In Pakistan, When Will We Learn Enough From Our History to Avoid Repeating It?

By Mahjabeen Islam-Husain

It was indeed an interesting December trip to Pakistan. The strange thing was that so much had happened and yet nothing much seemed to have changed. Pakistan’s new regime installed itself in October 1999, but the enthusiasm, hope and energy that had surfaced in Pakistan’s people already appears to have waned. To the superficial Western observer, democracy is the panacea of all ills and General Pervez Musharraf must come up with a timetable for its speedy return. The irony is that Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, the country’s two democratically elected prime ministers, may have the unique dishonor of history regarding their respective incumbencies as the “Pillage of Pakistan.”

General Musharraf’s regime came forth with chest-thumping promises that by forcing all loan defaulters to repay their debts the military government would rid Pakistan of its reliance on foreign charity. The amount owed the people was $4 billion, but by the Nov. 16 deadline only 5 percent had been recovered.

The government set up the National Accountability Bureau, headed by Lt. General S. Amjad Hussain, known now as “General NAB,” and a tough law was promulgated to arrest loan defaulters. Of the 300 defaulters short-listed, however, only 30 were arrested. Some of the defaulters were already in custody, namely deposed Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and his kitchen cabinet. Amusingly, Saifur Rahman, the Ehtesab (Accountability) Bureau chief of the Sharif regime, and Sharif himself are among the top 10 defaulters, based on the amount looted.

General NAB is going after the assets of the detained defaulters, an arduous task, for the wily ones had either spent the loot or transferred it into untraceable nooks. Liquidation of assets is a time-consuming process, and actually is like getting blood from a turnip. The still free defaulters, General NAB says, have fled the country.

So most of the euphoria of the people has lost its fizz, and the only thing to snare their attention now is the upcoming trial of Sharif and his kitchen cabinet. The similarity between Sharif’s situation and that of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 20 years ago is eerie.

Both were elected democratically, and both passed over several generals to install their favorites, namely Pervaz Musharraf and Zia ul-Haq. The selected generals then deposed their patron bosses, and in both cases government officials close to the rulers turned state’s witness in the cases against them—Masood Mahmood in the case of Bhutto and former aviation chief Ameenullah Choudhry in the case of Sharif. Sharif’s lead defense attorney, Ejaz Batalvi, was the prosecutor in the case of Bhutto. A whole host of countries had pleaded for clemency for Bhutto, and the United States and United Kingdom now spearhead the drive on behalf of Sharif.

Most of the euphoria of the people has lost its fizz.

Sharif had set up the ATCs or Anti-Terrorism courts and, irony of ironies, he is now to be tried under their aegis, with the charges being criminal conspiracy, hijacking and waging and abetting war against Pakistan. However, the irregularities of the Musharraf regime are now coming to the fore and make one lament Pakistan’s persistent ill luck with its governance.

One and a half months after the arrest of Sharif and his cronies, the military regime, under a presidential ordinance, amended the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 1997 to include the specific offenses with which Sharif is charged. Previously the ATCs did not have jurisdiction for the said offenses.

The amendment is claimed by Sharif lawyers to be “Nawaz-specific,” aimed mainly to try him in a speedier time frame than would be possible under a magistrate or sessions judge.

It is rumored that not only will the trial be speedy, but that the media will have access to its proceedings. Perhaps the intent of the Musharraf regime is different, but it is hard not to think that it is political expediency.

Cases of military high-handedness are also surfacing. The junta claims that it will maintain freedom of the press. In low-profile areas, however, journalists are being victimized for factual reporting.

A case in point is that of Zulfiqar Memon, who was arrested in Islamabad, where he had gone to protest police harassment of journalists in his hometown of Thatta. He was thereafter tortured to death.

Another case is that of Rana Sanaullah Khan, a former Punjab assemblyman, and member of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML). He delivered a speech at the home of a fellow PML member which apparently had anti-army tone and content.

Two days later he was arrested, taken to a remote area, given a severe whipping, and then returned to jail. He was not committing or planning a terrorist activity.

High-Level Acquiescence

These severe punishments are totally disproportionate to the crime, if such activities are crimes at all. Indeed, it is a sad day for any nation when free speech is punished with torture and death. Sadder yet is that punishment such as this is not meted out without acquiescence at the highest levels. If General Musharraf does not desire the absolute disillusionment of a people whose nerves are raw and patience low, this must stop.

The army claims to be the only effectively functioning institution in Pakistan. This is probably true. And yet as we all must accept our individual mortality, so must all regimes know that, regardless of the mode, they all eventually bite the dust.

Musharraf has stated that he will stay until his goals are reached. That is as tenuous a statement as setting a goal for weight loss by a lifelong dieter. Pakistan’s past rulers have indulged in two modes of behavior: either attainment and consolidation of absolute power, or plundering Pakistan. The personal wealth bug does not seem to have bitten Musharraf. Unfortunately, the historical alternative is not pretty either.

Our driver on this last trip, Saiful Mulook, predicted ominously that Sharif would be hanged and his cronies would get life imprisonment. However, journalists in Pakistan say that the case against Sharif is full of holes. They note, however, that in Pakistan plugging the holes and “inventing” charges and creating retroactive legislation is terribly easy, and thus Sharif is truly in dire straits.

How healthy is a society that repeatedly executes its leaders? It is said that history repeats itself until we learn a lesson. I don’t think we ever will.

Dr. Mahjabeen Islam-Husain is a Sunni Muslim Pakistan-born family practice physician living in the Midwest. She and her husband, a Pakistan-born Shi’i Muslim who also is a physician, have three daughters and both are active in their local Islamic communities and in national Muslim-American affairs. She may be reached via e-mail at tennisjunkie@pol.net