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The Musharraf Factor: Leading Pakistan to Inevitable Demise

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This is the most irritating book for the Musharraf sympathisers, who are using a number of adjectives to discredit this great analysis from an impartial analyst from Musharraf's native land.

The writer is evident from the very title: The Musharraf Factor: Leading Pakistan to its Inevitable Demise, which proves that this is not a tirad against a single dictator-in-chief ruling Pakistan, but study that explain a multitude of factors that were already crippling Pakistan.

After reading the book, or at least the complete title, one finds the answer to some critics who call this work a "conjecture." mr. Jan proves that Musharraf has become "the last straw on the camels back." Musharraf is not the only reason that will lead Pakistan into its demise as some critics try to conclude from reading the last half the title of the book.

The books would have been based on conjecture, if the author had put all responsibility for the failing of Pakistan on the shoulders of dictator Musharraf. To negate assertion of Musharraf's sympathizers, one has to look at the first portion of the book's title: The Musharraf Factor, which answers concerns of the desperate critics and prove them wrong in their conclusions about the book when they could not understand the even the title, or deliberately try to make readers focus on only the last half of the title.

Admission of General Musharraf in his latest book proves Abid Jan in his conlcusions which he draw long before publication of the dicator's memoir.

I quickly browsed this book and found it no less than a mirror for the corrupt politicians (both religious and secular) in Pakistan and its enemies abroad. It is a warning for the lost nation and opportunist leadership at home, and it is a glad tiding for those who have been sorking since Pakistan's inception to undermine it

Far from proving his case at all, Mr Abid has merely expressed a cynical pessimistic viewpoint. Journalistic to a 't.'

The real truth may well be quite different: what if General Musharraf had not decided to 'bout face on Pakistan's support for the Taliban, then what would the super-bully US have done with us then? In which case, history will justify the good General as the saviour of the nation!

But Mr Abid has not discussed this thesis at all! He merely spouts his own poison. And what sort of confidence in an Islamic paradise is this - the author keeps himself out of harms way in, dare I say it, 'secular' Canada! And what has he done to help the situation in Pakistan? I can't see anything! Really.

Yes, there are problems ensuing from General Musharraf's decision to align with the US' objectives again, as Abid raises, but the problems which may have resulted from failing to do so may well have been much worse.

I still have Gen. Musharraf's own account of events on my shelf ('In the line of fire') - I think I'll read it next.

Mr Jan, has once again proved that his hate for Pakistan and its place in world pushes him to the last extent to write these kinds of books. I must say he writes very well from the point of view of a hate monger and a total pessimist. It feels as if he is trying to please some people in and around the south east Asia. If you want to read this than must say get some pain killers because your head will hurt a lot!!!!!

"In this incisive book, Abid Ullah Jan asks searching questions and offers provocative answers. The Musharraf Factor is an impressive contribution to our understanding of the crisis of identity and way of life that lie darkly ahead."

-MEDIA MONITORS NETWORK

"In his book, The Musharraf Factor, Abid Ullah Jan convincingly demonstrates that Musharraf is merely one in a long series of corrupt leaders who have ruled Pakistan during its 58-year history. The very raison d'ętre of Pakistan's existence - to establish a state based on the principles of Islam- is falling apart and was, in fact, never really taken seriously by its leaders despite all their high sounding speeches. In the words of Shahid Javed Burki of the World Bank and former Finance Minister of Pakistan, Pakistan `is in danger of losing Jinnah's legacy.' This book thoroughly outlines how Pakistan's demise is imminent and how both internal and external factors have played a part in this process. Solidly researched, The Musharraf Factor is essential reading for those following political developments in South Asia."

-Yahya Abdul Rehman
Editor MONTREAL MUSLIM NEWS

"Abid Ullah Jan's The Musharraf Factor is a learned, tough-minded, intellectually courageous and timely warning that easy bromide about sham democracy and the military's never ending interference in politics under foreign influence, if taken for granted, could make South Asia a more dangerous and less pleasant place."
-Dr. Khawaja Ashraf
Editor PAKISTAN WEEKLY, USA.

