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Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is following in the footsteps of former dictator Zia ul-Haq in amassing power and the 29 constitutional amendments he promulgated recently would place any future government at his mercy, warns an Indo-Canadian expert on South Asia.
Professor Ashok Kapur, head of the political science department at Waterloo University, Ontario, told rediff.com over telephone that the constitutional amendments also indicate "a form of insecurity and he [Musharraf] just wants more powers for himself. He has the backing of his corps commanders, the defence force, and the United States".
Musharraf is "a good tactician and democracy is not an issue in his relationship with the United States", Kapur stated.
Indo-Canadian Rita Tremblay, head of the political science department at Concordia University, Montreal, agrees. "South Asia is peripheral to US interests as the war on terrorism is really important."
Musharraf knows fully well that the "US will not care what he does internally", she said.
Canadian columnist for the Globe and Mail daily, Marcus Gee, has criticised the US for its indifference towards Musharraf's dalliance with democracy. "The United States is doing Pakistan no favor by holding its tongue as the general stomps on democracy. In the war against terrorism, democracy is the best weapon," he said.
The Toronto Star newspaper called the recent changes in the Pakistani constitution by Musharraf as "tyranny".
Tremblay is unsure as to why the Canadian government is keeping quiet over the issue. The Toronto Star has also criticised the fact that Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government has said nothing about it. "The silence that has greeted General Pervez Musharraf's hijacking of democracy in Pakistan is a mute indictment of Western attitudes toward a major Muslim nation."
Indo-Canadian columnist Haroon Siddiqui, former editorial page editor (emeritus), Toronto Star, wrote, "Instead of reforming an ill-functioning democratic system, as promised, he [Musharraf] is distorting it even more."
Kapur said US Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent visit to Pakistan clearly demonstrated his "support for Musharraf and the Pakistani military because Musharraf will fight the Al Qaeda".
When asked about Musharraf's criticism of the forthcoming elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Kapur said, "That is a standard line about any election under India's auspices, but the question is to what extent the Pakistani military can disturb the election."
Kapur is doubtful if Pakistan has any real interest in J&K's elections. "The Pakistani military has no ideology... and if they don't care about elections on the Pakistani side of Kashmir, or in Pakistan itself, what sort of interest would they have in political pluralism [elsewhere]?"
Tremblay explained that Musharraf was initially on the right track, as he had taken a tough stand against the madrassa culture. But he has to take care of his domestic politics also and there are forces he can't control, she said.
The Toronto Star said through all the amendments, "Musharraf has made it clear... that he is in charge and intends to stay that way for as long as he likes". "Canada must express moral outrage on behalf of Pakistanis who see their freedoms being snatched away."
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