Well well and the rest is history... now back to square one... aren't we...

History repeats.....

The best thing that ever happened to pakistan..

Is there still any democracy in Pakistan?

I wonder if that still haunt Mr. NS and become the biggest nightmare for him while people still missing Mr. Musharraf Era and again majority of eyes over Mr. Raheel Sharif.

Gen Musharraf took the right step for country, and now we need this step again ASAP

Somebody owe sorry to the nation.....

Where is the commando hiding these days? yesterdays election result was a slap on his face.when people voted against his ex provincial minister aleem khan for Nawaz sharif

history repeats itself but, quite fast in Pakistan..

The Golden Period.. the period in which dollar is at 60, the period in which middle class brought bikes in only 35k , the period in the pple dont come out to sold their children to get food.. the period in which the crime rate is down, the period in which poor can survive, the Period in which banking sector broke all records,

Sixteen years after this episode, I personally feel his era of ruling is not at all a regretting one although the way he came to rule is unacceptable for a the country of democratic setup.

After Zardari and Sharif back taking turns to ruin, i mean run the country, I think we should let Musharaff come back and take the country forward.

Nothing new yet....

So India was releived after Musharraf take over and still there are some emotional fools who says that he was "Hard on India"

@Ahmed USA True!

@DV super fast !! :p

Musharraf will soon come back (Y)

better than so called democracy.

Did NS learn anything from the history?

what's new after that.....same condition is now also in pak. Now there is raheel sharif ...bad history

Jiye Musharraf !

Unless Musharaf is punished for his audacity to throw out an elected government, Pakistan will continue to live under the shadow of a gun.Civilian leaders should not play politics with one another to the extent the so called third force finds it easy to dethrone them altogether. Nawaz Sharief Zindabad. He is firmly back on the seat and Musharaff, with all his bravdo is at the mercy of the courts.

democracy in pakistan is like a child who is not allowed to go school and then punished for poor grades

Wish Musharraf was still in power. We miss him!

It was dark day for the country. This is why rule of law must prevail and those responsible coups, including Mushrraf, must be brought to justice.

@Zara Chaudhry I hope so, the young generation of the country is truely missing his reign.

Feels like all of this went by just yesterday. But all of that happened, happened.. Now we have to move forward..

The best era of Pakistan I can say. Real democracy was shown with strengthen the economic pillars, reducing country depth and enhancing job opportunities.

Has high hopes in Musharraf, but he too turned out to be a power man.

not a bad army general..good luck to him in future coming future days.

That 8-9 years of Musharaf were Golden era of Pakistan history, democracy was there, press was become independent, Nawaz and PPP looters assembly members were resting at home or abroad. Economy was strong, $ was stable according to Pak Rupee. Prices of most of the items were stable. I am watching at least 10 Sindhi channels in Karachi, ppp government can not even think for this. See the current assemblies, all old crook are making their own bright future.

. Very unfortunate. Democracy must be strengthened and I mean real democracy not our politician's business that they call democracy.

Public representative PM Nawaz can not talk to world leader with confidence, he can not talk to even Chines leader. He is comfortable with Middle Eastern, Bhutan, Azerbaijan, or Maldive leaders. If a PM has no confidence how he can defend his country? 5 years of ppp government damage this country well.

V dont deserve democracy. So called democratic leaders have ruined the country to their best. Wat President Musharaf did and wat General Raheel Sharif is doing is in the best interest of the country.

and After 16 years India is still unsure what is happening in Pakistan..

What a time to live in!

@Kashif Syed we all do sir

An other black bay in Pakistan, though military still rules.

Is NS bearing himself for another? He hasn't learnt anything from history.

And so began the 9 year rule of Saviour #4.

Musharraf a great General and a great President.

What a turn around of events for NS and how lucky he is. This day 12 Oct he was behind bars and now he is in power

Good old days!

Waiting for this to happen again ASAP!

