An Officer and a Gentleman

Musharraf may have ousted a ‘democratic’ govt, but he could lay a better claim to that title by his vision and inclusive leadership

Islamabad: An eventful era came to an end as former President Gen. (retd) Pervez Musharraf was laid to rest in an army graveyard in Karachi with full Military protocol on Tuesday, February 8. He died on account of a rare disease on February 5, in Dubai, where he was living in self-exile. His body was flown back to Karachi, and his funeral was largely attended by serving and retired army officers, politicians, relatives, friends and admirers.

General Muharraf’s life could be bifurcated into two parts — first as a daring commando, and second as a military ruler and President of Pakistan. His career as a soldier was spotless and remarkable in which he served the motherland by taking part in two wars — 1965 and 1971, and led the Armed Forces from the front as Chief of Army Staff during the Kargil conflict. As an officer of the Special Services Group of the Pakistan Army, General Musharraf took part in various operations and proved his mettle through his gallantry and courage.

His career as a military ruler, following the bloodless military coup of October 12 1999, was also remarkable in many ways. Charges by critics notwithstanding, he proved himself an honest leader and a better democrat than many of the career and corruption-stained politicians.

Bol News talks to some leading personalities about General Musharraf.

Javed Jabbar

Former Information Minister

“Although he came to power as a result of a military coup in October 1999, in so many ways General Pervez Musharraf’s demeanour was that of a democrat. He used to entertain divergent points-of-views in cabinet meetings of cabinet members, including mine, and most of the time our point-of-view on whatever issue was under debate, would be accepted.

“General Pervez Musharraf was an ardent supporter of media freedom as he believed in freedom of speech and expression, and under his direction I worked on formulating a media regulatory authority. I resigned as a member of his cabinet after developing some differences with him, but even then I worked on formulating a media regulatory authority, and through an ordinance it was introduced in 2002. He allowed the opening up of dozens of media channels and the freedom given to the media during his rule is a rare commodity, even under democratic governments.

“As President of Pakistan, he was open for debate and dialogue on policy issues, and had given a free hand to his cabinet members. He gave us a local bodies system and empowered people at the grassroots level. He made it mandatory to allocate 33 per cent of the seats in the local bodies to women, while enhancing the representation of women in the national and provincial legislatures to 17 percent. To empower the minorities, he allocated seats for them at all tiers of the elected bodies, and at the same time  minorities’ members could also contest the elections on general seats. “On the cultural front too he did remarkable things for the promotion of art and culture. He took special measures to strengthening art and cultural centres across the country.

“To provide a strong foundation for true democracy in the country, he strengthened the Election Commission of Pakistan and provided it both, administrative and financial autonomy. “He made revolutionary changes in the juvenile laws and introduced jail reforms. Unfortunately, he was compromised on the political front, which finally led to his decline and ouster from power. It was due to some of his wrong political decisions due to which I had also resigned from his cabinet.”

Fawad Chaudhry

Senior Vice-President PTI

“Former President General Pervez Musharraf was a true soldier, patriot and a great leader. We have lost a man who was proud to be Pakistani, who coined the slogan ‘Pakistan first,’ and taught the nation a lesson to be proud of their nationality. “I had a relation of respect and reverence with him and he treated me like a family member. I greatly admired his democratic soul, which was always open to debate and discussion on issues, and that was the reason for his 9 year rule which could pass all tests of democracy.

“By bringing down Nawaz Sharif’s government in October 1999 through a military coup, General Pervez Musharraf actually rid the country of sham democracy. General Musharraf had realised that under the Sharifs and Zardaris,  true democratic order could not be established in the country, and that was the reason he had them thrown out of power.

“During his rule the media had complete freedom, which now seems a dream under the so-called democratic government in the country. He encouraged the diversity of opinion during his rule and he practiced democratic norms. One can only dream of the civil liberties available to the people in those days as compared to now, with the [PDM] incumbent government where people can’t even raise their voice for their due rights, where all voices of dissent are silenced by putting those expressing them behind bars.

“Some people criticise General Pervez Musharraf for joining the United States’ War on Terror in the post-9/11 era, but I think he had no other choice at that time as saying no to America could have had serious consequences for the country. ‘The local bodies system he introduced in the country was ideal, and the development done under that system of governance at the grass-roots level has no parallel in the country’s history. “General Pervez Musharraf was proud to be a patriot and he was a dyed-in-the-wool soldier. He always took pride in mentioning the sacrifices laid down by his family in the Pakistan Movement. My heart goes to his family for this irreparable loss because a man with such leadership qualities is born after centuries.”

Dr. Ashfaque Hasan Khan

Leading economist

“Former President General Pervez Musharraf was a great patriot and a brave soldier of Pakistan. With his demise we have lost a true soldier, a great leader and a patriot, who served the country in various capacities. First he served the country as a soldier and later as a leader who steered the country out of precarious conditions in the post 9/11 era. I had the opportunity and privilege to work under his leadership closely for 9 long years. Although he came into power through a military coup, in his dealings with colleagues and subordinates and in his demeanour, he was a true democrat and a statesman. He was always open to differences of opinion and gave a patient hearing to divergent viewpoints in official meetings before taking final policy decisions.

