Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation in a live telecast to his countrymen today. He warned that the country was going down the hill. He said would send his formal resignation today itself, thus saving himself from the humiliation of the impeachment proceedings against him.
This follows hectic backroom parleys/bargaining between powerful diplomats from US, Britain and Saudi Arabia and the ruling political leaders in Pakistan. Now the question is: Will Musharraf stay on in Pakistan or seek a sanctuary elsewhere? While we await the answer, here is my earlier post…
(Workers of political parties danced on the streets and the Karachi stock exchange shot up as Musharraf announced his resignation, reports Reuters.)
The departure of the former army chief, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, now turns the spotlight on the coalition leaders Asif Ali Zardari, widower of Benazir Bhutto, and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The important/ticklish question is who would replace Pervez Musharraf as President of Pakistan?
Musharraf recently faced major reverses when Pakistan’s four provincial parliaments passed resolutions, with overwhelming backing, declaring him unfit for office. The provincial votes were symbolic. It had become clear that the ruling coalition now has the two-thirds majority needed to impeach him.
Musharraf is the first president forced out by a civilian government, signaling the reticence of the army to lend support to their one-time commander in chief. “As Pakistan’s fourth military ruler, he clung to power in a nation that has been governed by the armed forces for more than half its 61 years,” says Bloomberg.
” ‘This is the opportune moment for the government now,’ said Alok Bansal, an analyst at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi. ‘Unless they show tenacity now, the coalition may splinter’.” More here…
Here is the chronology of Musharraf rule…Please click here…
The New York Times has an interesting article how Musharraf walked a tightrope. “Musharraf continued to provide cover to the Taliban, but still managed to convince the Americans for many years that it was not a double game…The feat was so skilful that Mr. Musharraf won more than $10 billion in American military assistance for his army, as well as unannounced covert aid.”
More here… And here…
A direct indictment of the US administration and the US media in its blind support for almost a decade to a dictator whose role was suspect right from the beginning when the so-called “war-on-terror” was launched by his protector/mentor in the White House.
It is becoming clear that the US administration’s great blunders in international relations are posing a serious threat to peace and economy. Now with Musharraf out, will those guilty in the US ever be held accountable? But will it be fair to single out a few individuals when the entire establishment stood as mute witness all these years?
India (and now Afghanistan) had been complaining about the dangerous role of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI in fomenting terrorism in the two countries for years. But it was downplayed in the US media, and the US administration turned a blind eye. More here…
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.