Hollow Rhetoric

By Abdul Nadir, MD
Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, IL

General Musharraf, the self-proclaimed Chief Executive of Pakistan, spoke about ex-premier Nawaz Sharif’s exile to Saudi Arabia on December 19, 2000, only nine days after Sharif was literally given a red carpet welcome by the Royal Saudi family. The General wanted the nation to “have time to consider this decision, because that will lead to more objectivity”. The General, while attempting to explain that decision was not prompted by panic, and said, “I do not panic - in October, last year, I was seven minutes away from death. I am only scared of Allah”.

After putting Sharif formally in jail on November 10, 1999, the General’s government brought charges of abduction, attempted murder, hijacking and terrorism against him and his brother Shahbaz. In a lower court on April 6, 2000, Judge Jaffri sentenced Sharif to two life terms and decreed confiscation of all property, though the charges of attempted murder and kidnapping could not be substantiated. In June, 2000 Sharif was also charged of tax evasion because of his failure to document a Russian MI-8 helicopter on his income tax returns. In July,2000, Sharif was sentenced to 14 years in prison, fined $380,000 and barred from public office for 21 years. In September 2000, a prosecutor’s plea for summoning the General in court to testify to events that took place on October 11, 1999 during the hijacking of the PIA plane was dismissed by the court. Sharif’s wife, Kulsoom, demanded the release ofSharif from prison on December 6, 2000 and all of a sudden on December 10, 2000 Sharif was pardoned and exiled.

In his rhetorical speech, the General exhorted that his decision of pardoning Sharif will mark the beginning of a new era of hate-free politics in Pakistan. Paradoxically, Musharraf explicitly expressed his dislike for both Sharif and Ms. Bhutto and went on to claim that a correct decision was better than a popular one. However, he did not comment on reasons that could be cited to conclude that the decision of pardon was a correct one, particularly after thecourts had found Sharif guilty on serious charges. The General said that his decision has had a very positive reaction internationally. The New York Times reported on December 21, 2000, “What the general did not say was that by locking Mr. Sharif up in prison the military risked making him a political martyr. Only last month, Sharif and Bhutto, usually the bitterest of enemies, joined in a united front to press for a return to democracy.” Musharraf said that in international arena, extreme actions are not regarded favorably and upholding Sharif’s sentence would have brought negative economic impact on Pakistan. About 400 prison inmates were executed in Texas in 1999 after the jury had found them guilty and not many ripples of dissent were seen in the United States where majority believe that you reap what you sow.

In order to pacify the disgruntled and shocked Pakistani citizens, General Musharraf outlined in detail that assets of Sharif have been confiscated, although he also admitted that he could not touch Sharif’s foreign assets because of lack of proof of illegality of those monies. Forgetting that General Zia even after physically eliminating Bhutto could not stop eventually his daughter Benazir to become Prime Minister of Pakistan immediately after Zia’s death, Musharraf went on, “Let us see when they will return. I am here and you are here.” He also assumed that the Sharif family would stick to guarantees of not indulging in politics or criticism of the Pakistani government.

The General ended his speech by saying that he is selfless in his mission for Pakistan and with Allah’s guidance he would succeed. He hoped that with a less than thirty-minute rhetoric, he had put a lid to all gossip relative to Shairf’s exile. It seems that the General believes that every Pakistani citizen living in Pakistan or abroad is as simple minded as he himself is. Only time wouldl tell if his decision was the correct one and only Allah will provide Pakistan with a far-sighted leader who would improve the image of Pakistan internationally.