The cost of this support is now a country among Asia’s poorest. Zia too was financed by the US – to help fight the Russian occupation of Afghanistan at the height of the Cold War. History tends to repeat itself in Pakistan: Musharraf is not the only military ruler supported by foreign governments. Madrassas have filled the vacuum created by Recently The Washington Post reported that the paper was deliberately altered to pressure Musharraf into clamping down on fighters in the region. George Bush, US president, had signalled his support for the government when the siege ended, praising Musharraf as “a strong ally in the war against these extremists”.īut one week later, the National Intelligence Estimate, a US agency dealing in counter-terrorism, released a report critical of Musharraf’s handling of the growing resurgence of the Taliban in the North Western Frontier province (NWFP). The army should have just cut the water, electricity and gas supplies to the mosque,” he said. Husain, who covered the siege for Dawn, too said that other measures should have been taken to reduce the casualty figures. “But this use of force is likely to produce unintended and dangerous consequences, as it has in Baluchistan, Waziristan and Bajaur.” He said: “As Musharraf faces his biggest crisis, he is desperate to prove his indispensability to the West in the war on terror. ![]() Imran Khan, head of Tehreek-e-Insaaf (the Pakistani Justice Movement), told Al Jazeera that the confrontation had become politicised, at the expense of many lives. However, opposition groups have questioned the army’s approach to end the siege. Musharraf said at the time that it was in the country’s “best interests to eradicate extremist elements” in Pakistan. Irfan Husain, columnist for Dawn newspaperĪlthough the death toll remains unclear, hundreds of students were said to be killed inside the madrassa when they were caught in a deadly confrontation with the army. The army should have just cut the water, electricity and gas supplies to the mosque.” The siege at the Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) occurred at around the same time as Chaudhry’s dismissal, and was again to highlight the government’s attempt to assert the “doctrine of necessity”. Rather, a tug and pull between civilian and army governments since the country became the norm. However, as previous military leaders ruled by decree, democratic rule was never fully embraced. The lawyers who marched on the streets of Islamabad did so to insist on a separation of constitutional powers, by holding on to a democratic framework of rule – a policy Musharraf had promised when he came to power. The decision to dismiss Chaudhry triggered a wave of protest, and took the form of a civil-society movement that was not religiously motivated – a contrast to a common picture of religious upheaval that has come to define Pakistani politics in recent years. “It needs to take a less forceful role in Pakistani society.” Everything else is rotting away, and social infrastructure is all but dead. Husain said: “It is the only functioning institution. ![]() Speaking to Al Jazeera, Irfan Husain, columnist for Dawn newspaper, said that this statement signified the power of the military as the main ruling institution. In March this year, when Musharraf had suspended Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, chief justice of the supreme court, he said that he was implementing the “doctrine of necessity” to intervene in the judicial process. ![]() Pakistan has been under military rule for half of its 60-year existence since partition from India in 1947.Ī civilian government ruled the country for 10 years after independence thereafter Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Zia ul-Haq, all army chiefs, enforced military rule at various points in its short history.Īyub Khan was removed by a nationwide insurrection that lasted for three months and Zia ul-Haq died in a plane crash. Each of the army chiefs ruled Pakistan for 10 years, and going by this political calendar, General Pervez Musharraf still has two years left, having seized power in 1999.Īs he experiments with the prospects of a power-sharing deal with Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister whom he deemed “corrupt”, Musharraf is besieged by a rising tide of discontent. Musharraf is the fourth military ruler, and is set to contest for another term
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