The pursuit of humiliation

The adversaries in the battlefield must surrender, lay down arms and accept total defeat with disgrace, shame and ignominy. This is what Napoleon believed and this is how he operated. Is this how Pervez Musharraf, intends to deal with the democratic forces in his own country in what he calls “Pakistan First?”

In the post-February 18 Pakistan, Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf has re-invented himself as Pakistan’s part-Napoleon Bonaparte and part-Richard Nixon.

Is Pervez Musharraf caught up with Nixon’s syndrome of “humiliating adversaries” at all costs, irrespective of ground realities and the fact that the nation has rejected him?

In a reverse paradigm, Musharraf’s objective at the moment seems to be the humiliation of the entire nation - the desire and defiance to totally subjugate 165 million Pakistanis to his will - to experience the ultimate ecstasy of power - the other side of “self-hatred” expressed in the utter totality of “self-love.”

General (retd) Pervez Musharraf would be well-advised to understand that in a democratic structure of politics, confrontations with adversaries are inevitable, but a statesman and visionary leader seeks alternatives within the context of political management laid down in rules and conventions and moves forward amicably, strictly observing and respecting the expressed will of the people.

In the process, the elimination of some specific political actors is a natural consequence of constitutional democratic procedures. It is not a humiliation (as the ex-general believes) - it is simply an appendage to a democratic course.

Will Pervez Musharraf consider that Napoleon and Nixon are dead and so are their political creeds? And will he consider submitting to the will of the people?

Will Pervez Musharraf save himself the public humiliation - and spare the nation the humiliation that he intends to inflict upon people for rightfully rejecting his leadership?

Indeed, Musharraf’s leadership was flawed from start to finish. Indeed, it was...! Indeed, his resignation is the only respectable course of action...Indeed, he must resign...!

The writer is a professor and a political analyst.

E-mail: hl_mehdi@hotmail.com