MNS and his co haven't learnt any lesson. They are looting more and their incompetence is touching staggering heights. Should we allow them to go on for full five years or.............

@Indian "and After 16 years India is still unsure what is happening in Pakistan.." And after 68 years nobody in Pakistan cares about the opinion across the border. Hasan

There never was any democracy in Pakistan there is non now and it looks very unlikely in the future... parties need to have sincere democracy in their parties before they can give it to the masses.

@Hasan, After 68 years, what does it say about your thinking capacity then??

Ahh the good old days .. the best thing to happen in recent history.. Miss Musharraf Sir..

DEMOCRACY is a western virus . Pakistan has strong safeguards against it by way of MILITARY Rule !!!

Most democratic era of Pakasitan. Unfortunately the same corrupt people are back in the government and conditions are even worst. That tells you how Pakistani politics work.

@saeed alam perfect analogy (Y)

I would much rather have a corrupt but elected PM than an honest military usurper. There is no way forward through military rule. We love and respect our armed forces as long as they stay out of politics. Pakistan zindabad.

Followed by 9 years of economic growth averaging close to 9% something the Democrats have still not achieved for a single year. Don't believe me go and research it.

@SEADORFF you are totally wrong Democracy is the best system in the world as long as the population is educated and intelligent to hold the leaders to account. If the population is iliterate and treats it like a sport where they support one team no matter how corrupt and useless they are then yes its the worst system.

I remember I was then staying abroad. My Gora friends were astonished that a military coup could still happen in the modern world, since they thought it was a thing of past. But they were more astonished when they found some local Pakistanis were supportive of the coup. Under this column, I still find many Pakistanis commenting in support of the Coup.

Musharraf Sir please come back . we miss the golden era of Pakistan while you were heading this country Come back sir

Good reminder one important news is missing is the cause of the take over and the high jacking of the plane with so many lives at stake. This can happen in a country like Pakistan.

behind the scenes military is still in power. musharaff disturbed the balance of democracy in pakistan

When National TV of Pakistan was airy speech See him well dressed in Military uniform, Proper gun, But Hurley speeches on Accountability, and to more adherence with Rule of Law because coups d'état varies behind this revolt against democracy. Elected Govt of Sheirt wipe out and store behind bars, Each and Every citizen could watch may like enemies but Soldier of Pak vide acute power ceremony.

When my craziness with Dictatorship and Dictator dreams thrives in teen age think binds with each and every problem solve these typed Hyper. Corruption,Maladministration and Poverty throng all over in South Continental spread. So that could happen in my mindset, News broken then cracker sound all over in my body. That is First event of my Thought and big successions my view. I was proudly peaches in circle and right array these action. Yeah, his speech around 6.pm around I am ete the news with hungry eyes stand on Pandora Box. His words till reminiscent my Mind that begins From '' Corruption in seed in Police station and Banyan Tree became in Judiciary. He says that seed would be roast on. crime would be wipe out in Pakistan Society. A travel goes through Karachi Air Port to his residence all over bribe seeker authorizes. Long term tenure scatter democracy was seem, Neither He was incompetent dictator nor have time limit.

Pakistan had its best years under Musharraf. This man was sincere but but the looters and their cunning ways did finally outwit him.

@AH Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

@Ahmed USA ...History will be unkind to us if we intend to write it.

@Befree ....Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.

@Gaz In India most of the population is illiterate , and living in villages , even than Democracy is going strong. BTW my comment was with reference to Pakistan !!

@JV The future rewards those who press on. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I'm going to press on.

@saeed alam At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents.in case of democracy it requires positive/ active involvement of people

@Kashif Syed if a person who could do any thing then while in power what would he do now...

@Iftikhar Husain - You have rightly pointed out the root cause of the takeover that Dawn completely missed. Nawaz tried to stop Musharraf's plane from landing in Pakistan which was on its way back from Sri Lanka. It was Nawaz who committed treason and not Musharraf.

The best times were under the rule of Musharraf from 2000 until 2005.

