It was a typical march afternoon in Islamabad. A few of us friends had gathered at a local popular restaurant for our lunch. We were a mixed lot. With education degrees from abroad and working for the development, private and government sectors, we were pondering on the future of the country. Just recently, the chief justice, Chaudhary Iftikhar had been deposed from his position by Gen Musharraf and there seemed an instant uprising by the lawyers.
As it is, I had the most pessimistic view among them. I believed, at that time, that Musharraf is powerful enough and will prevail over the agitators who will be locked up before the end of the month. However, my friends, especially those hailing from the government sectors, had a completely different point of view. They believed, and rightly so, that if lawyers prevailed and if the courts turned the ruling in favor of the Chief Justice, it will be the beginning of something different.
A few weeks later, with Chief Justice rallying the whole nation behind him, the first of the many TV censorships were imposed in the country by the military regime. The rallies that Chaudhary Iftikhar led in various cities of Pakistan were composed of thousands of supporters who came to greet and meet the person who had decided to stand up to Musharraf. These rallies, were sadly, banned altogether from live TV coverage. The noose on the media was beginning to tighten signalling once again the weakness of the government. In the midst of all this, the Chief Justice's rally in Karachi was met by Musharraf's supporters, aka MQM. And before the end of the day, 28 innocent people lay dead on the streets of Karachi. Once again, the message was clear. Support Musharraf or die. A few weeks later, bomb blast in Islamabad was to further flay the movement. But it had no effect on millions of people from standing up. Nor did the arrest of hundreds of lawyers nationwide who were supporting justice over dictatorship. It seemed that the masses had been mobilized and no ban, bomb or murders could stop this movement from spreading now.
It truly seemed the beginning of something different.
In the middle of all this, another tragic incident stirred the nerves of many in the country. The Lal Masjid debacle. That fateful day, when the incident began, I was in the neighborhood of the ill fated mosque. Rather, when I went to a nearby building for a meeting, everything seemed normal. But when I came out, a few hours later, the whole area was deserted. The shops that were buzzing with customers now had shutters down. The only activity on the street were Police vehicles. I had to walk quite a distance before I could find transport to take me away. All the while, that I walked through the area, I was worried if a stray bullet would pierce me from somewhere or some agitated mob might begin ransacking the area. Fortunately, I escaped to safety in good time.
The siege of the mosque lasted a while and it was telecast live on almost all televisions, including CNN and BBC. We even got a chance to hear the story of those inside the mosque through Geo, ARY and other local TV stations. At the same time, we listened to the daily press briefings by the government (initially) and later by the military which were never really telling us the real story. The heart of Islamabad shook with the bombs and rocket fires for weeks as the two sides fought it out to the grim end. The siege finally ended with the military might triumphaning over the hapless teenagers and defenseless females being massacared by army's automatic weapons and gun ship helicopters. A few who did have weapons within the mosque fared even worse, as they were hunted down and killed off one by one. Almost instantly, there was a change. While the government of Musharraf and military declared complete success in "Operation Silence", their compounds came under severe attacks from the forces that were loyal to Taliban. For the first time, it seemed, that Taliban had declared an all out war against the men in uniform. Never had the army been under siege from its own people.
It truly seemed the beginning of something different.
But the worst was yet to come. Chaudhary Iftikhar was not only reinstated by the subsequent court ruling in his favor, but he began questioning every single decision that the military dictator and his regime was making within the country. This brought us to where we are today. The emergency was declared, and all semblance of democracy and people power was taken away. Media was not only censored, but GEO and ARY were initially banned and later shut down for good. Thousands of protesters, including politicians, lawyers, students, intellectuals and human rights activists were rounded up and locked up into prisons. Musharraf once again made it very clear to his subjects. Stand up against me and you will perish. The masses got the message. They are beginning to stand up and had one goal in mind; "Perish Musharraf"
The movement today is a million strong. It encompasses students from high school and leading colleges and universities of the country. It includes, lawyers, businessmen and even women from all walks of life. It includes religious right and even Benazir Bhutto's pro Musharraf party. In short, it is no longer a movement led by any political party, but a movement led by the educated and elite class of people against the military regime of General Pervaiz Musharraf.
