The Macabre Conspiracy

Columnist Col (Retd) SYED TAHIR HUSSAIN MASHHADI writes about the sensational events of Oct 12, 1999 that led to the military counter coup

Covert meetings in Dubai, whispers in corridors of power, conspirators meeting with serving generals and others, machinations and intrigues formulated in a foreign land. The wheeler-dealers active at home and abroad, conversations being recorded, people being asked to resign, chief of army staff being dismissed, air frequencies and telephone lines being cut, connivance, intrigue, high drama at the highest level. A commercial Pakistan International Airlines flight coming from Colombo hovers in the Indian Ocean desperately seeking permission to land. The Karachi control tower seized by the chief of the airline empathetically denies the permission. An Inspector General of Police along with a possee of loyal police officers and men along with the de facto Chief Minister of Sindh waiting to arrest a serving Chief of Army Staff. A few hundred kilometers away at Nawabshah, a city of interior Sindh, a Deputy Inspector General of Police with a possee prepares to arrest General Pervaiz Musharraf whenever and if the plane is diverted and forced to land there. Only 8 minutes of fuel left between life and death of Army Chief and the 239 passengers on board. A scene from a Hollywood blockbuster. No. Unfortunately a reality and a very unfortunate and sad reflection on the people at helm of affairs of an elected but undemocratic and dictatorial government. How can anyone in Pakistan or for that matter anywhere in the world condone the government's conspiracy to attempt to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan Army. The sanity of the people at the helm of affairs on October 13 has to be questioned. To plan and to be involved in such a bizarre and callous incident smirks of madness, treachery and duplicity beyond belief. It seems to be nothing more than an attempted coup by a set of power drunk, nepotistic, corrupt and immoral people completely devoid of and lacking dignity or grace who had by their misdeeds and illegal acts, lost moral and legal authority to rule. They conspired to get rid of the army chief, the last remaining pillar of the constitution. The army's swift action and reaction cannot be contrived by any stretch of imagination to be anything more than a disciplined and patriotic institutions of self-defence and reaction to foil a macabre conspiracy leading to a coup and mass murder attempt. Had the army not acted quickly, professionally and patriotically to frustrate the heinous and most dastardly plans of the conspirators, who were prepared to go to any length in their bid to get rid of the Army Chief, not only would 239 innocent people have been murdered but Pakistan would have come under complete dictatorship of Nawaz Sharif.

Nawaz Sharif's lust for unbridled power seems to have been insatiable. The glitter of absolute power blinded him so much that he was willing to sacrifice even the lives of 239 persons mostly children, who were travelling with Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf on board the PIA commercial flight to realize his distorted and evil designs. In fact these were the first batch of lives the conspirators would have had to sacrifice. Nawaz Sharif and his merry men were fast heading for a blood bath and were even willing to risk a bloody civil war in order to achieve their ambition of unchallenged and absolute life long rule over Pakistan.

