IF past candour is any indication, the sensational new disclosures by retired army chief and former military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf may well be true. That the remarks need at the very least to be responded to by the principals dragged into the fresh controversy is clear. In claiming that former army chief retired Gen Raheel Sharif leaned on the superior judiciary to remove Mr Musharraf from the Exit Control List and thus allow him to leave Pakistan, the former military ruler first alleged that it was the PML-N government that had put pressure on the courts in a bid to punish Mr Musharraf. While it is entirely likely that the PML-N’s failed attempt to have Mr Musharraf convicted for treason for the 1999 coup was politically motivated, it is not apparent what leverage a political government could have over the superior judiciary in the particular matter. Certainly, political governments have tried to pressure the courts in the past, including, notoriously, the previous PML-N government, and the superior judiciary has reason to punish Mr Musharraf for the November 2007 Emergency, but the latest allegations by Mr Musharraf are more revealing about the institution he belonged to and its leadership.

For one, it shows the casual disregard Mr Musharraf has for the rule of law and institutional integrity. To make such public claims is to show contempt for other institutions of the state and be oblivious to the changed — improved — national dynamics in this era of democratic consolidation. It is quite apparent from Mr Musharraf’s statements that he was not seeking to dilate on institutional weaknesses in order to help strengthen them; his were the words of a former dictator used to speaking his mind, regardless of the consequences, and not yet adjusted to the reality that the country he illegally ruled has moved on. For another, surely Raheel Sharif has to come forward and clarify Mr Musharraf’s allegations. Mr Sharif was army chief until very recently; he is still in the public domain and his record in office needs to be explained where necessary.

Published in Dawn December 22nd, 2016