The Court should dispel the notion that it did not contemplate a return in the 2009 judgment and has now been caught slightly off guard. The Supreme Court now has to assert itself with the same force on the Commando as they customarily display with the elected government and its officials. That is not easy. According to one interpretation, the July 31, 2009 judgment seems to suggest that all those who aided and abetted the subversion might also be complicit. And that list has some powerful people. To quote MD Taseer, davaar-i-hashr mera naam-i-amal na dekh, is mein kuchh parda nasheenon kay bhi naam atay hain. The murders of Shaheeds Akbar Bugti and BB cannot be allowed to slide. It will, perhaps, be helpful to revisit his statements, his arrogance, apathy and smugness on the murders whenever in the future, one begins to feel even slightly sorry for the Commando. He does not deserve it. This is all the more important as we awkwardly mule through to elections. Generals Aslam Beg, Asad Durrani and Hameed Gul still mock us. Mock us, even after admitting to rigging and stealing an election, and the Supreme Court holding the first two guilty. General Musharraf’s referendum and the rigged 2002 elections should be fresh in our collective memory. The murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti represented a distinct breaking point for many Baloch nationalists. As welcome efforts are underway to encourage some Baloch nationalists to contest elections, it should be remembered reconciliation without truth, without accountability is unreasonable and unnatural.
The Saudis sent their intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz and the British sent their former ambassador in Islamabad, Mark Lyall Grant, to negotiate the terms for Mr Musharraf`s departure. “He is a free man, he can go where he wants,” said the official when asked if the US administration would allow Mr Musharraf to live in the United States, particularly because it might no longer be safe for him to live in Pakistan. “Will you let him come to the US?” the official was asked again. “He is free to go where he wants,” he said. “Will the US give him a visa?” “I don`t see any reason why he would not qualify for a visa. I don`t know where he wants to go,” the official said.
Asked if the US regretted that one of its closest allies in the war in terror was hounded out of power, the official said “I don`t even know I would put it that way. Pakistan has faced a lot of trouble over the last year, whether it is the end of them, I don`t know. We have to see what the government is able to do now.” “But you did try to prevent him from going to this slippery slope that ultimately led to his departure?” “We have always encouraged people to respect democracy. We advised him not to impose a state of emergency on Nov 3. He made a lot of decisions … and he is living with the consequences of making those decisions.” The official explained that instead of getting directly involved in the impeachment dispute, the US administration “let events play out”. The United States, however, “encouraged” everyone to respect the democratic process, “and let it take its course,” the official said. He claimed that while the US did not give any advice to the conflicting parties, it kept in touch with the players. According to the official, the US Embassy in Islamabad played a key role in these negotiations because Washington avoided direct contacts with the players. “There were no conversations between Washington and Islamabad since Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani`s visit” to the US capital last month. The official also rejected media reports that President Musharraf telephoned President Bush twice during the impeachment crisis but Mr Bush refused to take his calls. “I don`t think it is true that he called twice,” he said. The US official noted that the Feb 18 elections in Pakistan brought a moderate government which now had to deal with the problems of terrorism, a weak economy and had to build democratic institutions. “They have to make sure that they will not allow themselves to be distracted by their politics,” the official said. We are concerned about what Pakistan is able to accomplish in the war on terror,” he said. “It is important to Pakistan. It is important to Pakistan`s neighbours. It is important to us.” He said that no senior US official was planning to visit Pakistan in the near future but the US ambassador in Islamabad would stay in touch with all political players.
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