Raju Korti
I have always believed that for all the sadistic and pernicious streak evident in their demeanor and speeches, Pakistani politicians are far more predictable and less chameleonic than their counterparts elsewhere. Two parallel events as recently as yesterday buttress my argument. One, the open support of 26/11 mastermind Hafeez Saeed by former Pakistan dictator Pervez Musharraf and the other a word of praise for Modi from cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. That both are adversaries is not germane at this point.
After presiding over his country's army for years and riding rough shod on all democratic institutions, Musharraf, who has had slew of cases against him, lives a palatial life in Dubai. In one of his many enlightenments in self-exile, Musharraf has admitted that Saeed "is involved in Kashmir" and supports the LeT to "suppress the Indian army in Kashmir".
Ever since he has fled to Dubai, Musharraf has not been able to reconcile to the thought of himself without his military undies. The politician in him has quickly latched on to an apparent scenario where the strident clerics are rapidly gaining ground. Saeed is anticipating a drastic change in the durability of country's parliamentary configuration with Imran Khan likely to queer the pitch. If a coalition government with a radical right is represented in large numbers, India can kiss the chances of rapprochement good bye.
Saeed has sensed his best chance and has approached the United Nations to drop the "Global Terrorist" tag against his name which has understandably rankled the United States because it doesn't want this configuration to go topsy turvy. It is here that Musharraf becomes more than obvious. Having licked enough from the American asses during his rule, he was also instrumental in putting Saeed in a house arrest. A house arrest in Pakistan simply means that terror masterminds can work their devious minds with state hospitality. Musharraf who had been vehemently denying the army's support to "non-State actors" now realizes he and Saeed can leverage each other.
Having announced a grand coalition of 23 parties, Musharraf is desperately angling for another of his crooked stint and with Nawaz Sharif's PML looking at a possible electoral rout, chances are might he might well be in the reckoning but Imran may prove to be a thorn in his flesh. If the Parliamentary representation of radical Islamic parties goes up as dramatically in 2018 as it has been in a recent bye-election, it can only be conjectured what it will do to the Army and the battles it has been fighting. It is possible that these parties may remain divided and their influence might be checkmated by PML but that is subject to Sharif's party managing to retain its toehold. In all this maze, what should be of consequence, particularly to India, is what if Saeed becomes part of the next government.
Now for Imran Khan. The Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader has publicly admitted that he admires Modi as a politician and "in the last three years, he hasn't heard the Indian PM ranting against Pakistan". In the cacophony of political choruses, Imran has chosen to play with the straight bat by saying that "we fought three wars with India and learnt nothing. We still indulge in proxy wars." His contention that resumption of cricket ties with India will serve as some sort of a confidence building measure sounds good in theory but poor in practice. Cricket is just another turf for proxy wars.
This is what I wrote about Imran Khan in my blog in Sept 2016:
A notable characteristic of Khan's persona that I have noticed is the opportunist and turncoat in him which surfaces as and when political circumstances suit him. His electoral plank cleverly tries to strike a balance between religious dogma and liberal economics which is a red herring for the poverty and many-other-things-stricken Pakistan.
And this is what I wrote about Musharraf in April 2013:
For his sheer propensity for the holier than thou, one needs to hand it to former president and general Pervez Musharraf. If you ignored the man's chameleonic character, Musharraf, who fled Pakistan to return after four years of "self imposed exile", has proclaimed with his usual bluster that "I am among those people who think of the country and the citizens." His precise timing to return to his troubled homeland shows just that, albeit in a contradictory manner.
Behind the army demeanor, there lurks a hard-core politician. Aware of the rebuffs that dot his path, he has already met with a few. His nomination papers were rejected for his acts of "reason and corruption", a clause Indian electoral system could well draw from. But howsoever Musharraf wants to propagandize his love for Pakistan, no one is hoodwinked into believing that and the man has landed back on his home soil because he hardly had any option. He is obviously trying to make a virtue of his compulsion.There are a string of cases lined up against him. Having trampled all institutions during his cleverly manipulative regime, he is everybody's burden. Elevating such a man at the helm again is fraught with the consequences Pakistani people may not try to experiment with.
