Musharraf's future hangs in the air after impeachment (Feature)

Islamabad - For the majority of political leaders in Pakistan's ruling coalition the planned impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf is a means to do away with the military dictatorship and put the country back on a democratic track. But for others it is a way to make the retired general pay for what they call his illegal actions, ranging from treason to murder, over the eight years of his rule. 'He has killed my leader and father-in-law Nawab Akbar Bugti and hundreds more in Balochistan,' said Shahid Bugti, a member of the Senate, the upper house of parliament, which is preparing for an impeachment vote against Musharraf later this month in a joint session with the lower house. 'I want to have the honour of being the first one to vote against General Musharraf,' he added. 'But only his ouster is not enough,' said the lawmaker. 'I would press the parliament not to give him a safe exit or allow him to leave the country after impeachment without being held accountable for what he has done to this country and its people.' The former chief minister of south-western Balochistan province, Akbar Bugti, led an armed nationalist movement of ethnic Baloch tribes in 2004 seeking autonomy as well as a greater share of revenues generated from the natural resources in the region. To suppress the campaign, Musharraf's government deployed military troops, artillery, helicopter gunships and fighter jets to target rebel hideouts. Hundreds of Baloch fighters, dozens of security personnel and many civilians died in the conflict, including Akbar Bugti. According to the government, Akbar Bugti died in a cave where he was hiding during an armed conflict with troops. However, his relatives and supporters say Musharraf had a personal grudge against the provincial chief. A few weeks earlier Musharraf said in a speech that Nawab Sahab (Akbar Bugti) would be hit with something he would never know where it had come from, said his son-in-law. Being killed by an army missile his relatives say is proof it was an extra-judicial killing. 'If Saddam Hussain can be hanged for killing Kurd nationalists, why Musharraf cannot be tried for killing Baloch nationalists?' asked Shahid Bugti. Musharraf, who has already survived at least three assassination attempts by al-Qaeda terrorists, is not only scorned by the secular Baloch ethnic population, but also by radical Islamists. The Islamic survivors of Islamabad's Red Mosque operation have long been rallying for Musharraf's trial and eventually execution for 'mass murder' and the use of banned phosphorous bombs in last year's commando action. Umme Hassan, the former principal of the female Islamic seminary - Jamia Hafsa - at the Red Mosque, claimed more than 3,000 innocent women and children died in the military operation, which was launched after a week-long stand-off with heavily armed militants entrenched in the compound. According to government claims, around 100 people, including 12 elite troops, died in the assault. 'The bloodshed could have been averted,' said Hassan. 'The government negotiators and the mosque administration had almost reached a deal to end the conflict on the night of July 9 but Musharraf interfered and illegally ordered the operation the next morning.' Up until last year Musharraf was known as a strong leader who had subdued sectarian violence that had killed hundreds of Shiite and Sunni Muslims before he took over in a coup in 1999 and was publicly supported. His philosophy of 'enlightened moderation' brought significant social change by securing more rights for women, more female presence in the parliament and workplace. There was also greater press freedom, which led to a proliferation of print media as well as news channels, which are currently lashing him with harsh criticism. Musharraf's withdrawal of support for the Taliban regime after 9/11 attacks on the United States saved the country from a major disaster that could have resulted in a direct conflict with the US. In return, Pakistan received billions of dollars in aid from the US and other western countries that helped Pakistan's fragile economy grow an average of 7 per cent between 2002 and 2007. But in 2007 a downward spiral began when Musharraf imposed emergency rule and suspended more than 60 senior judges in a bid to avert a Supreme Court ruling against his controversial presidential election for a second term. He put the judges under house arrest for several weeks, sparking mass protests. The democratic consciousness, for which Musharraf is at least partly responsible for developing, took the measures as a clear expression of dictatorial ambitions and voted against his political allies in February 18 elections. Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan People's Party of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto formed a coalition government. The influential legal community, which has been leading a campaign for the restoration of the judiciary, has recently demanded Musharraf's trial for treason committed when he suspended the constitution and proclaimed an emergency. The crime, if proven, carries a death penalty. The independent Human Right Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which strongly opposes the death penalty, says the list of Musharraf's 'crimes and sins is too long to be ignored' and also wants to hold his cronies 'accountable' across the border, according to Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of the HRCP. But besieged and isolated at home, the president still has some international friends, including the US, Britain and Saudi Arabia which are reportedly rallying to secure an amnesty for him. Information Minister Sherry Rehman said it was the parliament and the coalition leaders who would decide as how the saga is concluded.