Army rule in Pakistan leads to disappointment

By Kathy Gannon

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP): A year after the army ended Pakistan's sad decade-long struggle for democracy, the relief that many Pakistanis felt at getting rid of an unpopular civilian leader has been replaced by disappointment at their latest taste of military rule.

It's a complete turnaround from last Oct. 12, when the government of Nawaz Sharif was ousted in a quick, bloodless coup after being accused of abusing its powers so brazenly that it threatened the country's unity and weakened such key institutions as the judiciary.

The economy was shattered, sectarian violence had increased and a despondent public was looking for change.

For many Pakistanis, the army's takeover was like the return of an old friend. The army has ruled Pakistan for 25 of its 53- year history. There was even a little dancing in the streets.

These days, the dancing has been replaced by protests by any group willing to defy an army ban on demonstrations.

Human rights groups, both in Pakistan and outside, say the military rulers have either ignored human rights abuses or committed abuses of their own in an effort to clean up the county's endemic corruption.

Asma Jehangir, a lawyer and special UN envoy on human rights, recently wrote in the English-language daily The Dawn that in one case army personnel stood by while a Hindu income tax inspector was lynched.

She maintained abuses of Pakistan's blasphemy law -- which the military government promised to curb by making it tougher to bring charges -- had increased. The law can impose the death penalty for insults against Islam's prophet Mohammad.

The complaints run counter to military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf's reputation as a moderate. He has said his vision of Pakistan is as a moderate Muslim state that embraces technology and enshrines the rights of both women and minorities.

But critics say he has pandered to the radical religious right to avoid a confrontation and refused to regulate tens of thousands of independent religious schools.

"When the army came, we thought maybe they would take some tough decisions, like dealing with fanatical religious elements. But it has been one year and they have done nothing about these problems," said Umar Siddiqi, who runs a computer business in the federal capital.

Educated in the United States, Siddiqi returned to his homeland before the coup. Now he wonders if he made a mistake.

"For the first three or four months I really thought maybe they would do something. They are not bad guys or corrupt guys like the politicians, but I don't know what is the matter with them. Now everyone is against them," he said.

Pakistanis see a worsening economy. The rupee has weakened 17 percent in the last year, falling 6.9 percent just in the first week of October.

Inflation is on the rise, and the International Monetary Fund is expected to drive a hard bargain when it unveils its plan next month to bail out Pakistan's crumbling economy.

Musharraf earlier said his government made a calculated decision to tackle the country's biggest problems and sidestep less important ones. His stated priorities are: reviving the economy, cleaning up corruption and preparing the country for elections by the end of 2002.

Everything else, including sweeping reforms that could rein in the radical religious right, has been relegated to the back burner.

On Tuesday, he defended his government at a news conference and -- amid reports of the rich sending money abroad -- made an appeal for people to be loyal to the country. "We are asking our people to follow your heart, to make sacrifices, to stay in Pakistan," he said.

Information Minister Javed Jabbar says Musharraf has kept his promises to schedule local elections -- they're to be held between next December and July -- and to give women, the poor and minorities seats on government bodies .

"What we have done is to demonstrate that you can trust a leader, a leader who keeps his word," said Jabbar.

Some political analysts believe the critics are too quick to judge. Riffat Hussain, an analyst at Pakistan's Qaid-e-Azam University in the federal capital of Islamabad, said the government has made clear its good intentions and quite properly concentrated first on deciding on a plan of action.

"This government has taken one year to do the conceptual thing. Now is the time to see the performance," he said. "It's somewhat unfair to expect them to be able to plan and produce at the same time.