Take it. This is a do-or-die battle for Musharraf. He will be consigned to the dustbin of history if his outfit fails to come to power.Musharraf and Imran have their political compulsions within the framework of their ideologies. However, at the end of the day, it is Pakistan. Musharraf or no Musharraf. Imran or no Imran!
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| Toss up between Musharraf or Imran |
After presiding over his country's army for years and riding rough shod on all democratic institutions, Musharraf, who has had slew of cases against him, lives a palatial life in Dubai. In one of his many enlightenments in self-exile, Musharraf has admitted that Saeed "is involved in Kashmir" and supports the LeT to "suppress the Indian army in Kashmir".
Ever since he has fled to Dubai, Musharraf has not been able to reconcile to the thought of himself without his military undies. The politician in him has quickly latched on to an apparent scenario where the strident clerics are rapidly gaining ground. Saeed is anticipating a drastic change in the durability of country's parliamentary configuration with Imran Khan likely to queer the pitch. If a coalition government with a radical right is represented in large numbers, India can kiss the chances of rapprochement good bye.
Saeed has sensed his best chance and has approached the United Nations to drop the "Global Terrorist" tag against his name which has understandably rankled the United States because it doesn't want this configuration to go topsy turvy. It is here that Musharraf becomes more than obvious. Having licked enough from the American asses during his rule, he was also instrumental in putting Saeed in a house arrest. A house arrest in Pakistan simply means that terror masterminds can work their devious minds with state hospitality. Musharraf who had been vehemently denying the army's support to "non-State actors" now realizes he and Saeed can leverage each other.
Having announced a grand coalition of 23 parties, Musharraf is desperately angling for another of his crooked stint and with Nawaz Sharif's PML looking at a possible electoral rout, chances are might he might well be in the reckoning but Imran may prove to be a thorn in his flesh. If the Parliamentary representation of radical Islamic parties goes up as dramatically in 2018 as it has been in a recent bye-election, it can only be conjectured what it will do to the Army and the battles it has been fighting. It is possible that these parties may remain divided and their influence might be checkmated by PML but that is subject to Sharif's party managing to retain its toehold. In all this maze, what should be of consequence, particularly to India, is what if Saeed becomes part of the next government.
Now for Imran Khan. The Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader has publicly admitted that he admires Modi as a politician and "in the last three years, he hasn't heard the Indian PM ranting against Pakistan". In the cacophony of political choruses, Imran has chosen to play with the straight bat by saying that "we fought three wars with India and learnt nothing. We still indulge in proxy wars." His contention that resumption of cricket ties with India will serve as some sort of a confidence building measure sounds good in theory but poor in practice. Cricket is just another turf for proxy wars.
This is what I wrote about Imran Khan in my blog in Sept 2016:
A notable characteristic of Khan's persona that I have noticed is the opportunist and turncoat in him which surfaces as and when political circumstances suit him. His electoral plank cleverly tries to strike a balance between religious dogma and liberal economics which is a red herring for the poverty and many-other-things-stricken Pakistan.
And this is what I wrote about Musharraf in April 2013:
For his sheer propensity for the holier than thou, one needs to hand it to former president and general Pervez Musharraf. If you ignored the man's chameleonic character, Musharraf, who fled Pakistan to return after four years of "self imposed exile", has proclaimed with his usual bluster that "I am among those people who think of the country and the citizens." His precise timing to return to his troubled homeland shows just that, albeit in a contradictory manner.
Behind the army demeanor, there lurks a hard-core politician. Aware of the rebuffs that dot his path, he has already met with a few. His nomination papers were rejected for his acts of "reason and corruption", a clause Indian electoral system could well draw from. But howsoever Musharraf wants to propagandize his love for Pakistan, no one is hoodwinked into believing that and the man has landed back on his home soil because he hardly had any option. He is obviously trying to make a virtue of his compulsion.There are a string of cases lined up against him. Having trampled all institutions during his cleverly manipulative regime, he is everybody's burden. Elevating such a man at the helm again is fraught with the consequences Pakistani people may not try to experiment with.
Take it. This is a do-or-die battle for Musharraf. He will be consigned to the dustbin of history if his outfit fails to come to power.Musharraf and Imran have their political compulsions within the framework of their ideologies. However, at the end of the day, it is Pakistan. Musharraf or no Musharraf. Imran or no Imran!
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