To revolt is a natural tendency of life. Even a worm turns against the foot that crushes it. In general, the vitality and relative dignity of an animal can be measured by the intensity of its instinct to revolt.
Mikhail Bakunin

28 November 2007

The Charade of Civility

President General Pervez Musharraf has become President General (Retired) Pervez Musharraf now but we do not purchase this rhetoric of his magnanimity and are not going to do any somersaults in sheer glee as yet. True that he will not have the army at his beck and call but he is still the person who holds the power to lift the emergency. We do not trust him. If we follow the proverb -- "Deceive me once, shame on you. Deceive me twice, shame on me" -- we know what we have to do. We have to keep telling him that he cannot continue this charade of magnanimous civility and to really earn some respect, if he still deserves any, he has to apologize and bring the unfairly dismissed judges of the Supreme Court back. Constitutionally speaking, he is a criminal because the Constitution of Pakistan prohibits a military or government employee from assuming a political office for two years after leaving the job. Moreover, he still retains the power to lift the emergency therefore he is not that benign even in his civilian garb. If he does not lift the emergency immediately, he is not civil at all. Here are two articles of interest:


The Autumn of the Patriarch

and

Uncertain Future for Musharraf outside Army.

No comments: