Pakistan: Land of Hades and Death for its Leaders

"Pakistan" is a word coined by the famous poet Mohammed Iqbal. It means the "land of the pure." The state of Pakistan was carved out of the Indian subcontinent as a Homeland for the Muslims. Pakistan came into being on 14 August 1947 and Muhammad Ali Jinnah became its first Governor-General. Jinnah compromised his views and from a secularist turned into a rabid communalist and thus championed the two Nation theory- a pet British idea.

Jinnah's death after a few months of independence was a catastrophy. In retrospect, his death opened a Pandora's box for Pakistan and its leadership. It appears that the entire political elite of Pakistan had the mark of Hades and most of them have been done to death, murdered, or sent to exile where they died in mysterious circumstances.

Mian Nawaz Sharif

This is a sad state of affairs. Of the prime minister of Pakistan the previous incumbent, before Imran Khan took over, Mian Nawaz Sharif was arrested on charges of corruption by NAB( National Accountability Bureau) and after a farcical trial convicted on two charges of corruption and awarded 7 years and 12 years imprisonment.

The entire trial and subsequent punishment call for an independent investigation. Imran Khan the present Pakistan Prime Minister who does not fail to lecture India on human rights and good conduct is the guilty party along with the Pakistan army in this entire episode. During his incarceration, Mian Nawaz Sharif has not been given proper medical treatment and over the months his condition had deteriorated badly with the result his blood platelet count has come to almost 2000.

This is a stage when a man dies and yet the political leadership of Pakistan and the Pakistan army refused to grant him bail for medical treatment. In fact, one of the ministers of the Imran Khan government went so far as to say that Mian Nawaz Sharif has very good health and his problem was that he was eating too much of mutton. She conveniently forgot that Nawaz Sharif was denied home-cooked food and as such was only getting jail food. A doctor who was attending to Nawaz Sharif has opinioned that the platelet count had become so low was perhaps because he may have been given some form of Arsenic poisoning while in custody. This has not been verified but the fact remains that Nawaz Sharif is seriously ill and is on the verge of death. I pray to God that the international community which is these days seeing Imran Khan as a darling realizes that this man is an absolute despot and saves the former Pak PM.

Imran has followed the politics of vendetta. The daughter of Nawaz Sharif, Begum Mariam who had donned the mantle of the leadership of the Muslim League has also been jailed and admitted to the same hospital where Nawaz Sharif is admitted. The shock of seeing the precarious condition told on her and she developed low BP. The Pakistan government and Imran Khan realized the seriousness of Mian Sharif and asked for a board of doctors to be set up but most of the doctors refused to come on the board because it was too late and in case something happened to Nawaz Sharif they would be jailed. in other words, they would be made a scapegoat for the death of Nawaz Sharif

The fact is that the Pakistan army and Imran Khan will go to the extreme against their perceived opponents. The die is cast against Mian Nawaz Sharif. After his arrest, he has not been given proper treatment. Sadly Nawaz suffers from a heart ailment, has had a heart bypass surgery and is a diabetic.

He is not the only one in jail but the pervious prime minister is also in jail and the previous president of Pakistan Asif Zardari is also there. Imran Khan has managed to throttle the entire opposition. It's a far far cry from a man who preaches decorum and rule of the law to India

God forbid that anything happens to Mian Nawaz Sharif. But he will not be the first done to death as earlier to him there is a long line of rulers sent to Hades. We must remember that the very much respected Pakistan prime minister Liaqat Ali Khan was shot dead in a park while he was addressing a public meeting in 1951. Till date, the motive of the killer and why he was killed has never been made public.

The next man was Iskandar Mirza. He did a mistake by appointing General Ayub Khan as the chief of the Army. Gen Ayub carried out a military coup against Mirza and exiled him to London. He died there in mysterious circumstances and the sad part is that his body was not allowed to be brought to Pakistan and courtsey the Shah of Iran was buried in Tehran.

Ayub Khan himself was overthrown after he failed to win the 1965 war with India. He was also exiled from Pakistan. In between, there was a man called HS Shurrawadya- a Bengali who became the Prime Minister of Pakistan. This man was also overthrown and exiled to Beirut. Some opine he was poisoned.

The next name that we have is of the mercurial Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. This man selected a Mohajir i.e a Muslim who migrated from India as the Chief of the Army. He did not learn any lesson from Iskander Mirza and the new chief general Zia-ul -Haq got Zulfikar Ali Bhutto arrested on a charge of murder.

The murder charge was tried by a Kangaroo court. Surprisingly the trial of such an important man commenced in the Punjab High Court and not in the sessions court. He was convicted and sentenced to death on evidence that did not stand the test of legal scrutiny. There is a very interesting book on the life of Ali Bhutto which clearly brings out that Bhutto was sent to the gallows by general Zia and the corps commanders of the Army. They decided that he must be killed. This was to thwart any challenge to the army at a later stage.

Bhutto was executed but perhaps the mark of Hades continued as the man who executed Bhutto, General Zia ul Haq was also assassinated in 1989 when the C130 American plane in which he was flying with a number of Pakistan generals and the US ambassador was blown out and crashed. No report is available as to the cause of the death of general.

The next person who became Prime Minister of Pakistan was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto- Benazir Bhutto. This lady was killed in a terrorist attack.

The scenario was repeated by Nawaz Sharif when he became PM during his first stint as PM. He appointed General Musharraf chief of the Army. However, Musharraf deposed and arrested Nawaz Sharif in a military coup and the supreme court, as usual, called it essential under the "doctrine of necessity."

Nawaz Sharif was rescued by Saudi Arabia and sentenced to exile for 10 years. He returned only after Mushraff was himself thrown out. General Musharraf who was sent into exile returned to contest the election but was arrested for being part of the murder plot against Benazir. He is now in Dubai in exile-a forlorn man scared to come to Pakistan for fear of spending entire life in jail.

Nawaz Sharif was elected for a 5-year term but the Pakistan army was extremely unhappy with him and began propping up Imran Khan. The only way they could get Imran Khan elected was to get Mian Nawaz Sharif out of the way

It's very sad that so many leaders of Pakistan have been killed. Imran Khan in the same vein must remember that those who ride the tiger are eaten by the tiger. God forbid if anything happens to Mian Nawz, the province of Punjab will explode because the Muslim League of Nawaz Sharif has a lot of support there. Imran denying treatment to Mian Nawaz is a matter of concern for the world community. They will be failing their duty if they can't ensure that Mian Nawaz Sharif does not meet the same fate of the other leaders of Pakistan.