“Under his leadership Pakistan successfully came out of the IMF Programme much ahead of time. The country’s economy thrived during his rule and almost all sectors witnessed steady growth, and by-and-large the overall living standard of the people improved considerably.

“The inflow of foreign investment, especially in the services sector, was remarkable in those days, while the country had extremely good relations with the United States, China and especially the Muslim World, which he used smartly for the welfare of the people. His commitment to the Kashmir cause was also known to all as he had made serious efforts for the resolution of the dispute through negotiations. He was a caring personality and always looked after the families of those who had laid down their lives in the line of duty.

“My heartfelt condolences to the family of late General Musharraf as it was not their loss alone, but that of the whole nation, who have lost a great leader and a great soldier. May Allah bless him, rest his soul in eternal peace, and grant courage to his family and all those who loved him to bear this irreparable loss.”

Ejazul Haq

Pakistan Muslim League (Zia) President

“First of all, my condolences to the family, relatives and friends of late General (retd) Pervez Musharraf — a soldier par excellence. He had actively participated in the 1965 and 1971 wars with India, and had served in the Special Services Group and remained part of various operations of the Pakistan Army.

“His commitment to the Pakistan Army can be judged well from the fact that he named his son after one of his colleagues who was martyred in the 1971 war.

“In my view, his coming to power following a military coup in October 1999 was an accident. Actually the coup was led by his fellow generals. At the time of the coup he was flying back from Sri Lanka and by the time his plane landed, the Nawaz Sharif’s government had already been toppled.

“In his first three years in power as Chief Executive of the country, General Musharraf’s focus remained on structural reforms in various sectors. He introduced a very effective local bodies system through which a lot of development work was executed at the grassroots level.

“General Musharraf was clear in his views and policies, especially in regard to his policy on Kashmir, which was bold and clear. He made sincere efforts for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute, and engaged the Indian leadership in negotiations.

“Similarly, his views and policy on Afghanistan were also very clear and he was a staunch supporter of the policy of extending support to the Afghans in their war against the Soviet Union.

“I had worked closely with him as Religious Affairs Minister. He gave the ministers and people working with him a free hand, and always welcomed divergent views before the formulation of a policy.

“It was during his rule that Pakistan, for the first time, successfully completed the IMF programme ahead of schedule. This only because he had given the economic team handling the issue a free hand to tackle things.

“The country’s economy was on a positive trajectory during his days, with a lot of capital inflow in the services sector which was a boon for the overall economic growth of the country.

“His liberal media policy led to the opening up of dozens of television channels, as he believed in freedom of speech and freedom of expression. There were no restrictions on the media in those days and the media was free to criticise the policies of the government.

“Due to his vibrant foreign policy, the country’s relations with the United States, China and brotherly Muslim states were ideal in his time.

“But there were some grey areas in his governance as well. Due to Islamabad becoming part of the United States’ War on Terror in the post Nine-Eleven era, terrorism crept into our society, which resulted in huge human and economic loss to the country. “His action against the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, was also viewed as one of his mistakes. The judicial crisis emanating from his move weakened his grip on power and finally led to his ouster.”

Maj Gen (R) Rashid Qureshi

Former DG ISPR

“The late General (retd) Pervez Musharraf was the finest Army officer I had worked with. He had remarkable leadership qualities. He was a great patriot and the love of the country ran in his blood.

“I had the honour of working with him for a long time, first as his Principal Staff Officer, when he was promoted from Major General to Lieutenant General, and I was appointed Corps Commander Mangla and later as DG ISPR.

“I have never seen such a brave leader in my entire life, who was always ready to go to any extent for Pakistan as the love of the country was imbibed in his soul.

“His commitment to the Kashmir cause was no secret and he was equally respected by the Kashmiri leaders on both sides of the Line of Control. He had taken bold decisions for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute and had given out-of-the-box solutions to resolve the lingering problem between the two nuclear powers.

“It was his considered view that the solution of the Kashmir dispute must take into account the aspirations of the people living on both sides of the Line of Control, and that was the reason he was so popular among the Kashmiri leaders living in Occupied Kashmir.

“In my opinion, those who criticise President Musharraf’s decision to join the US in the War on Terror are totally wrong. Pakistan never joined hands with America in waging war against Afghanistan; all we did was extending support to America against terrorism.

“It was the UN troops that fought in Afghanistan, the Pakistan Army never entered Afghanistan. We just played the role of a frontline state in the war against terrorism, a policy which is being pursued even today because as a responsible state in the comity of nations, we abhor and condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and will never allow our land to be used by terrorists against any country.

“General Musharraf was a great leader. Unfortunately, we as a nation failed to fully exploit his potential for the benefit of the people of Pakistan, as he wanted to see Pakistan as a developed and dignified nation among the comity of nations.”