Plans To Return To Pakistan
Pervez Musharraf, the retired general and ex-President of Pakistan who has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai and London since April 2009, had announced that he would return to Pakistan to contest the next general elections. Intially he had planned to return in March. However, earlier this month, in a telephone address to a political rally in Karachi, he promised to be back before the end of this month, saying “I’ll land in Karachi despite all sorts of dangers to my life. I can sacrifice my life if need be for the people of Pakistan”. Now, Mohammad Amjad, senior vice-president in Pervez Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League, has said that no final decision has been taken on the date of his return, and Pervez Musharraf himself has admitted that his return could be delayed. And no wonder, for if he were he to return, he faces possible imprisonment and assassination, dangers that were known but now spelt out in no uncertain terms.
Threat Of Arrest
Last week the country’s interior minister told parliament, “I assure this house that if he lands in Pakistan, he will be arrested because he is a PO [proclaimed offender]. There are three registered cases against him”.
Two warrants for his arrest have been issued. One is for the killing of Akbar Bugti, leader of the Bugti tribe in Balochistan, who was killed while he was hiding in a cave during an army raid in August, 2006. The other warrant for his arrest is for the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, on grounds that he had not provided adequate security to protect her on the day that she was killed in a suicide attack.
The third case registered against him concerned his 2007 state of emergency and detention of judges when he was trying to cling on to power.
Fatwa Calling For His Death
News that Pervez Musharraf was intending to return to Pakistan prompted those who issued a fatwa in October 2010 calling for his death to remind him of this threat. It seems the “hanging rope” for his execution has already been prepared.
The call for Pervez Musharraf’s death was endorsed by representatives of religious and political parties at a conference organized by the Jamhoori Watan Party of Balochistan Province. They declared him “wajib ul-qat” (liable for murder) for “unpardonable crimes against humanity”. These crimes include the killing of thousands of Baloch people as well as the students of Jamia Hafsa, a university for Islamic studies, in separate military operations; violations of the constitution; amendments of the Hudood Ordinance (the law on implementation of Sharia law in Pakistan); and violations of the sanctity of mosques. Religious scholars present at the conference were reported to have provided references from the Quran when discussing his alleged crimes.
The call for Pervez Musharraf’s death was accompanied by a call to the judiciary to take immediate steps to bring him back to Pakistan. In addition, there was a reward of Rs 100 million ($1,109,260) for Pervez Musharraf’s heads. There will be an additional reward of a plot of land worth Rs100 million if the killer were Urdu speaking, and a soldier, whether retired or serving.
Think About It
What would the fatwa calling for the death of Pervez Musharraf and the bounty on his head be? Justice? Politically motivated revenge? Incitement to murder? What references from the Quran support the fatwa? Was interpretation of the references indisputable? What is the penalty for incitement to murder in Pakistan?
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