PEOPLE'S HATE: MUSHARRAF'S FATE

As the days go by, the Pak watchers are keenly seeing how  Parwez  Musharraf was so wrong in his decision of returning to his native country, with over optimism of awaiting huge welcome from his countrymen, who, according to him were hoping that he alone could pull the Pak chestnut out of fire. The lukewarm reception on March 24, at Karachi airport was enough to cause adequate depression in the ex-dictator. If it was possible, he could have run back to Riyadh. He had put his head inside a gap from which he could not extricate himself. Instead there was every possibility of jumping into the bonfire.

We have information that very recently, the British Council had conducted a survey to determine the political preference of Pakistani youth. By far, the result was shocking. 35 to 40% of them expressed faith in Sharia Rule. Almost a similsr percentage favoured military takeover. Only about 15 to 20% favoured democracy. Musharraf should have realized that in a country where democratic youth are such a minuscule, he was willingly heading for a deathtrap. His predecessor military dictator, had ensured that the elected Prime Minister Z.A. Bhutto was not only dethroned but after a summary trial hanged as well. He himself is having a similar guilt of getting killed Benazir Bhutto and the tribal leader Akbar Bugti. Forget these crimes, the judiciary will never be kind to him for a single crime of dismissing and detaining 60 judges under a hastily declared emergency. To cap these all, the terrorists, led by Pak Taliban are eagerly waiting for eliminating him.

The secret deal of 2004, under which the USA was allowed to bomb tribal areas, contiguous to Afghanistan, was inked by him. He kept it secret from the Pak people. When the New York Times  recently exposed the deal, he had no escape route but to acknowledge. Will the country pardon him? We understand the heavy losses Pak army suffered in Kargil misadventure. It is now an open secret that Musharraf, who had welcomed Vajpayee in Lahore for peace talk, had stealthily crossed into Indian side of Kargil and passed a night with his armymen to boost their morale. Now the same country asks him to give reply for the losses in men, materials and honour.

So long one is in  power, he has long hands to tide over any awkward developments. The same man, without power, finds that the same mistakes had assumed huge proportions, enough to bring retribution for  the perpetrator.