Edifice that Musharraf built is sinking: Benazir

The former Prime Minister of Pakistan voices her opinion on the current crisis in her country

In the history of Pakistan, May 12 will go down as one of its darkest days. Peaceful protesters exercising their right to freedom of movement were ambushed by suspected members of the ruling coalition MQM. The police stood by as the Opposition was ambushed by prepostioned terrorists on bridges overlooking the road to the airport. Television filmed men in pools of blood dying before the cameras as ambulances were being shot at. 

This was not the first time a rally was disrupted. In 2005, when Opposition leader Zardari returned to Pakistan, thousands were arrested, baton charged and railways, buses and cars stopped or impounded. No one took notice. The neglect simply emboldened the supporters of state terrorism who let loose destruction in Karachi. Unless notice is taken now the risk is that terrorists will slowly take over different parts of the country.

Different parts of the country already appear to have been parceled out to different mafias, terrorists and hoodlums. The tribal areas have been conceded to the pro Taliban forces with whom the regime signed a peace treaty. In areas of Frontier province different groups of militants control Tank, Bannu and Malakand.

The question that is being asked is why and on whose orders the Karachi Police were largely disarmed on May 12, 2007 . Unless the judiciary asks this question, the danger is that much worse could happen the next time round for terrorists are encouraged when the state fails to act against them. Already it is said that the Karachi killings were a preview of what could happen in the general elections scheduled for later this year. It is obvious that a regime which was born of illegality can resort to every illegal means to cling onto power. 

For the first time in Pakistan’s history, members of the Higher Judiciary were not spared. When the court summoned the corp commander to seek his intervention in restoring law and order, the Corp Commander declined to attend on security grounds. Given the number of men of the armed forces the Corp Commander has under his command, it is surprising that the Corp Commander felt that he could not attend to the court summons.

To those who had lived through the bitter days of insurgency in the former Pakistani city of Dhaka, the situation was an eerie echo of those days. Just prior to the the army operation of 1970, the armed group known as Mukhti Bahini had taken control while citizens cowered at homes.

In Karachi, members of the Bar were forced to flee and take shelter. Fire was set to a part of the Bar itself. Undoubtedly the constitutional machinery irretrievably broke down. The Inspector General of Police is reported to have told the Judiciary he was “helpless” to stop the bloodshed which apparently had political cover. 

Meanwhile two days later, a key witness in the proceedings against the suspended Chief Justice was murdered. Police said that the murdered man, the Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court, was a target of bandits and a robbery attempt. His widow rejected the police claims stating that she saw police men standing in her lawn and when she cried out to them to help, they refused to come to her assistance. 

Islamabad’s slide towards anarchy and chaos can have domestic and international repercussions. Musharaf is perceived as a key ally in the war against terrorism. However, he has been unable to stop the Taliban from regrouping in the tribal areas of Pakistan nor has he been able to make the compromises necessary to secure a transition to democracy.

Against the background of the recent domestic turmoil, which includes an assassination attempt on the Interior Minister, the suspension of Pakistan’s top judge, it appears that the domestic situation is fast slipping out of the General’s hand. Whether this leads to the restoration of democracy or yet another emergency one thing is certain: the political structure that General Musharaf and his men built on the edifice of the flawed elections of 2002 was a house of sand.