From pardon to reconciliation

Sometimes in life we have to deal with confusing situations. We always hope to opt for the most excellent possible way out. It is very easy to choose between good and bad but it is always confusing to opt between bad and bad. In such circumstances we make an effort to prefer the lesser evil. Before 12th October 1999 Nawaz Sharif was facing the same situation. But unfortunately he opted for the greater evil. The unpleasant incident occurred after his decision was likely to happen. But in confusion he took quite a lot of wrong steps. If truth be told formation of PML-Q was the out come of his notorious deal with army establishment. That deal also opened a way for the army to make covert deals with other politicians. After this reprehensible agreement of Nawaz with army ANP, PPP and PML were vivisected by army for their vested interest. I do remember the public speeches of an aged trembling politician displaying Musharaf as savior of Pakistan and media sited those news stories on its front pages.

            PML was having two third majority in the parliament at that time. But Nawaz Sharif deserted his own party by making an agreement. A deal which brings a legal end to the elected democratic parliament and consequently politicians were arrested. Why PML-N did not struggle hard to fight against a dictator at that time? That overwhelming majority was not Nawaz private asset for which he made a business deal.

            Now if we look at the 3rd November 2007 decision of Musharaf government, it is quite different from 12th October 1999. Musharraf imposed a state of emergency in the country and issued a Provisional Constitutional Order. However, General Musharraf did not suspend the Senate, National and provincial assemblies. The local governments also continued to work. The proclamation of emergency order cited “increasing interference by some members of judiciary” and increasing terrorist attacks as justifications.

            The 3rd November events have no arguments for justification but it is a lesser evil than 12th October 1999. All the elected bodies were working. Soon media was allowed to start preaching its ideas. General Mussaraf took off his skin and became President Musharaf. Free and fair elections were held under PCO, which were also accepted by the global community. And today we have a parliament which compelled Musharaf to resign and Zardari was not able to pave a way for NRO.

            It is very interesting that the parties which were directly affected by emergency do not favour the trail of Pervaz Musharaf. But Nawaz Sharaif wants to take revenge making the events of 3rd November as a base. But there is some thing wrong at the bottom. Maybe he has also given a word in that notorious deal not to raise the issue of 12th October in future. And that is his weak point which twist his arm not to talk about 12th October.

            The National Reconciliation Ordinance is again a hot news for media and a point to exploit the situation for PML-N. Online editions of newspapers are blessing in this modern age. Last night I thought to collect news stories about Nawaz Sharif position on NRO during his exile. I was surprised to see that from October 5th 2007 (The day NRO was promulgated) till November 25th 2007 (the day Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan) Nawaz Sharif even did not dare to speak a single word about NRO. But today he does not get tired to talk about NRO. If NRO is a curse so what is the reason of his mysterious silence about NRO during exile?

            On 18th of October Nawaz Sharif telephoned to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Benazir Bhutto and condemned explosions that hit her convoy. Nawaz said Pakistan would have reached a better “National Reconciliation” if he had been allowed to stay in Pakistan. Superb! It means that practically he supported the reconciliation process under NRO. And that is the reason why he was silent about NRO till his return to Pakistan.  

During this period emergency was imposed in Pakistan and elections were promised to hold under PCO. The point is that Nawaz Sharif issued statements about every important issue but he never spoke about NRO. Now the nation ask him why he was silent about NRO at that time? Because today he says that NRO is a notorious law and treachery with nation. Why he was dead silent about this treachery?

The positive aspect of western politics is its transparency and their commitment and dedication to national interest. Benazir has also initialized the same trend in Pakistani politics by making healthy and crystal clear deals with military establishment and especially paving the way for NRO. The deal made by Nawaz Sharif benefited his family merely, while NRO opened a way for all the political parties. After Nawaz’s deal with military caused the split in political parties while on the other side NRO brought all political parties to the parliament and followed by a political harmony. If making a deal for going out of the country is justified so NRO must be appreciated for paving the way for politicians to come back to country with honor and dignity.