the nonsense that General Naqvi could pull out of his magician's hat. Remember that Nawaz Sharif was reported to be a law graduate. It is crooks you have to keep out of politics, not non-graduates.