You Can Hide, You Cannot Run
The arrest of former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mansurul Haq from a select posh area in Texas, USA marks a significant step forward for the process of accountability in Pakistan. Substantial evidence is on record about the Admiral’s financial indiscretions, even the lavish abode and the manner of his living in the US was way beyond the means of a retired Naval officer. His incarceration, pending extradition to Pakistan, will act as a model to bring other fugitives to justice. The Chinese say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, to get the American system of justice to acknowledge that the evidence being presented from Pakistan was not tainted by prejudice is one very giant step. From the statement of witnesses it is apparent that the Admiral’s only salvation lies in becoming a prosecution witness, i.e. blowing the police whistle on his collaborators, among them politicians, bureaucrats, uniformed (and retired) colleagues, arms merchants, brokers, etc all those involved in skimming millions of dollars from purchases made by the Pakistan Armed Forces over the years.
The ruling military elite cannot be accused of bias against the Navy, this case was instituted by the political regime of Mian Nawaz Sharif, as against Air Marshal (Retd) Waqar Azim, jailed because of the PIA computers case. The Army has utilized the maximum portion of the Defence purchases, rumours abound of several hundreds of millions of dollars pocketed in commissions, ranging from helicopter gunships to artillery shells to tanks, etc why has no senior person ex-Army been prosecuted for corruption in arms trade? The perception of justice being seen to be fair and equitable is only when it is applied even-handedly, on friend and foe alike. The much vilified former Senator Saifur Rehman did yeoman’s work in going after the corrupt, unfortunately some cases were blatantly politically motivated, on the contrary very obvious evidence leading to logical conclusion of indictment and prosecution against PML’s politicians, friends and colleagues was conveniently ignored, this blatant partiality undermining his credibility and that of the entire accountability process during Mian Nawaz Sharif’s regime. The Supreme Court (SC) recognized this bias in setting aside verdict in the Bhutto-Zardari SGS/Cotecna, however on the basis of the evidence has ordered a re-trial. Having given the SC a clean bill of health it will be virtually impossible for Ms Benazir to tar and feather them the next time around if she is declared guilty, hence the overtures to the military regime. While blowing hot for the general public, she is busy trying to strike a pre-emptive equal to sustain her political longevity. As a political animal, Ms. Benazir has no living equal in Pakistan, at least at her level, except Abbaji, of course. She out-manoeuvred “master manipulator” Ghulam Ishaq Khan twice to become the PM, the second time she ensured he remained out in the cold never to return to power.
