I would have thought the case against Gen Pervez Musharraf was pretty open-and-shut. In fact, the only surprise in the verdict was the decision that his corpse was to be hung at D-Chowk in Islamabad. That shows ignorance that D-Chowk is meant only for dharnas against corruption. As we know (having been told so ad infinitum, from that same D Chowk), corruption is the reason why our country suffers all its woes. And subverting the Constitution isn’t a woe.
The real reason General Musharraf would object to the death sentence is not that he is afraid to die, or that he objects to being called a traitor, or even that he is innocent of the charge and it was somebody else, but that he isn’t properly dressed.
As everyone knows, military men are conscious of the right dress for the occasion. And if sentenced to death, one has to wear a long blue qameez with yellow polka dots over a black dhoti, the whole ensemble being topped by a red cloth tied around the head and bottomed by leather pumps, but no socks, on the feet. Preferably one should have a mole on one’s cheek with hairs sprouting out of it, and one’s eyes must be lined with kohl. And one should have an evocative alias, for Musharraf, Kalay Shah would be right, recalling his lawyer Ahmad Raza Kasuri, who once said that General Musharraf was no Kala Gujjar, and not to be treated as such.
Of course, General Musharraf would be concerned about his defence, and appealing, and so on, but so is the government. Didn’t the government prosecute him? In fact, no one can register an FIR for high treason; just the federal government. I suppose that it is to prevent an SHO toiling up the road to the Presidency, sweating profusely, intent on asking the President whether he had any old enmity with the Constitution, and if so why?
I can just see an SHO of the old school thrashing Musharraf within an inch of his life while asking him why he subverted the Constitution. As a side-effect, he would also expect to solve some unsolved robberies. Of course, Musharraf might not have confessed, being a commando, presumably with special training in keeping silent under interrogation if captured.
Another thing about the sentence is the Army spokesman has plunged into the whole debate. He could so easily have stayed above the fray, saying that the military would not comment on judicial decisions. Was he showing he was on the same page as the government, or were government ministers busy showing they were on the same page as the military? Does it really matter, so long as these notes appear on the same page as this newspaper’s Lahore page?
I would suppose the government would have to look after the General’s defence, because he probably couldn’t find any lawyers. I mean, everyone seems to have gone on strike after the attack on the PIC. Law and medicine were supposed to be learned professions, and one sign was that you couldn’t get admission on sports basis in either medical college or law school. However, going by the PIC incident, all-in wrestling and boxing should be advantages, not to mention small-arms training for lawyers. Dancing may be an optional subject, but not on the dance floor, on vehicle bonnets.
Of course, the sentence came on December 17, a day after the anniversary of an event the Army would like everyone to forget. December 16, this year the 47th anniversary of the fall of Dacca, came a day before. It was also the anniversary of the APS massacre, which Imran might remember, because it allowed him to end the dharna which had gone on too long to be of any purpose any more.
Well, not only did Test cricket return to Pakistan, but it has now returned to Karachi, where Abid Ali followed up his century-on-debut (which gave him a unique double, after his century on ODI debut) at Rawalpindi with another in the second innings. But he must be a corrupt element. After all, he’s an opener, and they are opposed to fast bowlers. As everyone knows, especially Imran, fast bowlers are the salt of the earth, and openers are by their nature corrupt. Like Nawaz Sharif.
