THIS is with reference to the letter `Let history be the judge` and the EOS article `The general and I` (Feb 19) about former president and army chief Pervez Musharraf. As the nation is aware, Pakistan has suffered tremendously owing to the usurpation of power by military dictators. Most of our problems can be traced back to the reign of dictators.
What happened during the periods when the country was ruled by this dictator or that, including the `hybrid` experiment of re cent years, is too well known to be repeated here. As such, the two write-ups mentione d above left me in a sort of astonishment, as they tried to paint the dictator as some kind of benevolent ruler rather than a ruthless usurper who tried clinging to power till he could.
I would have ignored the letter for it was by some random person who thought the silent majority was grieving for a dictator who was actually involved directly or indirectly in the murder of two prominent political leaders hailing from the smaller provinces. But this was topped with a long-form EOS article that tried to paint him as a human being next door.
Even the criminals of the most heinous crimes appear human at some level. That is the enigma of human life. I am sure there are people who consider Adolf Hitler as the righteous leader and if some documentary-maker had a chance to work closely with him, he would have found some virtues in Hitler as well.
A documentary-maker from the privileged class tried to portray the dictator as a human just like us who wanted the good of the country. The rather crass attempt only brought to mind the aphorism, according to which, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Musharraf was a leader who failed miserably in delivering whatever he promised after illegally taking over. His handsarefullofblood asthousands died due to his ill-conceived policies.
Any attempt to show the man in any other light is a distortion of history, and an unfortunate, gross injustice to millions of law-abiding citizens of Pakistan.