No matter what label we put on the government - PMLN, PPP, etc, Democracy etc... We all know the real power in Pakistan is the Pak Army and no one can rule without a nod from the Chief of Staff of the Army. Why do you think NS meets with Gen. Raheel so often? He's reminded frequently not to step out of line, and who holds the power strings.

Corruption has become a part and parcel in our high echelon and Gen Musharaf was no exception. We got huge national and international aid during terrible earthquake of 2005. Gen Musharaf and his croney Gen Farooq were the only recipients of this aid. But where has it gone? If it was properly used, we could have totally new and full of all amenities cities of Muzaffarabad, Balakot, Kotli and so on. In the start his aims could be high, but later on he indulged in dirty politics. I strongly condemn those who want his comeback. Let the country be run by politicians. We claim Zardari and Nawaz as corrupt ones. But time will wipe them out and new, educated and qualified leadership will come forward to run the show.

I am just waiting for history to repeat itself.

A disastrous day in Pakistan's history!

Musharraf Saheb we want you back!!!! You are an honest politician.

Poor comments by most literate people of Pakistan. Surprising they all support military rule not democracy and they don't want democracy to flourish in Pakistan. Musharraf's economy was based on war in Afghanistan and not because of his economic policies. Afghanistan's economy flourished in that time also where no one knows what economy is. Surprisingly Pakistanis have become addicts to military rule and they don't have vision how military rule damages the whole system of governance and ultimately brings a country to full collapse!

Politicians especially sharifs and bhuttos and zardari are like leeches / parasites who will never stop sucking Pakistan-- as long as they live.

General Saheb is a role model.

True democracy can only be established we remove the wide gap of social imbalance. In Pakistan, politics is the domain of billionaires and goons. The ordinary man has no option but to unwillingly select one amongst them. Unless drastic economic reforms are introduced with land reforms politics in our country, no true democracy can come in our country.

Seems our Pakistani mindset is not ready for democracy. We will always moan about it. But the moment a dictator takes over we rejoice. No matter how bad the outcome, we will say it was better off than an elected government. Mind you, every institution here is as corrupt as the other one. The sooner we realise, the better it is for us, our country and the future generations. Just saying.

What a beautiful day it was

@Nawabzada Taha Shabber you have just stole my words

@Atif Khan what darkest day you are talking about ? it was best time we have ever seen , get you fact s right look at the dollar rate in Musharraf Era

jamhuriat may not be perfect but is certainly the best form of government.

Sad day for Pakistan.

Great times for Pakistan under the leadership of Musharraf.

@Zara Chaudhry he never left

One of the best days of Pakistan's history. Long live Pak Army and General Musharraf.

And the Truth won in 2013, NS became PM and the so called military rulers with ZERO following is irrelevent.

Those who forget history are condemned to see it repeated.

for some reasons, I have a feeling...

@Manzoor The problem in Pakistan is that you have an electorate that supports military dictatorship. You still have some time to go before you get to a stage where India is. I am not saying we are a democracy that can be compared to the US. But we are evolving and we will get there some day. Pakistan's evolution, if it happens, will be longer and more painful.

Honestly, under Musharraf, Pakistan was stable. I still remember the rupee held constant value and got to 60's and stayed until Zardari came and all economic hell broke loose. The truth is that every new leader makes money as the west dictates them and the people of Pakistan suffer. If only there was peace and other powers stayed the hell out of our politics then and then we can see real stride.

@M2M wow so war in Afghanistan made the Pakistani economy strong. Why don't you study the date like I have from Trading economics and WHO. Musharaf put the best people in charge and was a a confident speaker himself that's all leadership is about. We have a leader now with no confidence to speak and puts family members in every position . I love democracy and I was born and raised in a western democracy but Pakistanis don't understand democracies they vote for crooks and then boast about how much of a gangster the politician they support is. The people in Pakistan are not doing the job of a voter.

Can we have a history repeat itself once again for the nation with Gen. Raheel!!

