The Canvas

Yes! All in one article by our disposed prime minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, wrote to Washington Post on Saturday that is reproduced on MicroPakistan.

The Daily Times notes in the same article that NS sees a victory for moderate forces in the country if Musharraf holds free and fair elections. They also state he implies Musharraf would hinder them for the fear of rise of extremist forces to the assemblies of Pakistan and uses this as a gimmick to frighten western, and liberal offices. To the best of my knowledge, I don’t think Musharraf has explicitly claimed to hinder the results of the next election poll, however, there is a thought amongst the citizenry that this emergency rule is in fact a part of that scheme. Conspiracy theory mongering is our second biggest employer after Pakistan Fauj and fear drives sales.

Here are the most interesting paragraphs from our former premier, who once could not speak English on national television even if it meant his life,

Musharraf’s self-serving contention that a free vote would result in extremists coming to power is utterly flawed and intended to frighten the West. First, the people of Pakistan should have the chance to elect people they trust. My party, the Pakistan Muslim League, and Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party enjoy tremendous support across the country. Both of these parties are more progressive and forward-looking than the general’s ineffective autocracy.

Second, were there to be free and impartial elections, the world would see the rise of moderates in Pakistan. We are a moderate country. It is dictatorship that is fueling extremism. Return to the people their right to vote in free elections, and you will see the results. Musharraf and his men have turned their backs on freedom and put their lust for power over the good of the nation. They are hoping that a state of emergency will continue their control and are ignoring the fundamental damage to Pakistan.

America has always been a friend of Pakistan. It is our strategic and natural ally. I remember the good relationship I shared with President Bill Clinton during my term in office. When Musharraf’s misadventures in Kargil in 1999 brought us close to nuclear confrontation with India, I, in close consultation with Clinton, defused the situation. I remember President Clinton saying: “The world should thank Nawaz Sharif for averting a nuclear conflict between Pakistan and India.”

Surprisingly enough it is amazing to she him mention PPP’s name along side PML’s so many times. I wonder what his intentions are? Is this once arch-rival of PPP trying to bundle himself with the liberal, soft-image package that PPP has in the west? I remember the time when he would speak to the nation on national Television and curse the governments of PPP and Benazir that came prior to his. He issued several investigations into multiple accounts of fraud cases as a sign of vindication against PPP. PML used to pride themselves in those, yet what they themselves did to the country had new lows.

PML came into power with a significant majority of 2/3 last time round, and they challenged the Supreme Court, amended the constitution to favor more powers to the prime minister, and issued a committee to start working on a complete Sharia Consititution/Law for Pakistan. The last one was for his Islamic party homies who still see Pakistan as a theocracy in their dreams.

Actually Musharraf is quite right, when he says extremists will take over, as NS claims. Look at NWFP. They had elections and the next month an quasi-Sharia state was created with strict rules, and restrictions on music, art, and television. More over the local Taleban scene got a boost and now they call it their second home. The myopic policies of the province sees increased inflation and troubles in getting the basic amenities. Illiterate policy makers who understand the slightest are now making decisions that might effect the lives of people over the next 5, 10, 15 or even more years. There is a practical ban on the use of the word ‘moderate’ in that province, and is a concept laughed at! A fact that is usually used against this argument is that last elections won by PML, the Islamic parties combined received only 11% vote. But that was then, this is now, and I believe times have seriously changed.

Nawaz Sharif further says that his party is moderate which I belief is utterly wrong when in recent times he has easily found alliance in the more hardcore of conservatives like Qazi Hussain Ahmed, and the MMA. They like him, or he likes them, either ways he has support from a side of the tape that is considered ‘ultra-conservative.’ It would hence be fair to say NS is not a leading a moderate party, although he might be one himself, I don’t believe we can rely on him to ask a person as closed up as Qazi Hussain Ahmed and his friends with larger beards to sell their souls.

In this cover letter of his for the premiership of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif then tries to reminisce over the good old days of his government by bringing in the Kargil issue of 1999, using it to smear it onto Musharraf in order to show us how bad a person he is. Forgetting the fact that it was his dumb and impulsive head that told him to ‘push the button’ on the nuclear tests and send Pakistan into it’s previous state of emergency in 1998. In those days India had mounted tremendous pressure on Pakistan with regards to the Kashmir and several other issues, and his government came up with ‘a bomb’ of a reply.

It was then when he begged the nation to lend money to Pakistan as all aid from outside was stopped and all dollar accounts in Pakistan were frozen. The price of a dollar sky-rocketed and the women of the nation turned in their jewelery to the national treasury. To this day, there is no record of where that money went effectively robbing the nation of it’s trust and it’s assets all in one go!

Not to forget several higher educational institutes got blacklisted internationally and their graduates were unable to find jobs and admissions to schools outside of Pakistan. A lot of companies were scrutinized for lending money to Pakistan, and Bill Clinton stopped over at Pakistan for 1 whole hour to tell us ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’ from his world tour.

Today when we see these people vowing to serve the nation better at the same time apologizing/criticizing each other in articles like these which are nothing but mere self-advertisements, I feel ashamed and depressed for these people still haven’t learned their lesson and continue to fling arms at any given opportunity to come into power. For the people they betrayed over and over again deserve something much, much better. Not the same old ‘I am greater than him’ bullshit. And hey, the article was very, very average in it’s content and grammar.