Controversy haunts Musharraf, even in death

• Except PTI lawmaker, parliamentarians refuse to offer prayers for former dictator
• PBC questions protocol for ‘convict’ at taxpayers’ expense

ISLAMABAD: The former military dictator whose life was fraught with controversies remained a cause of contention even after his death, as lawmakers in both houses of parliament squabbled over whether or not prayers should be offered for Pervez Musharraf who abrogated the Constitution twice.

In the Senate, the treasury benches strongly opposed prayers for the dictator whereas the PTI came out in support of Mr Musharraf. At the very outset of the proceedings, Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani asked JI Senator Mushtaq Ahmad to offer prayers for the victims of earthquake in Turkiye, Syria and Lebanon as well as former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who breathed his last in Dubai on Sunday.

In response to the request by Chairman Sanjrani, the upper house of parliament echoed with slogans of ‘no, no’ by the treasury lawmakers.

Mushtaq Ahmad also said there will be no prayers for the dictator. The Senate chairman gave in after sensing the majority’s opposition and asked Mushtaq Ahmad to skip the part and proceed.

Leader of the Opposition Dr Shahzad Wasim, who was a member of Musharraf’s cabinet, questioned the harm in offering prayers for the dictator. “He was a certified traitor,” Mushtaq Ahmad said, adding that Mr Musharraf broke the Constitution twice and was responsible for the mess in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Initially, government members stood up in their seats and later gathered around the chairman’s podium, as the opposition leader continued to defend Mr Musharraf. Dr Shahzad Wasim chided those calling Pervez Musharraf a dictator and noted that “dictatorship was in fact a behavioural trait”.

“We have also seen civilian dictators,” he quipped.

The Senate then unanimously passed a resolution drawing the attention of the government towards Article 227 stipulating that all existing laws shall be brought in conformity with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

Speaking on a motion moved by senators Mushtaq and Kamran Murtaza, several senators supported the charter of demands put forth by ‘Haq Do Tehreek’ and the agreement signed between the Balochistan CM and the movement.

Minister of State for Law Shahadat Awan said that the federal government had formed a committee under the minister for maritime affairs that will work in liaison with the provincial governments of Sindh and Balochistan to resolve the problems faced by the port city.

Meanwhile, in the National Assembly, Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani asked MQM MNA Muhammad Abubakar to offer fateha for Gen Musharraf as well as for those who died in the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria. When the MQM MNA offered fateha and especially mentioned the name of Mr Musharraf, only a few lawmakers were present in the house and some of them had raised their hands for Dua.

Waziristan MNA Mohsin Dawar then took the floor and protested the deputy speaker’s act of allowing prayers for the former president. MNA Dawar said this day should be remembered in history as no one was ready to offer fateha for the former strongman and they had to force one of the members with great difficulty to do it.

He regretted that the government was arranging state protocol and sending special aircraft to bring the body of a person who had been convicted by a court for committing high treason and termed it a mockery of the Constitution and the judiciary.

He said the court’s decision was clear as to how this dictator should be treated even after his death.

PBC takes exception

The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) expressed serious concern about the provision of extraordinary protocol for repatriation of Gen Musharraf’s body to Pakistan by sending a special plane to UAE on the expenditures of taxpayers of the country. Such an event, the statement said, would amount to committing great loss to the exchequer, especially during the current economic condition.

It recalled that a special court had awarded death sentence to Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 and stated that he was an absconder of the Pakistani courts; therefore, Mr Musharraf should not be given an official protocol because he was a convicted person.

Nasir Iqbal in Islamabad also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2023