Former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf seems to be in hot waters after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday “accused” him in the murder of Benazir Bhutto. His government was blamed by a UN panel as early as April 2010 for failing to provide adequate security to Benazir. The panel alleged intelligence agencies and other officials hampered investigations and impeded “an unfettered search for the truth.”
According to press reports, the FIA counsel, Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali, submitted that the court would be requested to declare Musharraf a proclaimed offender if he fails to appear before it. The counsel said Musharraf’s name was included in the investigation report in the light of what the two police officials, Aziz and Shehzad, told investigators. The counsel claimed that both police officials were complying with Musharraf’s orders.
Earlier, Aziz, in his statement, claimed that the order to change Benazir's security in-charge was given by Musharraf and the crime scene was washed on his orders soon after the incident.
A case is already pending in Balochistan High Court against Musharraf for brutally killing Baloch leader and former governor of the impoverished province Nawab Akbar Bugti.
Disgraced at home for imposing emergency and harassing Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Musharraf is facing a tough time despite some good work he did - taking steps for women empowerment, playing a vital role in the “war of terror,” taking steps to curb religious extremism and building a huge road network in Tharparkar, bordering the Great Indian Desert.
But his misadventure over Kargil and the Lal Masjid episode in Islamabad which eminent American scholar Prof. Stephen Cohen says was conducted at the behest of the Chinese government brought him a bad name.
Pakistan’s top defence analyst and scholar, Dr. Hasan Askari-Rizvi, however, sees the “accusations” against Musharraf in a different manner. “The only significance of the accusations in the court of law is that he is now directly blamed for the incident but we don’t know ultimately his conviction will take place,” he told TSI.
Were there any chances Musharraf would return home? Rizvi said: “I think this decision has made the possibility of his early return remote.”
According to press reports, official sources close to the investigations said a Joint Investigation Team of FIA had tagged statements of former intelligence bureau chief Ijaz Shah and former director-general of the crisis management cell of the Ministry of Interior Brig (retd) Javaid Iqbal Cheema with the report.
They said the investigators had attached an email sent by Musharraf to Bhutto saying that her security depended on the nature of her relations with him. The email is being considered as a threat to Bhutto. The investigators have also submitted a letter written by Bhutto to Mark Siegal, a foreign journalist, saying she felt threatened by Musharraf, former Punjab Governor Pervaiz Ellahi and Ijaz Shah.
Rizvi also rejected that Musharraf can be compared with Chilean military dictator Pinochet although in all likelihood he will stay abroad under one pretext or the other. Ironically, he didn’t shy away from stating that Pakistani soldiers were being paid in dollars for killing the Taliban.
Since the Americans are very keen to eradicate terrorism from Pakistan and so far provided a hefty sum of $15 billion in military aid, the menace continues to strike civilian population. Reports also indicate pilferage.
A report published in Los Angeles Times revealed that American auditors were astonished to find millions of dollars were “spent” by Pakistan Army on a “radar” when al-Qaeda has no aeroplanes.
Mutahir Ahmed, professor at the University of Karachi and an expert on Afghanistan, said: “The so-called deal between the present PPP government and General (retired) Musharraf has now been fully exposed.” He said, “Independent analysts had long been wondering whether Musharraf was involved in Bhutto’s murder. If he is convicted, it will have far reaching implications in Pakistan as well as the entire region.” The opinion is divided among analysts.
Tauseef Ahmed Khan, a political analyst and professor of mass communication at Karachi’s Federal Urdu University, has something else to say. “There was a strong public opinion that Musharraf was involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The UN report too hinted at such involvement but transfer of power to President Asif Ali Zardari was made with the conditionality that no general, including General (retired) Musharraf, will be implicated in any case,” he said.
He further said that though there were no chances that Musharraf will return home, there was a possibility that FIA will withdraw the case.
His argument seems to carry weight. According to press reports, minutes after it was announced that the team investigating the assassination of Benazir Bhutto had named Pervez Musharraf as an accused in the case, some quarters started mounting pressures to get the name of the former military dictator removed.
Pakistan’s leading English daily Dawn reported that FIA’s joint investigative team, headed by senior police officer Khalid Qureshi, did not intentionally inform Interior Minister Rahman Malik and FIA Chief Waseem Ahmed that they were going to put Musharraf’s name in the list of accused to ensure that there is no political interference in the high-profile case. “It is shocking for me. I don’t know why they did not inform me? I might issue these officers show cause notices for doing this," Rehman Malik is reported to have said.
With 34 years of direct military rule in Pakistan, the statement of Rehman Malik should not be astonishing. It is symptomatic of the weaknesses of the democratic government despite its vast vote bank.
One may recall that Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was forced to withdraw the decision when an attempt was made to put Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) under the umbrella of Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
PPP founding chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged after a kangaroo court implicated him on dubious charges. Similarly, General Yahya Khan and his henchmen indulged in genocide in former East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) that ultimately led to the break-up of Pakistan but no general was tried in a court of law. Similarly, even the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and Prime Minister Gilani find it difficult to convict the top brass from security agencies involved in kidnapping of thousands people in Balochistan.
