Musharraf has my vote!

Musharraf implies that a majority of Pakistanis are incapable of sound moral judgement - especially those miserable ones who live in villages. He's got my vote.

Nadya V September 05, 2010
In case you guys missed it, ex-dictator (now plain-suited) Pervez Musharraf put up a video on his Facebook page last night with a rather abstract question for his horde of loving fans.

The question was:
Are Pakistani people capable of differentiating good from bad?

It is perhaps the first time this self serving, love-fest of a page has actually caught my attention – perhaps because this is also the first time I have seen Musharraf actually pose a question which had the potential to alienate and confuse his doting minions, and I just LOVE to see a hero shoot himself in the foot.

Fully expecting a George Fulton/Fasi Zaka style rant about what slime we Pakistanis are, I turned on the video with a wide grin on my face, excited to see Mush lay into the Pakistan psyche and then anticipating a fun read through the (expected) 1,000 comments on how General sahib had ‘betrayed’ his flock by calling them all cockroaches.

The video opens with some cheesy piano theme from a mild-mannered horror movie. Okay, I can live with that.

Mushie is seated on a fairly impressive (but not too impressive because he’s all ‘civvie’ now) desk. Lame, but bearable, now lay it on me!

Opening sentence (I kid you not):
I think in the rural areas, really they are… not so much in the knowledge of uhh, things that are happening around…

*really awkward and obvious cut*
…therefore they may not be able to discern between people.

Oh damn! Did Musharraf just insinuate that 80 per cent of our population cannot differentiate good from bad?

Sentence two:
In the urban areas indeed I think there is a sense of right and wrong.

He did! He so totally did insinuate that our jaahil qaum has no moral compass and that we the urban overlords with our fancy mobiles and Gucci bags know where it’s at. I mean, I love my Gucci bag to death and do think that I know best, but even I wouldn’t have admitted that to 200,000 desperately patriotic Pakistanis.

Sentence three:
But again because of the overall environment, if you see in certain areas there is a tribal environment; there is a feudal environment in certain areas; in other areas there are clans and zaats and zaat bradaris, because of which the sense of right and wrong gets distorted.

Okay, I see where this is going. I’ve heard enough MQM chit chat to see an agenda creeping in here. But somehow it just rings so hollow to blame feudalism for a lack of morality among people no? That’s a big leap of logic (and issues) isn’t it? I know you have to cover up for the fact that in the previous sentence you just said a majority of the population is comprised of a rabid horde, but really? Feudalism? This is such a simplistic statement to make its just plain farce and not worth delving into. I’ll leave that to the ultra-liberal military-bashing types to rant about in detail.

Last sentence (translated):
The nation should realize what is good for the country and who is good for the country.

Hey, you’ve got my vote. Not only did you just bash most of Pakistan and declare that the urban, morally upstanding supremos should continue to rule (because they have been doing so well in their urban fantasy lands), you also managed to slip in a ‘vote for me’ while doing it. If I wasn’t about to puke from the sheer gushing love your commenting fans have left for you on that video post, I would say congratulations: you have won Nadya’s prize for most-out-of-touch-dictator-video-blog 2010.

The blogger wishes to inform her audience that this is a sarcastic critique and would appreciate if commenters keep that in mind.
WRITTEN BY:
Nadya V Social critic and part-time gossip monger
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (105)

Manzoor | 13 years ago | Reply Musharraf has my vote too. love you Dear Musharraf....
HST | 13 years ago | Reply COMMON Nadia V admit that your case is totally faulty it its crux. this article clearly shows your short comings and your inability to understand the problems in Pakistan and finding their solution. i am not a big supporter of musharaf but what he say's is at least close to the reality and he understands what the problem with the Pakistani voters. to tell you the truth, even a 10th grader fully understands the problem of why the Pakistani public keep on selecting those who are corrupt and who are waderas and landlords or are related to them in the political arena. if you look at the Indian feudal system you wont find any, because it was abolished on the Independence of British India and that's how they have been able to manage their democracy and country far better then us. do some reading and try writing it again. i know with your backgorund it will be all extremely hard to do but if you are interested in writing in order to show the right perspective. you have to fulfill the prerequisite, and that is to come on the level of the general public first and wright what is a fact not a fabrication of your wild guesses and random chit chat. i hope you understand
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