Musharraf’s capital fears

Musharraf is on the hit list of the Taleban and party officials said the real threat to his life lies in the capital.

Asia Ishaq, a spokeswoman for the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) said Musharraf, a retired army chief, is entitled to security from the military.

Speaking to our Islamabad correspondent Afzal Khan, she claimed the Pakistan Army took the initiative on its own and not at Musharraf’s request. Army personnel, local police and other law enforcement agencies are providing security round-the-clock to the former president, she confirmed.

“But we face a real challenge in Islamabad and Lahore and are analysing the level of security he may require.”

Musharraf’s return to Pakistan on Sunday may have temporarily silenced his critics but his legion of political foes have lingering doubts about the retired general’s firepower in the battle of the ballot two months hence.

While some of his opponents said the former president was brave to return to the country in the face of threats to his life, others said it will be a ‘miracle’ if he even wins a single seat. He’s the lone recognisable face in the party but has himself been away for over four years. The country he has returned to is more politically mature and can choose its future leaders wisely.

Haris Saleem, a provincial coordinator for Imran Khan’s party Pakistan’s Tehreek Insaaf (PTI) and now hoping to run for NA 149 Multan constituency in the upcoming May 11 elections told Khaleej Times: “This is a short time for Musharraf to organise his party and contest the elections. It will be a miracle if he wins.”

“Musharraf is no doubt a brave and courageous person but he has no strong standing as a politician,” said Saleem. “During his 10-year rule, he was well aware of the economic situation and other issues facing the country but he’s been away for long now,” he added.

Naeem Ghumman, vice-president of Awami Muslim League of Pakistan, a party formed by veteran and outspoken politician Sheikh Rasheed differed with this point of view and said that the ex-president has returned because he knows he has some support. “In fact Musharraf’s return is expected to shake up the political scene in the country,” he said.

“During his rule, some people were happy and others were not but he has been away for five years now and lots of things have changed,” he opined.

Ghumman predicted that Musharraf may manage to win a seat in Karachi with the support of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and even one in Chitral where he has the support of nawabs. “Let’s hope for the best.”

Nauman Bukhari, a Lahore-based financial analyst with an Imran tilt, said: “Musharraf’s return at this juncture will not make much of a difference to the country’s political scenario. The people have matured and the media has played a strong role in raising this awareness.”

“If Musharraf thinks that he will be welcomed like a politician and manage to cultivate a following of supporters with the little time that he has, it will not happen,” he said.

Musharraf’s supporters, naturally, think otherwise. Samina Ali, a vocal APML worker who flew all the way from UK to Dubai to accompany her leader to Karachi on Sunday said: “He is a patriot and that is the reason that he has returned despite the threats to his life.”

“He has no personal or monetary ambitions unlike other politicians,” she said. “He also has the capability to end the socio-economic differences prevalent in the country and this is why I chose him as a leader.”

Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup and was forced to step down in 2008 amid growing discontent over his rule. He has since lived in Dubai and London.

His decision to return was given a boost last week when a Pakistan court granted him pre-emptive bail — essentially preventing his immediate arrest — in three cases in which he’s implicated, including Benazir Bhutto’s death. He now has 10 days to appear in court. He has dismissed the various charges as baseless.

His return comes as Pakistan seeks for the first time to hand power from one elected government to another. The country, meanwhile, is struggling with rolling blackouts, rising inflation and widespread security problems.

On Saturday, the Pakistan Taleban released a video threatening to unleash suicide bombers and snipers against Musharraf if he comes back. One of the two people speaking in the video was Adnan Rashid, a former Pakistani air force officer convicted in an attack against Musharraf. The Taleban broke Rashid out of prison last year, along with nearly 400 other detainees.

“The mujahedeen of Islam have prepared a death squad to send Pervez Musharraf to hell,” said Rashid, who spoke in the video in front of a group of about 20 militants holding rifles. “We warn you to surrender yourself to us. Otherwise we will hit you from where you will never reckon.”

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Musharraf came under intense pressure from the US to back the Americans in the coming war in Afghanistan and cut off ties with the Taleban, which he did. For that, militants as well as many other Pakistanis saw him as carrying out the American agenda in Pakistan.

He’s also vilified by militants for ordering the 2007 raid against a mosque in downtown Islamabad that had become a sanctuary for militants opposed to Pakistan’s support of the war in Afghanistan. At least 102 people were killed in the weeklong operation, most of them supporters of the mosque.

Militants tried to kill Musharraf twice in December 2003 in Rawalpindi, where the Pakistani military is headquartered. First they placed a bomb intended to go off when his convoy passed by. When that didn’t work, suicide attackers tried to ram his motorcade with explosives-laden vehicles. The president was unhurt but 16 others died.

In addition to the Bhutto case, Musharraf also faces charges resulting from investigations into the killing of Akbar Bugti, a Baluch nationalist leader who died in August 2006 after a standoff with the Pakistani military. In another case, he’s accused of illegally removing a number of judges including the chief justice of the Supreme Court. (With inputs from agencies)

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com