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The Power Belongs To The People
General Musharraf is not the first person who has usurped
power and who is trying to hold on to it by breaking his promise to shed off
his uniform on or before December 31, 2004. Pakistanis have courageously
dealt with such men of honor three times before in their brief history. The
disgrace these honorable men in uniform earned is part of Pakistanis’
collective memory.
Today, let us look at the history of few other countries
where people proved, power belongs to them and eventually they outwit all
usurpers.
Shah of Iran brought his tanks in the streets of Tehran
to crush the people of Iran, but they out numbered his tanks and forced Shah
of Iran to run away. The rest of it is history.
The last ruler of Soviet Union brought out his tanks to
stop the caravan of democracy, but the TV screens world over flashed an
unforgettable scene of sea of people and Soviet Union was flushed out in the
dustbin of history forever. Boris Yeltsin became the first President of
modern Russia with the popular support of the people of Russia.
A dictator in Yugoslavia tried to maintain hold on to
power by cheating in polls. The people poured out in streets to protest. The
dictator brought his tanks to crush the people, but the people crushed the
dictator. The dictator is now languishing in a 9 x10 cell in a jail in
Hague, going through trial for war crimes and crimes against his people.
The generals in Venezuela took over the country. They
arrested the elected President Mr. Chavez. But the people came out to the
rescue the elected President. The generals brought tanks to fight the
people, but the people defeated the tanks and forced the generals to go back
to barracks. After defeating the generals, the people of Venezuela
reinstalled President Chavez in his office.
A few years back, the generals in a small country in the
Pacific, Fiji, illegally took over the country. They arrested the prime
minister and put him in jail. After over throwing the elected prime
minister’s government, the generals went to the Supreme Court to have their
coup authenticated under the doctrine of necessity, which Pakistani generals
have used for the last 57 years to maintain their hold on power.
The judges of Supreme Court of Fiji refused to put the
seal of approval on the illegal military takeover. The Fijian judges’
remarkable courage saved another nation to become victim of doctrine of
necessity. The people of Fiji hailed the judges’ decision and the generals
were forced to go back to barracks.
General Musharraf can ignore Pakistan’s history, he can
also ignore the examples of other countries and go back on his promise to
take off the uniform on or before December 31, 2004, but he should not
forget that the power belongs to the people and they do not let anyone usurp
this power for too long.
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