Pakistan and Democracy: Time for Musharraf to Go

The nation of Pakistan is certainly no stranger to violence, but the current state of war between Islamic forces and the government of General Pervez Musharraf has made many more people nervous, not only in Islamabad, but in the United States as well. In the Pakistani capital, more than 20 civilians and a number of government troops have been killed in clashes between pro-Taliban Islamic advocates and the Pakistan army.



The conflict is represented, at least in the Western press, as a clash between Islamic extremists (reportedly Taliban and Al Queda sympathizers keen on the imposition of Sharia on the population), and a secular government pulling out all the stops to resist them.



The United States, the major international supporter of the military government in Islamabad, has made a public point of reaffirming its backing for Musharraf in this strife. President Bush stated this week in Cleveland, Ohio that "I like him and I appreciate him". Vice President Cheyney is reported to be a big fan of the general as well. And perhaps this means a stream of new F-16 fighter planes and American economic credits to Pakistan, while the U.S. allows Musharraf simultaneously bludgeon his domestic opponents while he tolerates, in the face of U.S. anger, business as usual in the virtually autonomous tribal area of Waziristan (along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border) where Al Queda is reported to maintain its command centers.



The attack on the Red Mosque in Islamabad and the deaths of protesting Muslim opponents of the Musharraf dictatorship also demonstrate the essential contradiction and root cause of the conflict: the suppression of real democracy in Pakistan, and the role of the United States in maintaining a dictatorship that has lost both credibility and popular support among its people.



We should remember that Pakistan, like Egypt, has a strong Islamic movement. There is a minority faction within this movement that advocates for a more stringent and literal interpretation of the Qur'an in all the affairs of both the civil society and the state. There have certainly been problems with this approach, especially in the areas of Christian-Muslim coexistence in Pakistan and the willingness of the civil society to provide equal social status and protection for women.



But those who fervently believe in this interpretation of Islam are hardly the only ones calling for an end to the autocratic rule of Musharraf. The sacking earlier this year of Pakistan's Chief Justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, riled opposition forces who saw the move as a blatant attempt by Musharraf to undermine Pakistan's independent judiciary. And while the nation's small, educated class makes money, the income disparity between rich and poor-and the massive discontent of Pakistan's poor population- is growing. The likely outcome of this most recent violent assault in Pakistan is more dissent and social upheaval, and not the pacification that the general and his Washington friends might like.



In the prevailing worldview of the current American administration, Pakistan is an important component in Washington's global war against "radical" Islam. Musharraf has shown his willingness to dance to America's tune, in return for American money and weapons. But also-as in Egypt-the support from the United States has not come with any strings that require the military government of Pakistan to guarantee real and fair elections, and to return the power of self determination to the people of the nation, their elected representatives, and the institutions of civil society.



The Bush administration backed the army attack on the Red Mosque in Islamabad, as they back the regime of General Pervez Musharraf. We deeply regret the magnitude of killing involved in this conflict, as well as the willingness to attack and destroy a sacred place of worship.



But American support for this dictatorship will not ease the root cause of discontent in Pakistan. This will be accomplished by nothing short of a full commitment by the government of the United States to genuine, popular democracy in Pakistan, and a respect of the right of the Pakistani people to select their own-and not Washington's-government.



The Bush administration has killed countless thousands people in Iraq for the sake of installing "democracy". Now, It's time for them to get real about respect for democracy in Pakistan.



And it's time for them to realize, by the way, that Pervez Musharraf should no longer lead that nation.



Ibrahim Ramey