Democracy in Pakistan is fragile. Even though the Americans, after supporting dictatorial regimes in Pakistan, have opted to support a civilian government even if it is tainted, shadows of the worst military dictator in the chequered 63-year-old history of Pakistan hovers over the people head and is ready to devour them.
According to press reports, the FIA counsel, Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali, submitted that the court would be requested to declare Musharraf a proclaimed offender if he fails to appear before it. The counsel said Musharraf’s name was included in the investigation report in the light of what the two police officials, Aziz and Shehzad, told investigators. The counsel claimed that both police officials were complying with Musharraf’s orders.
Earlier, Aziz, in his statement, claimed that the order to change Benazir's security in-charge was given by Musharraf and the crime scene was washed on his orders soon after the incident.
A case is already pending in Balochistan High Court against Musharraf for brutally killing Baloch leader and former governor of the impoverished province Nawab Akbar Bugti.
Disgraced at home for imposing emergency and harassing Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Musharraf is facing a tough time despite some good work he did - taking steps for women empowerment, playing a vital role in the “war of terror,” taking steps to curb religious extremism and building a huge road network in Tharparkar, bordering the Great Indian Desert.
But his misadventure over Kargil and the Lal Masjid episode in Islamabad which eminent American scholar Prof. Stephen Cohen says was conducted at the behest of the Chinese government brought him a bad name.
Pakistan’s top defence analyst and scholar, Dr. Hasan Askari-Rizvi, however, sees the “accusations” against Musharraf in a different manner. “The only significance of the accusations in the court of law is that he is now directly blamed for the incident but we don’t know ultimately his conviction will take place,” he told TSI.
Were there any chances Musharraf would return home? Rizvi said: “I think this decision has made the possibility of his early return remote.”
According to press reports, official sources close to the investigations said a Joint Investigation Team of FIA had tagged statements of former intelligence bureau chief Ijaz Shah and former director-general of the crisis management cell of the Ministry of Interior Brig (retd) Javaid Iqbal Cheema with the report.
They said the investigators had attached an email sent by Musharraf to Bhutto saying that her security depended on the nature of her relations with him. The email is being considered as a threat to Bhutto. The investigators have also submitted a letter written by Bhutto to Mark Siegal, a foreign journalist, saying she felt threatened by Musharraf, former Punjab Governor Pervaiz Ellahi and Ijaz Shah.
Rizvi also rejected that Musharraf can be compared with Chilean military dictator Pinochet although in all likelihood he will stay abroad under one pretext or the other. Ironically, he didn’t shy away from stating that Pakistani soldiers were being paid in dollars for killing the Taliban.
Since the Americans are very keen to eradicate terrorism from Pakistan and so far provided a hefty sum of $15 billion in military aid, the menace continues to strike civilian population. Reports also indicate pilferage.
A report published in Los Angeles Times revealed that American auditors were astonished to find millions of dollars were “spent” by Pakistan Army on a “radar” when al-Qaeda has no aeroplanes.
Mutahir Ahmed, professor at the University of Karachi and an expert on Afghanistan, said: “The so-called deal between the present PPP government and General (retired) Musharraf has now been fully exposed.” He said, “Independent analysts had long been wondering whether Musharraf was involved in Bhutto’s murder. If he is convicted, it will have far reaching implications in Pakistan as well as the entire region.” The opinion is divided among analysts.
Tauseef Ahmed Khan, a political analyst and professor of mass communication at Karachi’s Federal Urdu University, has something else to say. “There was a strong public opinion that Musharraf was involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The UN report too hinted at such involvement but transfer of power to President Asif Ali Zardari was made with the conditionality that no general, including General (retired) Musharraf, will be implicated in any case,” he said.
He further said that though there were no chances that Musharraf will return home, there was a possibility that FIA will withdraw the case.
His argument seems to carry weight. According to press reports, minutes after it was announced that the team investigating the assassination of Benazir Bhutto had named Pervez Musharraf as an accused in the case, some quarters started mounting pressures to get the name of the former military dictator removed.
Pakistan’s leading English daily Dawn reported that FIA’s joint investigative team, headed by senior police officer Khalid Qureshi, did not intentionally inform Interior Minister Rahman Malik and FIA Chief Waseem Ahmed that they were going to put Musharraf’s name in the list of accused to ensure that there is no political interference in the high-profile case. “It is shocking for me. I don’t know why they did not inform me? I might issue these officers show cause notices for doing this," Rehman Malik is reported to have said.
With 34 years of direct military rule in Pakistan, the statement of Rehman Malik should not be astonishing. It is symptomatic of the weaknesses of the democratic government despite its vast vote bank.
One may recall that Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was forced to withdraw the decision when an attempt was made to put Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) under the umbrella of Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
PPP founding chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged after a kangaroo court implicated him on dubious charges. Similarly, General Yahya Khan and his henchmen indulged in genocide in former East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) that ultimately led to the break-up of Pakistan but no general was tried in a court of law. Similarly, even the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and Prime Minister Gilani find it difficult to convict the top brass from security agencies involved in kidnapping of thousands people in Balochistan.
Democracy in Pakistan is fragile. Even though the Americans, after supporting dictatorial regimes in Pakistan, have opted to support a civilian government even if it is tainted, shadows of the worst military dictator in the chequered 63-year-old history of Pakistan hovers over the people head and is ready to devour them.
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