US
Ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad
Pakistan's
One Step Forward, Two Backwards
By
Husain Haqqani
WASHINGTON:
The top US general in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Barno, has voiced
concern about the Pakistani military's commitment to fighting
Al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants in the country's tribal areas. This
is not the first time in recent weeks that the US has expressed
concern about General Musharraf's regime.
The
US ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has been quite
outspoken about the Pakistani generals' ability to put the Taliban
out of business. And a state department spokesman voiced concern
over the decision to condemn PML leader Javed Hashmi, Head of
the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), to 23 years in
prison for alleged 'sedition'.
Pakistani
authorities dismiss these criticisms as misunderstandings or 'interference
in Pakistan's internal affairs'. But given America's status as
General Musharraf's chief patron, the general and his associates
must pay heed to Washington's concerns. Unfortunately, the occasional
expression of concern by US officials about Pakistan's direction
does not represent a waking up to the country's deep internal
crises.
It
is simply an attempt to get General Musharraf do a little more
for the US Washington does not recognize that he presides over
a regime that does not represent positive change, in fighting
terrorism or allowing democracy to flourish. As in the case of
so many authoritarian regimes throughout the world, the US has
convinced itself that there is no alternative to General Musharraf.
And
General Musharraf is willing to bear the occasional adverse remark
or even insult as long as America continues to believe in his
indispensability to US interests and aid flows uninterrupted.
General
Musharraf's script for authoritarian rule is somewhat different
from the one of his predecessors who have ruled Pakistan in military
uniform. He allows a relatively free press, to be able to argue
that the country enjoys freedom and therefore does not need a
freely elected government. Every now and then a journalist, like
Khawar Rizvi, is charged with treason to put the fear of God among
the press corps.
A
parliament of sorts exists, though its members continue to be
harassed with corruption cases or outright violence if they do
not tow the line. The brunt of intimidation on this count is reserved
for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the PML (N). But since
neither party has its first line leaders in the country, and those
leaders have already been subjected to a vilification campaign
on charges of corruption, no one finds out about what is happening.
Opposition members of Parliament have had their businesses struck
or physically threatened on the floor of the house.
Take,
for example, the case of Chaudhry Zammarud Khan a bus owner, whose
buses have suddenly been found to catch fire while the poor MP
himself now faces terrorism charges. The murder of Sindh PPP legislator,
Abdullah Murad, continues to be a mystery as well as a lesson
to others.
It
is ironic that General Musharraf's civilian apologists have not
found the moral courage to question the use of Mafia like tactics
against political opponents. In 1992, Pakistan's current High
Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr Maleeha Lodhi, was charged
with sedition for running as a news item a poem calling for the
military overthrow of the first Nawaz Sharif government.
Dr
Lodhi was then the editor of a major English language newspaper.
I recall the entire journalist community, all major political
parties and even some individual members of the then ruling party
coming to her support. The argument everyone made was that the
sedition charge was politically motivated and that the case should
not go to court because the executive can influence Pakistan's
courts.
The
current Federal Information Minister, Sheikh Rashid, was charged
with the possession of an illegal firearm during the second stint
of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and was even convicted by a court.
But the country's political class and the intelligentsia knew
that Sheikh Rashid was actually being punished for his vicious
attacks against the Prime Minister on the floor of the National
Assembly.
The
sedition charge against Javed Hashmi is no different from the
charges against Dr Maleeha Lodhi and Sheikh Rashid In any case,
a country that has never prosecuted its many coup makers for suspending,
abrogating or arbitrarily re-writing its constitution can hardly
make a case for sedition charges being upheld in a just manner.
The injustice of keeping Mr. Asif Ali Zardari in prison for eight
years without being definitively convicted even in the military
regime's special courts is often ignored amidst the flurry of
official propaganda about corruption.
The
international community has put up with the selective repression
of General Musharraf on grounds of his cooperation in the war
against terrorism. But here too it is becoming increasingly obvious
that we are being shown only a partial picture. General Musharraf
ordered the military operation in Wana, in the tribal areas along
the Afghan border, amid propagandist fanfare.
The
operation, and General Musharraf's CNN interview claiming that
a high value target (possibly Al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman Al-Zawahiri)
might be pinned down in a village surrounded by Pakistani troops,
coincided with a high profile trip to Islamabad by US Secretary
of State Colin Powell. But first we learnt that the casualties
among official forces were much higher than those inflicted on
the tribesmen and their foreign militant guests.
Then
came the much-publicized amnesty for the tribesmen and those foreigners
who were willing to give up militancy. Now the government is backing
away from a military operation altogether though it has not come
up with an alternative, political approach that can ensure that
Pakistan's tribal regions are not a refuge for Al-Qaeda and Taliban
remnants. Nobody around the world's capitals is even asking why
General Musharraf's iron hand is reserved for his political critics
and opponents while he deploys amnesty and negotiated solutions
for alleged terrorists and militant tribesmen.
As
long as the international community continues to believe that
there is no alternative to General Musharraf and his 'one step
forward, two backwards' regime, Pakistan's politics will remain
frozen as they are. The artificial optimism of General Musharraf,
his international backers and his 'Pakistan-is-not-ready-for-democracy'
apologists notwithstanding, Pakistan's problems have multiplied
rather than diminished under the ad-hoc arrangement of the last
several years.
Improvements
in the fiscal economy have not benefited the ordinary Pakistani,
who continues to face the prospect of unemployment, poverty and
lawlessness. By all accounts, more Pakistanis live below the poverty
line today than ever before. Investment and economic growth are
at a standstill. These are certainly not times in which secretive
decision-making and political covert operations can inspire the
nation or win it friends around the world.
Pakistan
needs predictability that can only be attained through return
to rule of law, not by the whimsical system of governance that
allows General Musharraf to rule by decree and flip-flops.
Pakistan's
claim to more international support as a frontline state in the
global war against terrorism should lead to closer scrutiny of
its rulers' domestic actions, as well as Pakistan's regional and
international role.
