October issue 2006

You can shout from the rooftops. You can demonstrate on the streets. You can express your outrage through reams of newsprint. But some things simply do not change.

In Balochistan, a retired army brigadier has been appointed vice-chancellor of the Bolan University — the third such appointment after the Punjab and Quaid-e-Azam universities — despite loud protests.

In Karachi, 12,000 acres of coastal land have been sold to a Dubai-based group, by the centre, without the knowledge of the Sindh government, to construct some more multimillion rupee homes for the affluent. Meanwhile, at least 33,000 of those who were rendered homeless by the October 8 earthquake in the Northern Areas are still without roofs over their heads, thanks to the internal wranglings between ERRA and CBR, and the slow pace of compensation and reconstruction.

But that story has stayed on the sidelines. What is making the headlines is the General’s tome, In the Line of Fire. The brickbats are flying fast and furious. The Indians are accusing Musharraf of holding back the truth on Kargil, and Vajpayee is blaming him for the Agra Summit’s failure. Dr. Qadeer’s daughter maintains that Musharraf’s allegation that her father asked her to go public on Pakistan’s nuclear secrets, is “ludicrous” and Richard Armitage maintains that he was not authorised to threaten to bomb Pakistan into the Stone Age. Nawaz Sharif says he was kept in the dark about Kargil and General Ali Quli Khan denies that he ever advocated the imposition of martial law to Jehangir Karamat when Nawaz Sharif asked him to resign.

There’s a rebuttal a day and the general consensus is that Musharraf has painted himself in glowing terms and tarred everyone with shades of gray, and mostly black. But the publishers are not complaining. They are laughing all the way to the bank. And so is the General. He’s said to be richer by a million dollars plus. And has announced plans to set up a foundation for women — in the distant future.

But why wait for the distant future? Ramazan is here and now, and the President could donate to the likes of SIUT, Shaukat Khanum, MALC, SOS or even good old Edhi, all of whom have achieved small miracles in healthcare, education and social services — sectors in which the government has abdicated its responsibility.

As a matter of fact, the women of Pakistan would be quite content if the General were to sever his umbilical cord with the MMA and honour his promise to pass the Protection of Women’s Rights Bill. It would help deflect some of the criticism he currently faces for his slow progress on the path of “enlightened moderation.”

In what is a scathing indictment, the country’s premier intelligence agency, the ISI, has been accused by the Indians, the Afghans and worse, a British defence ministry report, of playing a double game, and secretly backing the MMA and fanning religious extremism — a charge Musharraf vehemently denies.

But the fact remains that the Musharraf government has allowed religious groups to ride roughshod and dictate their own terms — the most recent example being the forced closure of cinema houses in the NWFP in Ramzan. That the Blasphemy Law and the Hudood Ordinances still remain on the statute books, despite strong opposition, both domestically and internationally, is glaring testimony to this unfortunate reality.

If the General is, indeed, a modern, progressive and liberal leader, let him stand up to the mullahs — and be counted.