Such is the power of power and the hunger and ambition of absolute power. Had the army not taken over, the consequences would surely have been catastrophic for the nation. The game plan of the coup planners was to create dissension in the Armed Forces of Pakistan. They did not seem to care that they were putting the well-being and integrity of the country at stake. Nawaz Sharif and his closest henchmen involved in this grotesque drama may perhaps be forgiven by some hardhearted citizens for all their follies and damage caused to body politics of the country and cause of democracy. His obsession with consolidation of his personal power, his manoeuvrings to perpetuate his rule by undermining the authority of parliament, by politicizing and damaging the prestige, authority and dignity of superior judiciary, for looting the country at will, for reducing the presidency to impotency, all these and more omissions and commissions may also be over looked by his most ardent supporters and admirers but he and his picked henchmen's criminal and immoral acts of October 12 of endangering the lives of the Army Chief along with 239 passengers on board the plane carrying General Pervaiz Musharraf, cannot possibly be condoned, pardoned or forgiven by anyone in his right mind. Nor can anyone forgive him for attempting to reduce the only major institution of state. The army to his personal subservience. In fact it can even be termed and seen by the patriotic masses as an unpardonable act of treason. He hatched and implemented a conspiracy aimed at destroying the unity and cohesion of Pakistan army by attempting to divide the army into feuding factions. By attempting subversion of the loyalty of the Armed Forces such a macabre conspiracy was hatched that it would have led the nation towards civil war thereby rocking the very foundations of the state and risking its very survival. The act was not only distasteful, deplorable, criminal, callous and disgusting but by all counts most idiotic and smirking of perfidy of the highest order in anybody's dictionary. When the Generals of the Pakistan Army reacted, they displayed the highest traditions of honour, patriotism, professionalism, discipline, devotion, dedication and most of all selflessness, integrity and spontaneous love for Pakistan and the people of Pakistan. They foiled the coup attempt and took control of the country. The Armed Forces preempted the move by timely intervention and averted a civil war and holocaust of grave and gruesome proportion. The unavoidable step taken by Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf has been welcomed by all segments of the population and received spontaneous approval from every nook and corner of the country. The army intervention has unanimous approval of all citizens of Pakistan. This has amply been made clear by the spontaneity and intensity of the jubilation demonstrated by the public and outpouring of mass support for the military.

Notwithstanding the unanimous approval of the nation as a whole the change of government has perforce to be given a stamp of legitimacy to assure and appease more the governments and institutions abroad than the people at home. However there is no need for the military to be apologetic to its people and even more so to the foreign powers. Whether the take over was legal or not will be long debated as it was no doubt an exercise full of legal perplexities. No amount of rhetoric can possibly camouflage or mitigate the shortcomings and undesirability of prolonged military rule. Extended period of military rule as our past experience so vividly illustrates, only complicates the problems whose solutions are the very reason for its composition. The peremptory dismissal of a civilian government and substitution by rule of the Armed Forces cannot normally be condoned, welcomed or appreciated in any democratic society. However, this is one glaring exception. Army was forced to take over in very unusual and dangerous circumstances which were not of the army's making. There is no doubt in the minds of the people that the military establishment's hand was forced. The military rule at best is only a temporary measure. From day one the army has been reluctant to declare martial law or to abrogate the constitution. Gen. Musharraf has already made the commitment to the nation that the Armed Forces have no intention to stay in charge any longer than is absolutely necessary to pave the way for true democracy to flourish in Pakistan. The institutional framework (or rather lack of it) in Pakistan does not respond to the requirements of the rapidly changing and essentially tumultuous conditions of the polity, economy and society. Pakistan is virtually bankrupt and in a truly pathetic state. The nation is on the verge of collapse economically, politically and also in terms of social values. Administrations of the past three decades especially the heavily mandated (with only eighteen percent of popular vote) government of Nawaz Sharif had completely destroyed and sabotaged all institutions of governance. It is a tragic reality in Pakistan that all concepts of peace and prosperity have been sacrificed at the altar of political expediency and good governance remains a far-fetched dream. By their sheer greed, corruption and incompetence the political and bureaucratic elite has systematically ravaged the country. The military rule or rule by technocrats supported by Armed Forces are stopgap arrangements. Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf has categorically committed that inspite of the inadequacies and repeated failures of the democratic systems the political government will be restored to duly elected representatives in the near future. This is as it should be. It is, however, imperative that it is done only when the infrastructure for true democracy is on the ground. There is no rush. If we are to have true democracy an infrastructure that can nurture, preserve and protect it has to be erected first. Elections serve no useful purpose if the electorate is denied its basic fundamental rights and the elected are free to undermine the very pillars of the democratic stability. Process of impartial, across the board, neutral but ruthless accountability has to be initiated and given top priority at the earliest to recover over 200 billion bank loans and to achieve the broad objective of good governance and revival of the economy. It is, however, in the highest national interest and in the interests of the Armed Forces itself that the interregnum in which the nation finds itself should not be for a day longer than necessary.

