Mushay Trial: Is it a trap for the ruling party?

Saeed Minhas 

http://thespokesman.pk/index.php/history/item/6491-mushay-trial-is-it-a-trap-for-the-ruling-party

Islamabad: Enough of debate and discourse has taken place both inside the parliament house and outside by our farishtey and chirya famed journalists on mini screens but the music for former dictator Gen. Musharraf has actually begun.

Anti terrorism court has summoned 15 witnesses to record their statements in the judges’ detention case, while cases like Benazir murder case and Bugti’s killing are waiting in the wings for the former commando. Above all the high treason case is the one which has attracted the most attention from all and sundry. It is bothersome not only for a fragile democracy of the country, the foreign guarantors and the powerful institution of the country. Yet the real nemesis of the dictator, the Lord Judge and his comrades continues to push hard for eking out a high treason case out of the cautious government of Nawaz League.

Besides the latest news that three lawyers refused to record their statement at Pervaiz Musharraf’s Chak Shahzad farmhouse that was declared as a sub-jail by the court in judges’ detention case, there are three simultaneous theories filling the Capital these days?

First let me inform you that our sources have confirmed that three lawyers namely; Wajid Gilani, Fazlur Rehman Niazi and Anwar Khan have turned down the option of going to the Chak Shahzad farmhouse where currently Musharraf is being held. They believed that instead of going to dictator’s house to record their statements they would rather go to Adiala Jail or a local court in Islamabad for their statements. Coupled to this development is information emanating from Musharraf’s camp that the lawyer who had actually lodged the FIR in police station against Musharraf for detention of judges, (Ghuman) has become a high demand buy out these days. He was offered Rs 20 million according to some insiders. Since the money bags sent by Musharraf is learnt to have vanished midway in the closets of a mediator, therefore, Ghuman has now been promised to get double the amount to keep his promised stance of withdrawing the basic application.

Nevertheless, the theories, or you may call them conspiracy theories making rounds in Capital are; 1-Is it a trap for Mian Nawaz Sharif? 2-Will army protects its former boss? 3-Are foreign guarantors going to jump into arena?

The first of the three theories is not given more weight by many political pundits but many in the farishtey(secret agencies) community believe that the newly elected prime minister is being pushed to lock his horns with an internally divided institute; i.e. Army. They argue that given the past of Nawaz League and the language its hawks like Chaudhry Nisar, Khawaja Asif and even to some extent Saad Rafiq have been using against retired generals, DHA and even the nexus between Malik Riaz and Generals dealing only in real Estates has forced Mian Sahb to announce initiation of the high treason case against Musharraf. As history will tell us that amongst many others Saad Rafiq was leading figure spotted amongst hundreds of others who stormed the Supreme Court during the second tenure of Nawaz League. Chaudhry Nisar has recently voiced his concern over the performance of army in Balochistan during his visit to Quaid’s residency after the fateful incident.

Whether it will prove a trap for Mian Nawaz Sharif or not cannot be determined solely on the basis of these hawks, many doves within League remarked. They argue that though Mahmood Khan Achakzai had tried to give a rationale in the first sitting of the national Assembly but after due diligence, the leadership has decided to go ahead with this. The leadership, these doves believe, understand that a weakened army at this point in time might not be in a position to walk in the high offices on the hill top with the help of triple one brigade. They further said that even the guarantors have not given any clue as to what should be done in this case. These leaders of League believe party leadership wants to establish for once that army should serve under the democratic leadership while staying within their barracks. They even said that Mian sahb wants to bring DHA’s and other corporations owned by military under democratic accountability.

As for the internal division of the army is considered, it remains a very tricky question for many analysts. They believe that army is in a constant state of war for almost past 12 years. More importantly, they are dealing with an international issue where it’s not a matter of dollars anymore rather it has become more a matter of relevance for them. The way things are shaping up in Afghanistan and the way Indians and even Chinese are gearing up to fill the vacuums likely to be created after the withdrawal of NATO boots; army seems more engaged in their own survival. Therefore, many inside the League believe that chances of them coming for the rescue of the jailed dictator might not arise. This confidence of the Leaguers, however, is strongly rebutted by many in the intelligence world because they believe that such a case would open such a Pandora’s Box where many serving and even retired army generals and many sitting and even retired judges of the vibrant judiciary might have to stand in the dock for their dirty deeds of the past. They argue that the same reasons which are considered a roadblock for the army to take over at this point apply to the political dispensation of this country. They are not operating in ideal conditions or in a vacuum, therefore, they too have to understanding eh dynamics of evolving situations on our borders which is threatening not only army as an institution but even the country as an entity, they emphasized.

As for the guarantors are concerned, many observers remarked that they only come into play once the politicians, Khakis and now even Courts would come to a make or break situation. They cite Mian Nawz Sharif’s case in this regard where Saudis did not intervene until Musharraf had ensured that he will get a life sentence from the same judges who later became one of the main reasons for his downfall. So the game is on and all the options seems to be on the table for all the stakeholders at this point in time and all we can do is to wait and watch the proceedings and twists as and when they are applied and appear in public domain.

http://thespokesman.pk/index.php/history/item/6491-mushay-trial-is-it-a-trap-for-the-ruling-party