"Abid Ullah Jan covers an immense historical and ideological ground in the eloquent examination of Pakistan's existence. Mastering the nuances of every corner of the world, discussing the critical (and virtually unexamined) problems of Pakistan, analyzing what he call `the demise of Pakistan,' Abid forces us to think in new ways about values that Muslims in general and Pakistanis in particular take for granted."
-Sajjad Haider, Editor AAFAQ, Canada

Notwithstanding some particularly long winded (and quite passionate I might say) reviews that preceede, I would just succinctly categorize this book as a weighty collection of truisms, half-truths and spectacular untruths. Fantastic conjectures abound in Mr. Jan's book. To elaborate a little, one such conjecture appears in the title itself: "...leading Pakistan to Inevitable Demise...". Now if demise is inevitable, then what difference does it make if musharraf is leading to it? It is bound happen to anyway. The prototypical example illustrates a key aspect of Jan's Work: Its about as informative as calling a dog a dog, sort of like pop-science or pop-art.

Pakistan and its politics are complex to the point of being enigmatic. The fabric of this nation is intrictically woven from the strands of religon, ethnicity and history. And what's more, the situation is fluid. To the Western observer, its somewhat like looking into a keleidoscope. Let me assure you that it would be a complete waste of your time to wade through this trash if you really want to have a rational perspective on Pakistan and more importantly, if you really want to "know" what Musharraf is upto.

Upon examination, it will be seen that this is a good book, one that traces the Pakistani story while referring in detail to and commenting upon its idiosyncrasies: the "ideology", the true character of its society and its make up, the fateful twists and turns it underwent during its short history, and why it is poorer than a lot of Third World countries and yet far more weighty and important in world affairs. Many more authors on this subject fashion similar presentations, and yet it has to be said that Abid Ullah Jan has done a fairly neat job of putting together an accurate history of his country with which to acquaint even novices, which is what most foreign readers on the subject of Pakistan are.
This is mainly an excellent critique of Musharraf the person and President, but I see it being useful in highlighting a wider explaination of the dirty mess we are in, known as Pakistan, for all of its 58 failed years of existence. It is important to know this, far more in fact, than it is to be conversant only with the particulars of a certain General, the last in a long list of civilian and military rogues. When Musharraf (whose close dependents are US citizens) took power, he presented himself as a saviour - as "they" all typically did. That he failed is evidence enough that he is after all a "Paki", as anyone who is associated with, or who confines himself to subscribing to this blighted, nonsensical and corrupt framework - ends up in losing their "promise", just as any good man who follows a crooked course inevitably ends up in ruin. There is recent evidence that Pakistan, the only real purose of which has all along been to serve the US imperialism that succeeded its British forebears after WW2, has fallen foul of the globe's main powers-that-be: i.e it has now been seen to have lost its relevance as the useful instrument it once was having now turned into a festering and malignant nuisance; so its former patron the US now wishes to see it somehow disabled/dissolved/reconstituted on a more "satisfactory" basis, especially in the aftermath marked by the 9/11 event. Musharraf is heading this covert plan, in which he is secretly fostering seccession in the extremely backward province of Baluchistan, and a similar process in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas; moreover, recently he has all of a sudden embarked upon the forceful promotion of the building of an impossibly contentious major water reservoir which has been rejected by three out of Pakistan's four provinces as being severely harmful to their interests, economies and ecologies. The idea is to promote unrest that will disintegrate this now imperfect cotrivance of a country, just as old battleships are scrapped or used for target practice once their useful life is over. It seems that the US and their loyal core proxy lobby within the tottering Pakistani establishment now want to do away with this unwieldly and dangerous edifice, probably replacing the Pakistani "federation" with four weak "independent" puppet "republics" or state entities which are still interdependent, yet more controllable. Or attatching these separate regions autonomously to Afghanistan and India, etc. Instead of honestly announcing a dissolution that would prompt a social uproar here, they are now staging a drama for the purpose. Such underhandedness is far easier and beneficial for them, but not alien to their nature. I expect to see this process start bearing fruit this year.

One aspect of Pakistan and its history without which many key and underlying elements would be unclear needs elucidation: and this is what made Pakistan infamous, and elevated it to world prominence and brought out its true import - the military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq, and his eleven year rule from 1977. It was he who manifested Pakistan's Islamist image, instituting its neo-feudal character a la his Mughal and other Indian Islamic ruler forbears. But before proceeding further, let us briefly acquaint the reader with the "first part" of Pakistani history, that of "United Pakistan" and what happened to it.

