The Hindu Business Line : Presidents and the sub-continental divide

It is all gloomy on the national front, what with the damaging information being unearthed about the complicity and involvement of brothers Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed and yet another doctor — Haneef Mohammed — from Bangalore in the Glasgow bombing bid.

That Muslims fortunate to get the best of education and well paying jobs in the developed world, even as the bulk of the community in India can barely access basic education and modest employment, should end up not only wasting their own lives, but, worse, plotting to kill innocent people, is cause for much depression and worry. They have not only brought disgrace to their families and their community as also considerable distress to their country, but also made it that much more difficult for India’s Muslims to travel abroad for study, tourism, business or employment. That all this was done in the name of religion is even more depressing.

But if the warped view of Islam and the twisted messages such people glean from its teachings and ideology have come as one more shock to the people of India, what is happening in our neighbour’s house, again in the name of religion, is even more alarming. In Pakistan the Lal Masjid drama has continued for six months, with the clerics and students from Islamic schools nearby laying siege to the complex and indulging in all kinds of antics, till the premise was stormed by the Pakistan army on Tuesday.

The Lal Masjid drama was allowed to boil by the Musharraf’s administration till it exploded in the face of the powers that be. A good many Pakistanis believe that the whole episode of clerics and students gathering inside the Lal Masjid and its adjoining madrasas for women students was deliberately allowed to happen by Gen Pervez Musharraf, besieged from all sides.

The siege of the mosque eclipsed many serious issues the country faces. Not the least of Gen Musharraf’s problems is the ongoing agitation against his sacking of the Supreme Court Chief Justice. Also, his five-year term as President and Army chief was extended with Parliament making an exception for him in 2004, but his term ends this year. The General would have loved to make the transition from a President in uniform to one in civilian clothes, but unfortunately the law doesn’t allow him to do that. He will have to wait for two years after retiring as army chief before he can become a civilian President.

The conflict begins

The Lal Masjid saga began in February when women students of the madrasa — known among the secular Pakistani elite as “chicks with sticks” — occupied a public library and demanded that some unauthorised mosq ues that had been demolished should be rebuilt. Then followed the drama of the students — both men and women — telling people what brand of Islam to practice, and how to refrain from “immoral” practices. The story grabbed the attention of the international media after seven Chinese people were kidnapped and charged with running a brothel. Then, as dramatically, they were released “in the interest of Pakistan-China friendship”.

By this time ordinary Pakistanis had had enough of this drama, but it was believed that Musharraf’s regime found it convenient to keep it simmering to divert attention from the poor handling of the floods in Balochistan after a recent cyclonic storm. The provincial government charged that aid was not forthcoming for an area which, it says, has already been neglected by the Pakistan government and where militant activity is simmering, the Taliban is active and where the writ of the federal government does not run.

As the belligerence of the people holed up inside the mosque, complete with sophisticated arms and ammunition, and holding women and children hostage, continued to grow, Gen Musharraf had little option but to strike. That the Lal Masjid complex is located in the heart of Islamabad and a stone’s throw from Gen. Musharraf’s office did not help matters.

Lal Masjid stormed

On Tuesday, after days of high drama in which one of the Ghazi brothers — Maulana Aziz — tried to escape under a burqa and was caught by the police, the Pakistan army finally stormed the mosque and, according to prelimi nary reports, 50 of the “militants” holed up inside were killed; eight soldiers also died in the action. This followed attempts to hold dialogue with the other brother — Maulana Abdul Rashid Gazhi — by some politicians.

Pakistan’s Military spokesman, Maj Gen Waheed Arshad, told reporters that the militants inside the complex had all kinds of weapons — machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, etc, — and hence the security forces had to be cautious.

Here is Dawn columnist Ayaz Aziz’s take on the Lal Masjid drama. Referring to the head cleric Maulana Aziz, trying to flee from the scene in a burqa, he wrote: “Although Pakistan has never been short o f jokers (both military and civilian), when it comes to the comic arts, secular politicians are no match for their religious brethren. Consider Maulana Fazlur Rahman. Can any secular politician come close to matching his antics? Now this bravura performance in burqa by Maulana Aziz of Lal Masjid….

“It can be safely assumed that the government will milk this ‘triumph’ for all it is worth, portraying it as another victory against ‘extremism’. Gen Musharraf receives a shot in the arm. The image he has cultivated in the West of being the last bulwark in Pakistan against the rising tide of Talibanisation will be further strengthened. On CNN on (last) Wednesday evening this was the line being peddled — that Musharraf was performing an important role against extremism.”

Last straw

For ordinary Pakistanis, this is the last straw. Post the attack and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and what is perceived to be its “anti-Islamic” obsession, the Western world, particularly the US and the UK, is not exactly popular among Pakistanis. To have their leader playing to the Western gallery by posing as the last bulwark against Islamic fundamentalism that will take Pakistan along the line of a Talibanised Afghanistan or a defiant Iran is humiliation for them.

Today, Gen Musharraf is, in the eyes of his own people, a far cry from the saviour he was perceived to be, though in uniform, post 9/11. It was then felt that by co-operating with the Americans, he had saved Pakistan from being over run by the US, as Afghanistan was in December 2001.

Those were the days when the US President, Mr George W. Bush’s “Either you are with us or against us” rhetoric had struck fear in the hearts of some Islamic nations.

But over the years, after the attack and destruction of Iraq, the American administration is detested in many Islamic pockets and Pakistan is no exception. After the recent triumph of the Democrats, Mr Bush is seen only as a lame duck leader.

To see their President being cowed down by a man who is on his way out of the White House, and playing desperate games to convince the West that only he can keep the flag of moderation flying over Pakistan is too much for the people to take. That is why most Pakistanis are looking forward to Gen Musharraf’s exit and the return of democracy.

Politicians of whatever ilk, who have been elected democratically, are being desired by a country which has had only a passing acquaintance with democracy in the 60 years of its independence. That is why it appears better in India. We might have our Kafeel and Sabeels, our politicians take us for a ride, and the majority of Indians may not want to see Mrs Pratibha Patil become the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces as she would if she becomes the President of the Republic before the end of this month. But there is no gloom as at least she won’t come wearing a uniform as most Pakistani Presidents have.

Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in