And in the end, it is truly the beginning of something different. It is definitely the birth of a revolution. One for which the country has waited 60 long years.
As it is, I had the most pessimistic view among them. I believed, at that time, that Musharraf is powerful enough and will prevail over the agitators who will be locked up before the end of the month. However, my friends, especially those hailing from the government sectors, had a completely different point of view. They believed, and rightly so, that if lawyers prevailed and if the courts turned the ruling in favor of the Chief Justice, it will be the beginning of something different.
A few weeks later, with Chief Justice rallying the whole nation behind him, the first of the many TV censorships were imposed in the country by the military regime. The rallies that Chaudhary Iftikhar led in various cities of Pakistan were composed of thousands of supporters who came to greet and meet the person who had decided to stand up to Musharraf. These rallies, were sadly, banned altogether from live TV coverage. The noose on the media was beginning to tighten signalling once again the weakness of the government. In the midst of all this, the Chief Justice's rally in Karachi was met by Musharraf's supporters, aka MQM. And before the end of the day, 28 innocent people lay dead on the streets of Karachi. Once again, the message was clear. Support Musharraf or die. A few weeks later, bomb blast in Islamabad was to further flay the movement. But it had no effect on millions of people from standing up. Nor did the arrest of hundreds of lawyers nationwide who were supporting justice over dictatorship. It seemed that the masses had been mobilized and no ban, bomb or murders could stop this movement from spreading now.
It truly seemed the beginning of something different.
In the middle of all this, another tragic incident stirred the nerves of many in the country. The Lal Masjid debacle. That fateful day, when the incident began, I was in the neighborhood of the ill fated mosque. Rather, when I went to a nearby building for a meeting, everything seemed normal. But when I came out, a few hours later, the whole area was deserted. The shops that were buzzing with customers now had shutters down. The only activity on the street were Police vehicles. I had to walk quite a distance before I could find transport to take me away. All the while, that I walked through the area, I was worried if a stray bullet would pierce me from somewhere or some agitated mob might begin ransacking the area. Fortunately, I escaped to safety in good time.
The siege of the mosque lasted a while and it was telecast live on almost all televisions, including CNN and BBC. We even got a chance to hear the story of those inside the mosque through Geo, ARY and other local TV stations. At the same time, we listened to the daily press briefings by the government (initially) and later by the military which were never really telling us the real story. The heart of Islamabad shook with the bombs and rocket fires for weeks as the two sides fought it out to the grim end. The siege finally ended with the military might triumphaning over the hapless teenagers and defenseless females being massacared by army's automatic weapons and gun ship helicopters. A few who did have weapons within the mosque fared even worse, as they were hunted down and killed off one by one. Almost instantly, there was a change. While the government of Musharraf and military declared complete success in "Operation Silence", their compounds came under severe attacks from the forces that were loyal to Taliban. For the first time, it seemed, that Taliban had declared an all out war against the men in uniform. Never had the army been under siege from its own people.
It truly seemed the beginning of something different.
But the worst was yet to come. Chaudhary Iftikhar was not only reinstated by the subsequent court ruling in his favor, but he began questioning every single decision that the military dictator and his regime was making within the country. This brought us to where we are today. The emergency was declared, and all semblance of democracy and people power was taken away. Media was not only censored, but GEO and ARY were initially banned and later shut down for good. Thousands of protesters, including politicians, lawyers, students, intellectuals and human rights activists were rounded up and locked up into prisons. Musharraf once again made it very clear to his subjects. Stand up against me and you will perish. The masses got the message. They are beginning to stand up and had one goal in mind; "Perish Musharraf"
The movement today is a million strong. It encompasses students from high school and leading colleges and universities of the country. It includes, lawyers, businessmen and even women from all walks of life. It includes religious right and even Benazir Bhutto's pro Musharraf party. In short, it is no longer a movement led by any political party, but a movement led by the educated and elite class of people against the military regime of General Pervaiz Musharraf.
And in the end, it is truly the beginning of something different. It is definitely the birth of a revolution. One for which the country has waited 60 long years.
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