Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto at London
Ever since Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, the General has come out unscathed despite many upheavals. However, the recent coming together of his two sworn political enemies at London seems to have given him jitters.
Former Pakistani Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, both in exile, met at London recently and signed a “Charter for Democracy” ahead of elections due in 2007.
Mr Sharif is in exile after being deposed in 1999. Ms Bhutto could face criminal proceedings on her return.
Under the charter, Benazir and Sharif, vowed to revive the 1973 Constitution, respect each others political mandate and prevent the military from overthrowing future civilian governments. The charter is set to take effect from July 2, 2006
The Gulf News says Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif maybe discredited politicians, accused of corruption and mis-governance. “But they are also members of a vanishing breed, not allied with the military.
“Equally, with the exception of tribal leaders in the NWFP and Balochistan, the heads of the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League are indisputably the only grassroots politicians who head purely political and not religious dispensations. This is why their dramatic Charter for Democracy, for all its flaws, cannot be wished away.
“The charter buries the infamous Benazir-Sharif rivalry, vows not to work with the military, and calls for the restoration of the 1973 Constitution, amended by successive governments. Most importantly, it threatens a boycott if an independent Election Commission is not set up to ensure free and fair polls.
“Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf has held the country together admirably in the face of enormous challenges. But even his most valiant supporters will admit that governments in the last eight years carry the tag of quasi-military rule.
“If Musharraf has to put the bogey of these ‘democratic’ politicians to rest, he must call their bluff rather than ban participation. Let the people speak. Only this way will Pakistan emerge from the shadows of its past.”
President Pervez Musharraf has dropped clear hints that he planned to get re-elected to the top post by the present National and provincial assemblies well before they are dissolved next year and fresh elections held.
“What a headache!” General Musharraf
“The existing Parliament was constitutionally privileged to re-elect the president for a second term,” Musharraf said in an interview to Pakistan’s Pushtoon channel AVT, Khyber.
“There was no ambiguity in the Constitution in this regard and people debating the issue through existing assemblies were unaware of it,” Musharraf, also the Army Chief, said. “The existing assemblies could elect the president for a second term instead of new assemblies.”
Gulf News quoted President Musharraf who warned Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to consider the consequences before a return to Pakistan.
In an interview to a Pushto language TV channel aired yesterday, he said there were “many cases” against the two former prime ministers.
He said Sharif had been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment and there were non-bailable warrants against Benazir. In case of Sharif there was also an exile agreement.
Another news report says that things are, however, not going to be easy for opposition leaders like Bhutto and Sharif who are now in exile. Bhutto, who faces serious charges of corruption, will most certainly be arrested if she returns to Pakistan.
And Nawaz Sharif can expect to be exiled again to Saudi Arabia if he seeks to return. Further, despite professions of understanding and cooperation following their meeting in London, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif have no reason to trust each other.
How do these developments affect India and India-Pakistan relations? A columnist, G Parthasarathy, writes that “it is evident that with growing political uncertainty and sectarian strife, and the army confronting tribals in Baluchistan and Waziristan, Musharraf will not want tensions in relations with India, more so because of the growing warmth in Indo-American relations.
“The levels of cross border terrorism will, therefore, be carefully calibrated and controlled. There is, therefore, a window of opportunity for India to pursue policies of promoting people-to-people contacts and expanding bilateral ties with Pakistan.
“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be well advised to follow up on the proposals he made in Amritsar to resolve the Kashmir issue without any change in existing borders. But continuing cross-border terrorism will remain a challenge in the coming months.”
The US believes it is important for Pakistan to ensure the 2007 elections are credible, free and fair, says Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher.
Mr Boucher told a congressional hearing that when he met Pakistan’s new chief election commissioner during his visit to Islamabad last month, he spoke with him about “his independence, his ability to impose the law and ensure a fair election.”
The senior US diplomat, who looks after the South and Central Asian regions for the State Department, said the United States had also taken practical steps to help the chief election commissioner.
This sounds very condescending, if not downright interference, on the part of the Bush Administration in the functioning of the election machinery in Pakistan. Or, is this what is called ‘guided democracy’?
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.