Am I the only one a little puzzled about the hypocrisy the West has been displaying over Musharraf's Declaration of a State of Emergency?
He seems an OK sort of chap - Westernised and speaking excellent English, reasonable, good with words and not without some personal charm. Something about his appearance reminds me of Badger in Wind in the Willows.
His people are Muslim and mutinous because he is perceived to be the lapdog of America and Britain.
He has been tolerant enough of dissent to allow that trouble-maker Benazir Bhutto back into the country.
She is also a woman, and a Westernised woman, to boot. How is such a woman supposed to command the allegiance of a people steeped in medieval Muslim practices?
Ordinary people who were asked if they wanted a general election said they thought it would be a waste of time and didn't think a jumped-up Oxford educated female president whose family have a bad track record of getting into government and staying there.
Why, then, are we interfering with Musharraf's handling of his country and his people and telling him to step down as Head of the Army, conduct elections, end Martial Law when things are clearly now hanging precariously?
He asked quite pertinently: "What do you want? Some bogus form of democracy which will bring none of you any good or your country governed someone who knows what he is doing? What choice have you got anyway? Now shut up and go away." (I paraphrase, you understand.)
What the hell do we know about governing a country like Pakistan?
If he is the West's only hope and ally in that region, why are they asking him to loosen the reins of his dangerously frightened country, step down as Head of the Army when he has militants on the Afghan border to deal with, an unsympathetic and unco-operative legal establishment and Benny Bhutto stirring up trouble and clearly incapable of containing it herself when it blows up in her face?
God only knows.
THE VOICE OF REASON Solon, (born c. 630 BCE—died c. 560 BCE), Athenian statesman, known as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece (the others were Chilon of Sparta, Thales of Miletus, Bias of Priene, Cleobulus of Lindos, Pittacus of Mytilene, and Periander of Corinth). Solon ended exclusive aristocratic control of the government, substituted a system of control by the wealthy, and introduced a new and more humane law code. He was also a noted poet.
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1 comment:
We know a lot about governing Pakistan. We did it for two hundred years. But unfortunately they were a different kind of Britons from the liberal, Eurocentric junkies we have in Westminster now (and the type who gave away the Raj).
Pakistan was our creation but is not an easy country to understand. I know Islamabad quite well and Lahore a little. Lahore was of course the regional capital for the Punjab - a wealthy region in the first half of the 20th century renowned for wheat and horses. I avoided Karachi whenever I could. Many Pakistanis (and Indians) preferred the Raj with its low level of corruption and efficient government. Democracy means little without these elements. Too many Pakistani entrepreneurs have been encouraged to settle in the UK (and USA). Pakistan and more importantly the UK would benefit if these same people were encouraged to return to Pakistan.
I agree about Muscharraf. He is doing a reasonable job in difficult circumstances. Without him Pakistan would almost certainly have been on the wrong side in the Afghanstan and possibly Iraq conflicts - at a greater loss to British lives. I am undecided on Benazir; she is undoubtedly charasmatic but the degree of corruption under her leadership was much higher. Our main objective should be to avoid Pakistan again becoming an Islamic Republic - that is more important than securing democracy there.
A complex subject to which I have hardly done justice.
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