There are still people in Pakistan who support Musharraf’s martial law. This entry is dedicated to those people. No human rights activists, judges, lawyers, journalists or students were harmed, jailed, or tortured in making this entry.
Common reasons given for supporting Musharraf are given below. Generally, believing these reasons requires a suspension of logic, common sense, and a absence of knowledge of recent happenings in Pakistan, so after each reason enough facts and logic are sprinkled to convince the Chicken Littles of Pakistan, who seem to believe that the sky will fall after Musharraf goes.
h4. Mush is not corrupt, unlike the elected governments gone before
While Musharraf himself might not be corrupt, when he set about putting up a facade of democracy to fool western eyes, he was stuck with the lowest of the low politicians, crooks, murderers and mullahs. These are the people who are doing all the thieving, and since they have the support of the all powerful army, they are going about it openly. Some of the biggest scandals in Pakistan’s history were perpetuated in Mush’s time.
Anyone in doubt about corruption under Musharraf should “buy a copy of Military Inc and read it”:http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/2007/06/military_inc_inside_pakistans_milit.html. Pakistan continues languishing right at the bottom of “Transparency International’s corruption rankings”:http://www.transparency.org.pk/.
h4. Mush is a strong man and only he can fight the militants
The facts speak otherwise – the Pakistan army is “losing ground”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7074591.stm everywhere, and they continue negotiating with, and giving into terrorist demands. The Pakistan army continually “gets captured by militants”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7074591.stm, and keeps letting free every terrorist they capture in exchange for army personnel. This letting free of militants goes on so often that the military has become a joke in Pakistan – see the trial areas, and the NWFP where the military has abandoned their posts.
h4. Pakistani News channels are bad, and deserved to be put off air
People keep comparing Pakistani news channels with CNN and BBC. They say, when Hillary Clinton is being interviewed, she doesn’t get labeled a murderer or a thief, while Pakistani politicians routinely get accused of the most shocking crimes.
Here is the point – Pakistan politicians routinely commit the most shocking crimes, so what is the channel supposed to say? Every single talk show I’ve seen always has a pro govt. guy and one from the other side – and the govt. people just can’t defend themselves, for they’ve got no ground on which to stand.
There is a lot of bad news on local TV channels, people complain. They probably live in the south of France, as the Pakistan in which I find myself has bad news everywhere – there is a reason reputable magazines like the “Economist has called Pakistan a failing state”:http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/2007/05/a_country_that_everyone_should_worr.html, and “Time magazine recently declared it the most dangerous country in the world”:http://www.newsweek.com/id/57485/output/print, sensationalist as that declaration may be.
With all that bad news floating around, what are the news channels supposed to say? For example, just now on the state run channel a government spokesman said that there is not one under house arrest in Pakistan. Well, CNN and BBC say otherwise, so what is the sin of the local TV channels for telling the truth?
The bottom line is that it is the present Govt. which deserves to be censored and put out of it’s misery, not the local TV channels for reporting what is going on.
h4. Mush is a godsend for the economy, and without him the economy will tank
Simple economics says that won’t happen. However bad the alternatives may be, they are either not smart enough, or stupid enough, to crash the local economy.
Given a semblance of democracy, foreign aid and investment will continue rolling in.
h4. Musharraf is in bed with Altaf Hussain
This lone fact should be enough to put off anyone off Musharraf for good. “Altaf Hussain is not someone you want on your team”:http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/pakistan/2005_08/wanted_altaf_hussain.html.
h4. Mush is in bed with the Mullahs
Now, since this is not a point in Mush’s favor, there is no need to refute it. It is listed here though, as many people seem to conveniently forget that it is Musharraf who is catering to the Mullah’s every whim, and they are one of the major players in his government. Before Mush, the Mullah’s were a bit player in Pakistani politics. It’s was Mush’s desperate need for legitimacy which made him seek out the Mullahs and elevate them to the halls of power in Pakistan.