What do you think of President Musharraf ?

[Salamuddin]

After all, according to TIme Magazine, he is one of the most prominent politicians in the world, what with this "war on terror" happening .....

[FRAZ]

In the recent past Indra from India and Musharraf from Pakistan have been the most profitable rulers from their respective countries ..
But Musharraf has done nothing significant to improve the lives of some overseas Pakistranis who are not the nationals of Pakistan but still have some sort of social ties with Pakistan (because the other countries bar Canada are not protecting their values either)...
The dumb Customs officers at the border of US-Can have no idea that Pakistan is the most important and I guess the only important part of this war against terror .They just treat people on the basis of where they were born , what is their color and whats their name (religion) ....... That is a patent fact ..

[Matteh]

Originally Posted by FRAZ

The dumb Customs officers at the border of US-Can have no idea that Pakistan is the most important and I guess the only important part of this war against terror .They just treat people on the basis of where they were born , what is their color and whats their name (religion) ....... That is a patent fact ..

It is indeed and to such an extent Family guy spoofed it.

[andyc]

Top name. That's about all I know.

[C_C]

I think he is pretty much a tinpot dictator, responsible for the Kargil incident and sponsoring terrorism in India.
And please dont give me the whole 'independence for Kashmiris' nonsense- it is a fact categorically proven that the bulk of the terrorists are not Indian citizens (that means very few Indian kashmiris).
Between a aggressionist-minded military government, NWFP/Balochi conservatism and hardline islamic fanatics, pakistan is n extremely dangerous nation with nukes.

[lord_of_darkness]

Musharraf does sponsor terrorism imo!.. he bats for both sides.

[Sanz]

Although he is a dictator (not by choice though), IMO, Musharraf is the best thing that happened to Pakistan in recent years and its is unfortunate that 9/11 happened during his time and he has been forced to fight America's war else he would turned Pakistan into a much better state that it was under democratically elected governments of PPP and PML. Musharraf didn't create Islamic terrorism, neither did he create the Kashmir Problem or Kashmiri terrorists. These problems were created before he was forced to become a dictator and it is very unfair to blame him for these problems.

Also it is natural for Indians to hate him and his guts, but many of them secretly wish that they had a leader like him.

[lord_of_darkness]

^ He probably didnt create it.. but im sure hes their number 3 sponsor after 'ammu-nation' and mcdonalds

[Sanz]

And who are you, Adnan Khashoggi ?

[Mr Casson]

Originally Posted by Sanz

And who are you, Adnan Khashoggi ?

Dude, that's Reuben you crazy nong!

[Sanz]

Originally Posted by Mr Casson

Dude, that's Reuben you crazy nong!

Is Reuben the middle name ?

[lord_of_darkness]

Adnan Khashoggi? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnan_Khashoggi

thats the worst use of sarcasm.

[Anil]

Originally Posted by Sanz

Also it is natural for Indians to hate him and his guts, but many of them secretly wish that they had a leader like him.

you can't be serious....???!!! wish for a tinpot dictator like pervez to rule india?? i am fairly sure that it is not a majority or even a significant minority, c'mon....the only saving grace about musharraf is that he is about the only thing right now that stands in the way of a complete radical fundamentalist takeover in pakistan...

[Fusion]

Originally Posted by Sanz

Although he is a dictator (not by choice though), IMO, Musharraf is the best thing that happened to Pakistan in recent years and its is unfortunate that 9/11 happened during his time and he has been forced to fight America's war else he would turned Pakistan into a much better state that it was under democratically elected governments of PPP and PML. Musharraf didn't create Islamic terrorism, neither did he create the Kashmir Problem or Kashmiri terrorists. These problems were created before he was forced to become a dictator and it is very unfair to blame him for these problems.

Also it is natural for Indians to hate him and his guts, but many of them secretly wish that they had a leader like him.

Excellent post, though I'm not sure about that last sentence. I will not get into the Kashmir or Kargil debate, as it's pointless. I'm not going to convince the other side, nor are they going to convince me. But regarding Musharaf, he's been the best Pakistani leader in my lifetime (though that's not a huge compliment considering the stinkers we've had). He did not force his way into power. Nawaz Sharif's actions left him with no choice. Nawaz was headed toward a dictatorship himself and was possibly the most corrupt leader Pakistan ever had. Musharaf has tried his best to moderinize Pakistan and eliminate violent ideology that exists specially in NWFP and Balochistan. Ofcourse, he's not perfect. He's had to balance a fine line. For example, he had to form an alliance with the MMA (religious party). If he didn't, his ruling party (PML) couldn't form a consenses government.
I think if given time, Musharaf could help transform Pakistan into a modern state which promotes peace and tolerance. I think under his leadership, there is potential for Pakistan to be a "model" Islamic state which embraces the (good) western values, while keeping its own heritige and ideaolgy intact as well.

[SJS]

On a website majorly populated by Indian and Pakistani youngmen, one hesitates to get into a debate such as this.

Just one comment, nevertheless. India has had, and continues to have, some pretty ordinary politicians but never, ever have we as a people though of trading our bad politicians for a dictator (of any type). The only time when an Indian Prime Minister tried to muzzle democracy by putting all opposition in jail, India responded by ordinary Indians, young and old, rural and urban, rich and poor, men and woman, coming out on the streets and courting arrests till the jals were overflowing. And then when Mrs Gandhi finally held elections, her party was defeated in one of the most humilating defeats for a sitting party.

She herself was defeated by a virtual nobody in one of the biggest individual defeats for any Indian top leader in our history.

No sir. We are not very proud of ALL our leaders but we truly cherish our democracy and no one is going to convince us that any other way would have been better for us.