@Nawabzada Taha Shabber When I left the country dollar was 20 rupees, so you think dollar for 60 was good a thing. Don't you feel shame calling yourself Nawabzada because they are the Nawabs who looted the pure land of ours and because of your defection from the center India was enslaved by the East India company.

Electricity shortage and terrorism are the gift of Musharraf era. Bangladesh was the gift of Yahya and Ayub's flawed policies. And Zia's legacy ....... everyone knows.

@saeed alam Nice comment.

Overwhelming majority Pakistani nation within the Country and abroad, from Punjab, Sindh, then NWFP and Balochistsn having suffered for a long time at the hands of politicians, had equally welcomed General Musharraf by hearts and souls. More especially people of the greatest revenue generating City, Karachi, having lived for many years as helpless hostage of terror, extortion, target killings and 7/24 fear and intimidation took the Military Dictator as their would be savior who will get them back their old days of peace and freedom. The Nation at large took him as a true Reformer. But instead of freeing the long hostaged people of Karachi Musharraf for the convenience of perpetuation of his dictatorship forming alliance with the tormentors and hostage takers gave them free hands with total immunity to play hell with Karachities at all level? And formed his first Govt with many same well know corrupt politicians including those already facing Court indictments for colossal frauds.

No democracy in Pakistan, only Loot-khsoot is in pakistan

Except for creating and losing the Kargil war and turning the business of war in a money earner from the Americans, what has Musharraf done. He should be behind bars for subverting democracy.

I guess democracy is not suitable for all countries and people.

He is responsible for the present situation of Pakistan

@Acerfan It was not a military rule. There was no martial law at all.

Musharraf a great General, a great President and a Patriotic Citizen.

In Musharraf time when we graduated, More than half of class got jobs during open house and on campus interviews. Alas now time is much different for our young graduates.

Another BLACK chapter in history of Pakistan ruled by a dictator.

IN all 1999 we thought the days of military coups are behind us.

Each government have number of culprits members(MNA, MPA, Ex MNA, Ex. MPA)....If the ruling government take strict action against his own party culprits + opposition culprits then we can say government is loyal and not party baised....

Time changes and so governance. It may be be beneficial for that time. King's / dictator's rule may be required, when corruption is widespread in democracy. One man rule in iron hand for few years is required. It may be cyclic.

Mushruff was smart, he tried to appease India right after he took over the control from nawaz.

Nothing changed since 1999. Back to old kent road.

@A true Fact how so?

Army is great (in numbers, greater still in might) so they are right..

Musharraf's friends in federal cabinet, fawad sheds a and so on.

There is no denying the fact that Pakistan saw great economic progress, on all fronts, during Gen. Musharraf’s era. The progress reached across societal segments from the very poor to the wealthy, as it should be. Anyone who challenges facts on idiological or idiotic reasons needs to take a cold water bath and see the light

Black day for Pakistan. I wish should never come back.

This was the best thing that ever happened to pakistan. Most Pakistani support Musharraf.

To the people who cry out about democracy in Pakistan, what has democracy given your country so far? Stop crying about the democracy and wake up before the time runs out. If you stop being bias for a minute, it's a fact that Pakistan did much better in Musharraf's era. Some keyboard warriors are bashing and blaming him here, but the truth is their ten generations will not able to accomplish what this man accomplished in his life. We have good hopes from Khan and wish him best of luck. If Khan fails to bring any changes to the country, then you sure don't want any one of the other two political parties back in power. Smart people should understand what those other two political parties I mean here.

I have NO regrets on his rule. Mistakes do happens! His era was was the most I enjoyed in my life of 56 yrs. about my country.

I pray that Musharraf is brought to justice like the Sharif's for breaking the law in this country.

Dark day!

If only Musharraf had remained at the helm of Pakistan, country would have surely fully prospered without a doubt, vast majority people of Pakistan were fooled by the corrupt democracy politicians of making Pakistan prosper, instead they made the country sink to the Point of no return.