dont' we have enough already ...for ex.. Altaf Bahi, Imran Khan, Munawar Hussain, Nawaz, President Zardari .... ...etc..etc..
nah, the only fascist is altaf hejra
Itis very easy to forget how much of a Pariah Pakistan was in 1999 thanks to Nawaz Sharif.
Had Musharaf not intervened it would have been hard to imagine where Pakistan would have gone. Both Sharif and Bhutto played musical chairs the nation went nowhere but the Sharif/Bhutto fraternity got richer.
The military coup was welcomed by many and not challenged by anyone. The country was left in a very bad mess*. Neither another term from Sharif or Bhutto would have done any improvement to it. thesystem could not take them any more. *
*For those who sing Benazir's praises - SHE FLED WHEN SHE GOT THE CHANCE. If she was honest to Pakistan she would have faced the music. She only came back because there was a deal. *
I remember visiting Pakistan in the year 2000 and how overseas Pakistanis are harassed topay money to corrupt officials on the airport was no longer the case. **The military introduced decency at the airport even if it was for a short time. **That was my first brush with martial law in Pakistan at n age which I remember thing clearly and it was a bg improvement from being badgered to hand money over in 1996 and 1998 for "chai". Idid not have anything illegal or against customs.
I think peopl are being very biased when they say there was improvements in Pakistan because of US Aid only*. Musharaf has had a vey extensive and a successful road building programme all over Pakistan. Places like Gwadar, Turbat would be cut off from the rest of Pakisan.*
Karachi has improved considerably from 2000 to 2008. Some areas are cleaner, saplings planted, ethnic and sectarian strife simmered of course until 2007.
Musharaf encouraged an initiative fr more Sindhis ad more Baloch to join the army. he paid more attention to these people than those the the people constantly voted for. Yes situation in Balochistan became worse andKilling of Bugti was a mistake *but the situation has become worse in the last 2 years under the PPP , the party who are sympathetic to the Baloch. *
A Baloch tribe I think the or a tribe within the Mazaris were allowed to go and live in Dera Bugti gain, where they had been expelled from it by Nawab Akbar Bugti's tyrannical local authority.
Iwonder if anyone can bring forward any sort of boom from Sharif and Bhutto's years? Under Musharaf more and more foreign educated Pakistani educated graduates could go back and find jobs of decent pay. At least some industries and areas grew under him eve though if it was telecom, banking and the one where I saw most is leisure and the media. The nmber of restaurants and other eateries in each city town has grown and very few have fallen victim to the recession so far. Jobs have been created can please anyone show me where Sharif or Bhutto have ever tried to change Pakistan so much? Have they ever created jobs? Have they shown initiative? Do they really care?
There has been some attention paid to environmental issues - a number of new NGO's have started and some have done some good work. Some of the rivers have been cleaned up, the beach in some areas of Karachi cleaned up, the mangrove forests havd been replanted.
It seems as if the science and technology sector has grown too. People study courses in Pakistan which I ddi nt know existed and its all from the last 10 years.
Themedia has been strengthened to such an extent under Musharaf that it proved to be his undoing when he got greedy.
These are just some of the positive steps taken by Musharf or under his regime - depends how you want to credit it.
No one will forget his mistakes which Iam not going into simply because they have already been mentionned.
**All in all at the end of the day he like his "democratic" counterparts Sharif, Bhutto/Zardari are just greedy and power hungry and IN IT FOR THEMSELVES. **All 3 deserve to be hung. They have bled the nation dry, they have put themselves first.
I have written a lot of psotive comments about Musharaf not because I support him but yes I do belieev he has done more good for Pakistan than the Sharif/Bhutto junta combined, also at the same time he has also done a lot of bad.
People here call him a dictator which he was yet they vote for the 2 leaders who trat the 2 main democratic parties as their own personal property. IF YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING COOL AND ACCEPTABLE BY VOTING FOR A POLITICAL PARTY SUCH AS PML-N, PPP, PML-Q, MQM no your not because THEY ARE ALL LED BY DICTATORS. **You are not in any morall superior position when you vote PML-N, PPP in protst against musharaf simply because the political parties no longer function in a democratic manner. **If they no longer function in a democratic manner then they are going to be the LAST PEOPLE who will bring a democracy to you.
*In essence neither Musharf, nor zardari, nor Bhutto nor Sharif have done aything for the majority of the country ie THE POOR! *
I personally think Musharaf should retire and livehis life quietly if he and other corrupt officials do not go unpunished.
He has made a lot o money over the last decade - books, appearances. Both Sharif and the Zardri/Bhuttos have also made money - IF THEY ARE SO DECENT PEOPLE WHY DONT ANY ONE OF THESE GIVE BACK TO THE COUNTRY WHICH ALLOWED THEM TO HAVE EVERYTHING ?
Musharafs highs have been much higher than anythig PML-N or PPP could be produced, and at the same time some of the lows of his period were lower than what PML-N and PPP had reached.
One thing always makes me laugh whenever I read discussions about who is better or worse - ITS THE MORAL HIGH GROUND BY PPP and PML-N supporters against Musharf.
I dont know how anyone can support people like Zardari, Bhutto, Sharif and Musharaf over 50% AND HAVE MORAL STANDARDS?
kakabali, voiceone, captain1, theRealdeal, yazdi......
Seriously guys I'm not going to bother defending Musharraf to you guys. Please don't take it in the sense that I can't. I'm just really tired of repeating myself (and i know you guys will be thinking the same thing about me). You guys haven't read my earlier posts. You won't change nor will I.
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The mush-era 'economic boom' is a myth. It was brought about by massive government borrowing and promoting non-value-adding sectors i.e. telecom and banking. While the telecom companies flourished and banks made maddening profits, the manufacturing and agricultural sectors doomed. Billions of dollars spent on importing telecom related equipment could easily have been channeled into manufacturing or agriculture boosting long term economic growth. The banks should have been forced to lend at lower cost to MFG and AGR. The telecom firms are moreover easily allowed to repatriate profits to their parent companies, leeching Pakistani economy.
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You consider the telecom and banking sector to be non-value-adding sectors. I disagree.
**Clearly, you guys believe the economic progress we made during Mush's era was all fake or if not fake you give it little importance. I believe it was there and I believe it helped us.
You consider his 9 year tenure to be dictatorship but the definition of dictatorship in my dictionary is different from yours.**** I consider his "dictatorship" to be the most democratic term in Paks history especially when you compare it to Bhutto and NS.
If we differ on such basic points there is no way either one of us will accept each others reasoning so there is no point of debating. **
I'm not trying to say I'm right or you are wrong, its just that we value different things. I don't have the right to impose anything on you guys and neither do you guys have the right to impose anything on me. We believe completely different things.
**My question to you guys is Who do you guys support and why? Or do you guys just sit down and criticize Pakistans leadership???
And your answer CANNOT be none. I'm sorry if I appear to be slightly imposing but ** as a Pakistani there is no option as none. Take the pros and cons of all the possibilities and then weigh the differences. If all are evil choose the least evil. For me Mush is the best out of NS, Zardari, Imran, MQM...