Email by Masood Sharif Khan to the Youth of Pakistan

Assalam alaikum All,

The younger generation of Pakistan gives me a lot of hope that all may not be lost as yet. I salute Raheem-ul-Haque and Saeeda Diep for their courage and conviction (READ THEIR ORDEAL BELOW). I salute every single one of you striving for Pakistan's freedom.

While I am proud of every single one of you I am quite ashamed of the fact that my generation has more or less failed to provide the younger generation a Pakistan wherein instead of feeling the need of distributing fliers demanding freedom in all respects (which truly is a basic human right that need not be asked for in a civilised society but be ensured by the State on its own) you all should have been striving towards self improvement at this stage of your lives.

There should have been jobs out there for which you all should have been competing knowing that your connections in this haphazard society of ours is not going to improve your lot but your competency will.

My generation should have built a Pakistan for you all which should have been free of guns, drugs, bombs and fighting of all sorts so that all of you could have happily indulged in your career building rather than being beaten by robotic so called security guards and the police itself for trying to salvage Pakistan from going deeper down the pipe.

I feel truly proud of all of you. You are all my sons and daughters. You are all, each one of you, truly the sons and daughters of this unfortunate land i.e. Pakistan that we call our motherland. THE MOTHERLAND IS TRULY PROUD TO HAVE PEOPLE LIKE ALL OF YOU OUT THERE FIGHTING THE HEAVY ODDS IN ORDER TO RESCUE PAKISTAN FROM GOING INTO A STATE OF PARALYSIS WHILE MANY ARE JUST WAITING AND WATCHING THE MOTHERLAND SUFFER AND BE FURTHER MAULED.

I believe in the power of one. You all are not one but many. One day those that now watch you suffer at the hands of the guards etc from the sidelines as in this case will be by your side. The struggle must go on if Pakistan is to be saved from the scheming within the country and from the conspiracies being hatched against its very integrity. This beautiful land of Pakistan needs to be salvaged, saved and put on the path of true freedom and has to be done very soon.

Believing in the power of one I recently wrote a letter to President Musharraf to resign giving him an exit strategy after having announced a resignation intent. Some of you may have read that but some may not have. Therefore I am attaching portions relevant to the incident of Raheem and Saeeda below.

EXTRACTS:-

The deplorable law and order situation in the country, in general, and the mishandling of the situation in our erstwhile peaceful tribal areas and other parts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) only add to the widespread belief in the country that you and your government have now become a huge part of the problem and are certainly not equal to the task of finding a solution to the gigantic problems faced by Pakistan. These problems have gained unimaginable dimensions through the years of your rule. While the Army and the paramilitary is deployed to fight in many parts of NWFP the police and the rangers etc are busy beating up the civil society in the city streets. Pakistan and Pakistanis are no longer at peace with each other.


.............This is an occasion to set things right. Mr President, the entire Pakistani Nation wants that you should not stand in the way leading to the evolution of a free and independent nation governed by systems, institutions and a free judiciary rather than by the whims of individuals. Pakistanis desire that you should now help bring this about through an announcement that you have, in principle, decided to resign and work for a smooth transition of power in the shortest possible stipulated period.

..............The people of Pakistan cannot now be stopped, through the misuse of State resources and the application of brute force, from achieving THE PAKISTANI DREAM which entails a free Pakistan for us all – from the common man to the President/Prime Minister. Pakistanis now want a Pakistan where law is the protector rather than being the tormentor of its own population.


Have you not, Mr President, seen pictures of those young Pakistanis protesting against your actions against the judiciary being beaten so ruthlessly? It is the State that you are heading that is beating its own children, my children as well as your children, Mr President. Collectively they all belong to us. They are our kith and kin. They are our blood and are also Pakistan's future.

Protests will take place. Protests have to take place in any society. They will always take place and, therefore, governments in Pakistan will have to be more tolerant with dissent and if they cannot be then they should either do only the absolutely unquestionable things so that there is no need for anyone to protest OR they should resign and make way for others to succeed them.
.