The ultimate sovereign of our constitution the people of Pakistan under the doctrine of 'Vox populivox dei voice'. The voice of the people is the voice of God, have given their unanimous verdict in favour of the take over. This decision also conforms to the permeable of our constitution that sovereignty over the universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone and the authority the people exercise is within the limits prescribed by Him. The voice of the people therefore naturally overrides the validity of a constitution distorted by repeated amendments and its preserve and self-serving interpretations. A long suffering nation fed up with the acts of Sharifian adventurism, his gross misrule, trampling of democracy, inefficiency of the highest order, bad governance institutionalized, corruption and immoral rule, have lost their faith in democracy and their present constitution. The meaningless rhetoric, hysterics and antics of the political elite, the religious canter, hypocrisy, pseudo democracy, extrajudicial killings, lawlessness, loot and plunder of national wealth and there never ending greed for power has made people thoroughly fed up. The nation as a whole sighed a breath of relief when the Armed Forces finally took over the government. The people however expect the Armed Forces to clean up the augean stables. While to take over the government the army was left with no other option and was forced to act. A transparent and justifiable action on political, legal and moral grounds was taken by the army in response to crises precipitated by a gone insane Sharif administration that had pushed the army against the wall. No doubt take-over can be termed as an extra constitutional or extra legal step but it must be remembered that the constitution has only been put in abeyance and parliament under suspension. While the essential features of the democratic order: - political pluralism, free market, free press and independent judiciary along with basic fundamental rights remain in place. Depth of despair and disillusionment of the masses with the pseudo democracy the antis of Nawaz Sharif is amply demonstrated by the fact that the populace as a whole has welcomed the take over.

Had Nawaz Sharif's nefarious and heinous plan succeeded, the seeds of division would have been planted within the Armed Forces. The Shariat Bill and other extra legal and constitutional powers usurped by Nawaz Sharif would have made him as autocrat, dictator or king. These state of affairs would have led to civic conflicts and creation of warlords with their separate turfs and agendas. The federation must have been weakened or destroyed. The polemical opposition had almost been totally sidelined, the judiciary and bureaucracy had been virtually domesticated and the sinister plans for converting the military into the handmaiden of the supreme ruler (the Amir ul Momineen) to crush and destroy any and all opposition and dissent had been set into motion. The Army Chief, his corps commanders and the officers and men of the Armed Forces were forced to remove Nawaz Sharif because his erratic, dangerous and insane brinkmanship and adventurism, had crossed all norms of normal civilized behaviour.

The constitution of which so much is spoken was promulgated by Z A Bhutto on August 14 1973 within 4 hours of its promulgation he amended it to suspend fundamental rights. He amended it subsequently seven times each amendment increasing his power and perpetuating his rule. It was suspended in 1977 by Gen. Zia ul Haq and revived in 1985. It was amended eight times to suit his special agendas. Nawaz Sharif on coming to power for the second time amended it twice to serve his lust for absolute power and dreams of life rule. He then attempted to transform the constitution and system of government completely by attempting to get unlimited powers of Amir ul Momineen by means of the Shariat Bill.

Luckily for Pakistan he did not have the two-thirds majority in the Senate to ensure its passage. His grand plan of turning the country into a kingdom with himself as sovereign was thwarted till at least Senate elections of March 2000. Last hurdle for fulfilment of his dreams however remained the Armed Forces. He, therefore, had to play his hand to divide the army and appointed the head of the ISI Gen Ziauddin, a known Nawaz Sharif loyalist as COAS thereby thrusting on the army with two chiefs. Something never heard of in any democratic system. The army politely refused to accept him as while they already had a chief in General Pervaiz Musharraf, when they took over Karachi airport and ordered traffic control to bring in the aircraft, which by then only had seven minutes of fuel left, Nawaz Sharif grotesque and macabre conspiracy against the constitution, the parliament, the presidency, the army and most of all against the people and the country itself came to an abrupt end. End of coup, end of plot, end of conspiracy, end of Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan had been saved. No doubt Allah is great. Man proposes, God disposes.

