Musharraf’s trial has divided the institutions of state and society. Somehow, there is no consensus in the society that his trial is the best manner to handle the civil military imbalance in the country.
Other than sections of society that have supported him as president and still support his political ambition, the rest of the country is divided on the strategy. There is a section that feels that Musharraf became irrelevant when he was forced to resign both as the army chief and as the president. He should be left alone because the civil military relations will get better as a consequence of an evolutionary process, this section feels.
Then there are those who, while partially agreeing with this position, are not ready to forgive him for his decision to return to Pakistan and do politics. This section is again divided between those who think that he has been punished enough and should now be allowed to leave the country, and those who think the trial against him must reach its logical conclusion.
The trial itself has led to an interplay and realignment of different institutions of state apart from other parallel developments in various tiers of society including the political parties. In our Special Report today, we want to look at how this trial bodes for the army, parliament, judiciary and media.
Two recent and almost simultaneous developments have clarified the picture a bit. One, the Pakistan security forces launched an operation in the Qalat region of Balochistan killing 30 separatist militants. Two, a statement of the ISPR appeared in the press criticising the ministers for putting the army’s dignity into question. There is no indication to suggest that the military operation in Qalat was waged with the consent of either the provincial or the federal government. The statement emerging from the ISPR has made life additionally difficult for the elected government.
Only time will tell whether this statement was an attempt to clearly put the army’s weight behind its man or aimed to placate the unrest in the army’s rank and file. Meanwhile, this battle for turf between various institutions is an ongoing one.