‘The U.S. government hired a dog in uniform.’ This is what people say about Musharraf in Pakistan, but still someone is ridiculously bent upon continuing in the power. May be he can’t help it out for power is too lucrative. Well, more or less it’s a race for survival than anything else. Anyhow, the scenario is too grim in Pakistan and if it turns into a total chaos, won’t be surprising but troublesome, not only for Pakistan but for its neighbors as well.
Musharraf, with diminishing popularity while loosing grip on power is facing the tough situation in his drive to save his power. For this he is imprisoning the protesters, imposing the stringent restrictions - a move that US criticizes - but all in vain. All his fascist tactics are failing as more severely he imposes the restrictions, more he looses the grip.
Will there be free and fair elections under a Military dictator? No way. For that matter, there is a great changing in the voter list and many thousands names are missing therein triggering mass confusion as to who will be eligible to cast vote and who will not.
Musharraf is cutting sorry figure at the present and Pakistani populace doesn’t believe him anymore. Moreover, the socio-political milieu is bleak and as of now Pakistan is least prepared for the elections. In such a scenario - where it is widely assumed that election is prone to cheating - can spread wide chaos paving the way for the total debacle.
Moreover, now US has started realizing the gravity of the situation and demanded the release of the protesters who have been jailed. These demonstrations against Musharraf’s hostilities can lead to an earlier revolt. If that happens, it’ll be catastrophic while at the same time will nullify the hopes for stability. At the same time, more dangerous is the thought of Pakistan falling in the hands of the radical Islamists. What if that happens...? Don’t even think about that.
Comments
Well has anyone ever tried to look practically at all of the loosing power claims about Musharraf that are out there? How was he able to force a legal political leader of one he biggest political parties out of the country like that? I fear that all this talk about Musharraf losing power is like everyone saying Bush was/is wrong about the Iraq war. But that never ended the war, neither did it stop Bush from starting a new one in Afghanistan. I may be sounding cynical, but its just something to think about. I wouldn’t celebrate on Pakistan till free and fair elections actually take place!!