The support, prayers, hopes and aspiration of the sad, disillusioned, brutalized, bankrupt, looted and ravaged nation are now focussed on Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf and the Armed Forces to take us out of this deep malaise and quagmire in which Nawaz Sharif has left us. The most important thing is to give Gen Pervaiz Musharraf a free hand to implement his seven point agenda. We need to have no fear. We have reached the bottom of the pit there is no place to go but up. Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf intention to curb exploitation of religion for political ends and his assurance to minorities of the protection of their full rights as equal citizens of Pakistan is something that is heartily endorsed by all upholders of the democratic dispensation in Pakistan and abroad. Gen. Musharraf's administration should make every effort to hold the local bodies elections within 6 months so that decentralization and devolution of power takes place and power goes to the people to whom it really belongs. Holding elections to local bodies and by granting them greater empowerment over local government to ensure greater public participation in decision making has been well received. Decentralization and devolution of power is now universally accepted as the key reforms element. Greater empowerment of local governments are emerging as the main pillars of the decentralization and devolution. Both have their own virtues and merits. The urgent need of the hour is to develop strong local bodies, which can exercise effective control on health, education, social welfare, public works, public transport and law and order. The one great favour that Gen. Musharraf can really do for the people and the nation is to save and spare the people from the return and ravages of the political elite and representative of the Mafias. They are always at the helm of the affairs as they gain control of corridors of power and access to the ruler who ever they be. The most important test and legitimacy of the new government will be as to what type of people it associates with. Proper governance, fair play, impartiality, immediate redress, speedy and cheap justice, development, national cohesion and integration will only come about if people possessing qualities of honesty, objectivity, sincerity of purpose, devotion, dedication and professional competence are entrusted with the task of formatting and implementing policies, challenges of phenomenal magnitude lie ahead. Without fundamental and revolutionary changes in the nature of our political culture, in the distribution of power and in the mode and style of governance, no improvement can be forthcoming. The strangle hold of the political elite who thrive on the vestiges of the colonial rulers legacy of absolute authority and power needs to be broken. Bad governance ensures the unchecked rise and rise in the fortunes and opportunities of the extraordinarily inept, corrupt, greedy and useless set of politicians who rule without possessing the capacity, credentials, character, integrity or creditability to do so. They do so and thrive on basis of wealth, power, connections and influence rather than on competence or moral authority. This prevalent state of affairs amply demonstrates the spectacle of greed, strife, drift and dissension as the characteristic and dominant feature of our disgraceful and pitiable state. The rich and the powerful mostly perpetuate this raw greed. Their greed has degenerated our society into a visibly illegitimate manifestation of corrupt polity which perpetuates itself by large-scale loot, plunder and destruction of our institutions, morals, culture, heritage and values. These conditions generate an atmosphere where anarchy and lawlessness flourish and which literally is eating into every conceivable realm of public as well as private life of the people of Pakistan. There is complete intellectual frustration and blockage causing an ideological abyss.

As far as the constitution is concerned on which the western world and media are constantly harping on and are more concerned than the people of Pakistan. The constitution needs to be rewritten or suitably amended to make it responsive to the present day situations and to meet the challenge of the coming millennium. For this purpose a referendum should be held as early as possible. This can be held at the same time as elections to local bodies. The support for the army action from people from all walks of life will be overwhelming, as it will be for rewriting a clean, transparent, workable, and acceptable constitution. The changes proposed in the constitution should be part of the referendum. A direct reference will thus be made to the ultimate sovereign - the people of Pakistan. The voice of the people has already overridden the present constitution which has been destroyed by repeated amendments, and preserve interpretation. In this manner the present government can give to the people once and for all a proper and universally acceptable constitution. The almost unanimous feeling in Pakistan today is that the original constitution has been tampered with so much that that it is no more viable. It has been distorted and misused so much so that all power had dangerously been concentrated in one hand, so much so that the constitution itself had made Nawaz Sharif a dictator. For the people and Armed Forces of Pakistan the country and the well-being of the people is far more important than a jaded constitution. By taking over the country at the most dangerous juncture of our history, Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf and his Generals proved beyond any doubt that they did not love the constitution less, they undoubtedly loved Pakistan more.