From 1947 till 1971, United Pakistan comprised of two "wings", East and West Pakistan, separated in the middle by India. East Pakistan is nowadays known as Bangladesh. Just as the former West Pakistan - nowadays just "Pakistan" - is an assorted agglomeration of different ethnicities, both these wings were racially, linguistically and culturally distinct. The only commonality that (they thought) bound them was their religion.
East Pakistanis were considered inferior and discriminated against. Their abundant crop and plant resources were almost all taken from them by West Pakistan, and they were under-represented in the parliament, army and in economic, infrastructural and other priority allocations, even though they numbered more. Because of all this exploitation resentment simmered there for years. In 1970, Pakistan's first proper electoral process finally took place, in which an East Pakistani party won the majority, with its leader set to become Prime Minister of the whole country. The West Pakistani leadership wouldn't hear of being ruled by an East Pakistani based populist leader or party, and they tried to delay the swearing in of the new parliament using various excuses. Pakistan's second military president then postponed the assembly session indefinitely on the excuse of a "law and order" situation, and that, plus a devastating cyclone in late 1970 which killed 200,000 people in the eastern wing - the relief efforts of which the dominant West Pakistani authorities virtually neglected - finally set impoverished East Pakistan ablaze with a furious demand for total seccession. The West Pakistani dominated army then sent 90,000 troops in, to "maintain order" and quell the independence uprising in March 1971, and Bangladeshi sources (www.iftwcb.org) estimate that in the 9 months that followed, the Pakistan Army had killed about 3 million people, in a deliberate and calculated genocidal policy that ranks among the major such crimes of the 20th century, and yet is virtually unknown. That is apart from the civilian loot and plunder which the army's officers and other West Pakistanis stationed there ferried back home.... 10 million refugees fled the massacre into India, the largest refugee movement ever recorded. This refugee influx and the problems it posed, plus the piteous appeals by the leaders of Bangladesh's national liberation to save their society from annhilation compelled India to intervene militarily on December 2 and after a mere two weeks of fighting, the Indians had soundly defeated the "glorious Muslim Army" of Pakistan, which was more famous for its bombast than anything else, and whose glorious hands were now so ingloriously tainted with the rivers of blood from the wanton butchery by it of its "Muslim brethren". India took the whole 90,000 of them prisoner after a typically ignominous surrender on 16 December 1971. That was the end of United Pakistan. It is necessary to know this entire disgraceful episode in order to fathom what Pakistan is and what is behind it.