.........Make way for the future rather than having respectable people like our lawyers and students beaten up ruthlessly on our streets. These are the truly enlightened people of Pakistan who supported you till you went wrong. These people will never damage a single plant while protesting. So why beat them so brutally? I assure you that there is no way any amount of baton charge can now deter these leaders of tomorrow.


Pakistanis now seek that true freedom that they have longed for in the shape of The PAKISTANI DREAM which envisages us as the proud citizens of a Pakistan governed by systems and the national institutions rather than being ruled by a one man regime. Mr President, make way for The Pakistani Dream and become a part of it too. I urge you, and I am sure millions of Pakistanis would second me on this, to do the following:-

a. Announce that you have decided to resign and that you shall hand over power to a new President as soon as he is elected.
b. Announce that you shall meet all the political leaders within one week and, thereafter, will announce just one person as the consensus Prime Minister who will run the government through the existing bureaucratic structure and will have no Cabinet of useless Ministers. Also add that, thereafter, you shall recede into the background till the new President is elected and you finally hand over to him.
c. At this point, in time, also announce the revival of the judiciary to its 02 November,2007, position because this one step will bring about the lost confidence of the people of Pakistan and will also help give credibility to the whole process of the transition of political power.
d. That the new Prime Minister, independent of you, will appoint a new Election Commission, Chief Ministers and Governors.
e. That this new Prime Minister and the new Chief Election Commissioner will conduct a free, fair and impartial general elections within 90 days of taking office.
f. That during the three months in power the Prime Minister along with the revived judiciary will lay down the methodology for the effectiveness of the existing rules of business for all the government institutions so that once the new government takes charge there is never a transgression of one institution into the working of any other institution, civil or military.
g. That within one week of the new parliament coming into force the schedule for the election of a new President will be announced and once the new President is elected you shall hand over to him. The revived judiciary will give you immunity till this time i.e. when you actually hand over and leave. This can always be worked out amicably if we all put Pakistan ahead of our own selves.

I have suggested this smooth transition as compared to an abrupt transition so that the world starts looking at us as a civilised country and so that the country's chances of plunging into anarchy are avoided. The option of immediately handing over to the Chairman Senate after announcing the new consensus Prime Minister is available for you to consider. However, I will still recommend that work on the smooth transfer of political authority should begin immediately and in right earnest.

The writing on the wall is written in large, capital and bold letters, Mr President. Failing to read the same will be very detrimental for Pakistan.

The moment belongs to you, Mr President, and the choice of bringing about a graceful and historic political change in Pakistan, or an ignominious one, is all yours.

My prayer to ALLAH THE ALMIGHTY is to give you the strength to make the right decision which can only be to make way for the future in the most graceful manner.

Best regards.
Sincerely,

(MASOOD SHARIF KHAN KHATTAK).
iIEND OF EXTRACTS


If I could somehow do it I would bring about a generational change in Pakistan wherein Pakistan and the shping of it's destiny has a smooth transfer from the present generation to the younger generation in totality so that the stagnancy imposed upon Pakistan in the name of "experience" is done away with and Pakistan becomes that true progressive and welfare State that THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN was always meant to be but never got anywhere near it's goals. 85% of Pakistanis live in deplorable conditions. They need help. Our help.

This is an occasion for the Pakistanis to realise that we are in a make or break situation and there is now nothing but we ourselves that can come to our own rescue.
My salutes and my very sincerest of prayers for all of you who can take injuries on your own bodies so that Pakistan is truly free.

PAKISTAN PAINDABAD
Sincerely and from the innermost core of my heart an admirer of what you young people , the students - and of course the lawyers are doing for Pakistan.

Very humbly yours - and someone ashamed of the fact that his generation has let down our beloved Pakistan.

MASOOD SHARIF KHAN KHATTAK

Masood Sharif Khan is a former IB Chief of Pakistan who resigned from the PPP when BB refused to take up the stance of the restoration of the judiciary and like us is boycotting the elections. He has already spent many years in jail for voicing up against Musharraf.