Musharraf Gets Sympathy, Thanks To The Mess Of His Opponents In Pakistan
Former President Musharraf failed in the most basic task the Pakistani people expected of him: To reform the destructive Pakistani politics. He shunned good advice, allied with the corrupt and then passed NRO, bringing to power all those who were tried, tested and discredited in the 1990s. For educated Pakistanis to spend money from their own pockets to come down to London and rally in Mr. Musharraf's support, it means something. Mr. Nawaz Sharif and Mr. Asif Zardari would have to pay money to organize such events and even then they wouldn't attract most educated middle class Pakistanis. So why these people are spending their own money to organize this event despite Mr. Musharraf's failures? This shows how disappointed most Pakistanis have become with the politics and the political system in their homeland. Nowhere else in the world are politics so violent, destructive and monopolized by a few like they are in Pakistan. [Editorial by PakNationalists in Islamabad.]
[Reporting, article and pictures below by Farah Mazhar in London representing The Musharraf Supporters Alliance UK.]
Yesterdays protest was fuelled with passion of Musharraf Supporters. Remind you the call for this rally did not come from Pervez Musharraf.
Everyone present considered Musharraf a moderate leader who facilitated democracy and the core message was:
"Musharraf might be in uniform when he took the office but in past eight years he has transformed and emerged as a mature politician. Despite the manner in which both Nawaz and Zardari won votes, there is every likelihood that people still would like to see Musharraf back into power."
Media people asked some interesting questions one of them being
1. Do you Support what Musharraf did at Lal Masjid?
Response was: If whatever happened at Red Mosque was wrong than whatever action present government is taking in Swat is wrong
If Swat is right now then Red Mosque was right as well.
2. The most asked question was: Do you support a dictator?
The response was different but two versions I will quote:
a. Musharraf was never a dictator. Musharraf gave us freedom of expression and civil liberties.
b. We would never support military rule but during Musharraf's reign, it was not military rule.
Musharraf was more of a civil general and much better than the dictatorial and autocratic Nawaz and Zardari who like act and behave as dictators and crave absolute powers.
Also there was a visible shift in people's thoughts and their perception. A realization is growing that a democracy under PPP and Nawaz is worse than Musharraf's rule. Therefore, they support Musharraf.
There were people from working class as well who attended the rally.
Ahmed Quraishi.com
Former President Musharraf failed in the most basic task the Pakistani people expected of him: To reform the destructive Pakistani politics. He shunned good advice, allied with the corrupt and then passed NRO, bringing to power all those who were tried, tested and discredited in the 1990s. For educated Pakistanis to spend money from their own pockets to come down to London and rally in Mr. Musharraf's support, it means something. Mr. Nawaz Sharif and Mr. Asif Zardari would have to pay money to organize such events and even then they wouldn't attract most educated middle class Pakistanis. So why these people are spending their own money to organize this event despite Mr. Musharraf's failures? This shows how disappointed most Pakistanis have become with the politics and the political system in their homeland. Nowhere else in the world are politics so violent, destructive and monopolized by a few like they are in Pakistan. [Editorial by PakNationalists in Islamabad.]
[Reporting, article and pictures below by Farah Mazhar in London representing The Musharraf Supporters Alliance UK.]
Yesterdays protest was fuelled with passion of Musharraf Supporters. Remind you the call for this rally did not come from Pervez Musharraf.
Everyone present considered Musharraf a moderate leader who facilitated democracy and the core message was:
"Musharraf might be in uniform when he took the office but in past eight years he has transformed and emerged as a mature politician. Despite the manner in which both Nawaz and Zardari won votes, there is every likelihood that people still would like to see Musharraf back into power."
Media people asked some interesting questions one of them being
1. Do you Support what Musharraf did at Lal Masjid?
Response was: If whatever happened at Red Mosque was wrong than whatever action present government is taking in Swat is wrong
If Swat is right now then Red Mosque was right as well.
2. The most asked question was: Do you support a dictator?
The response was different but two versions I will quote:
a. Musharraf was never a dictator. Musharraf gave us freedom of expression and civil liberties.
b. We would never support military rule but during Musharraf's reign, it was not military rule.
Musharraf was more of a civil general and much better than the dictatorial and autocratic Nawaz and Zardari who like act and behave as dictators and crave absolute powers.
Also there was a visible shift in people's thoughts and their perception. A realization is growing that a democracy under PPP and Nawaz is worse than Musharraf's rule. Therefore, they support Musharraf.
There were people from working class as well who attended the rally.
Ahmed Quraishi.com