Now let us get down to brass tacks, and briefly outline historically the character of this problem. I think that the best person qualified to comment honestly upon Pakistan is one who belongs and lives there, and yet is detatched enough from its "rat-race", and brave enough to tell the truth about it. One of the most devilish political entities in the world is Pakistan, whose existence is an utterly illogical aberration of history, and which seems justified only by the fact that throughout its almost six decade history it has existed only as a tool for serving the global interests and purposes of history's other most devilish superpower nation, the United States of America. Pakistan was founded by Muslim Punjabi Indians, one of the most corrupt and servile ethnicities in the world - aided in this by their grateful British masters who preceded the Americans. Almost always ruled by others such as the Afghans, Central Asians, Turks, British and now Americans (with hardly any self-rule except a few decades under the Sikhs), the Punjabi character is ever ready to the dirty work of those who rule over them, and this can be amply seen in the Pakistani relationship with the US since its inception in 1947. The Punjabi character in fact epitomises the very nature and name of this country as known in the world, to the exclusion of its other constituent nationalities. Other Muslim migrant communities from elsewhere in India also teamed up with the Punjabis in this venture. Rather it was them who led the Punjabis then, with the latter "hijacking" their place as leaders in the 1950s. Pakistan's name is a nonsensical epithet, meaningless nationalistically, and it combines four major ethnic groups, two each of Central Asia (Pashtun and Baloch), and India (Punjabi and Sindhi) into an artificial Punjabi dominated state. These were combined earlier by the British within their Indian Empire, and handed over thus joined to their Punjabi successors at "independence" in 1947. Zia-ul-Haq was a refugee from Eastern Punjab, and an avid Islamic fanatic and dreamer, who laid the foundation of the Jihadist state policy and groups such as Al-Qaeda and nurtured revivalist Islamic oppression and extremism throughout his society. He was America's key tool in subverting the Afghan Revolution, and infesting the area with the "Mujahideen" warriors so beloved of cold war era US propagandists and the "Reader's Digest" magazine. From a very poor background, he was short and dark, an ugly little figure with pomaded hair parted down the middle, always flashing a set of extremely costly dentures that gave him an oversized comical grin like a devil out of a cartoon. Indeed, his actions substantiated this, as the reader will note. He died in a still unexplained, "mysterious" aircrash on 17 August 1988. The findings of the official US-Pakistani joint inquiry into this are still under wraps as far as naming the culprit are concerned, although they clearly point to "sabotage". But perhaps it won't be that inexplicable if one sees the whole picture. The US had just successfully finished using Zia in fulfilling a major geopolitical goal: the Soviet defeat and withdrawal from Afghanistan. Now that that was done, the general's image was a bit too oversized for their liking and so he had to be disposed of and replaced. So they "authorised" his deputy - General Mirza Aslam Beg - to effect his quick removal, and in doing so, to make it look as if the Soviet KGB was responsible. (Pakistan's history is replete with high ranking assasinations and suspected murders from the very beginning, most of which are "open secrets". These include the deaths of its two main revered founders).
The facade of the plan to do away with Zia was so realistically contrived, that the Americans even sacrificed their ambassador to Pakistan as well as their military attache, who were also on board the plane. That afternoon, they all took off, bound back for the capital Islamabad after viewing a demonstration of new US military hardware for the Pakistan Army in the small Southern Punjabi garrison town of Bahawalpur. Shortly afterwards, the C-130 was seen veering up and down in the air, after which it plunged nose down into the desert floor, in a ball of fire. Several other key generals also "entered paradise" with Zia on that occasion. The relations of those killed were said to have been bought off by the Americans with millions of dollars in cash and kind, in return for "forgetting" about it all, and that seems to have been effective. Here it should be noted that Islam also permits the payment of "blood money" for murder, in lieu of other punishments meted out by the state. Talk about money working wonders. Mammon is indeed the universal god of the age nowadays, for Muslims as well as Americans. It was indicated during the investigations that the pilots were incapacitated with nerve agents sprayed onto the flight controls, a bomb had been placed in a fruit crate in the hold, and a missile was used to target the plane from the ground near the runway, indicating a totally considered, professional job which only "insiders" could have done. But that was all the inquiry usefully revealed...
From 1988 onwards, the country saw the period of Western supported "democracy", during which the most shameless elitist plunder and rape took place of its financial resources, setting up an irreversible "kleptocratic" pattern of plunder, loot, corruption and patronage for the society's whole upward social mobility process to follow. The country's state and few faulty, rudimentary British time institutions remaining underwent a terminal decline acquiring a "new" feudal character , while the Punjabi army-led establishment created terrorist jihadi militias - the Taliban included - as instruments of its pestilent and baleful influence in neighbouring countries and other Muslim countries far afield, to undermine them and exercise control gangster style amid the spread of breakdown, the chaos and corruption of Islamic terror. It was turning into what it was till "9/11": a ramshackle Islamist terrorist empire of thugs ruled by nasty feuding elitist mafias and ruthlessly contending religious and tribal-ethnic bands, with Islamic bandit mercenary outfits as its tools - a runaway proxy of US imperialism gone wild and decadent - drunk mad like Nero and Caligula with the leeway its cocky and careless imperialist mentor gave it after its cold war victory of 1992. The inevitable qualitative decline of the Pakistani state had begun long before the climax of "9/11". Musharraf took over in this country's fourth military coup in 1999 to save what was left of it from the rot wrought by its own self-created pathogens. However, the shock of "9/11" began to see the decline of that decaying "formidable Islamic empire" role vis-a-vis the so-called "international community", which status had been the core yearning of the dominant Muslim Indian / Punjabi psyche, the soul and raison d'etre of Pakistan, which was instilled in them by their awe of their former medieval Central Asian and Arab rulers...

Filled with hate and prejudice. Optimism goes a long way. Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your county.