Monkey business all the way

For the personal sacrifices he has made in striving for the rule of law in Pakistan, I have great respect for Aitzaz Ahsan, but it was disconcerting to see him on TV yesterday repeating ad nauseam that Pervez Musharraf was responsible for the latest turmoil. Well, Pervez Musharraf WAS responsible for a lot of things in the past, but the past is no more. Pervez Musharraf is nobody in the new game. He is a sitting duck--clipped, cornered, waiting to be slaughtered. He has relinquished his army post and has lost the support of the legislative bodies. He is a man sitting high with nothing to support him--his fall is inevitable. Musharraf's political demise is only one assembly-session away where a two-third majority should curb his powers and ultimately remove him from the post of the President. To blame Musharraf for the current mess, which amounts to accusing him for the manhandling incidents of Arbab Rahim and Sher Afgan, is the proverbial red herring--it is nothing but a chance for Mr. Ahsan to squander the goodwill he has gathered.

It is time that the new government own up the mess. The elected leaders who purportedly understand the concepts of 'democracy', 'rule of law', 'justice' must sit down with their uncouth disciples and teach them that these wonderful ideas must be grasped at levels far deeper than glib, parroting slogans.

The fear is that with the monkey business continuing Pervez Musharraf would ultimately, in the course of history, come out to be an 'illustrious' ruler. The perennial irony of Pakistan lies in every vilified government being exonerated through the clownery of the follower.