If it’s really General Pervez Musharraf’s intent to fight extremism more effectively by declaring martial law and setting aside the Pakistani constitution, then he has picked out some strange targets to start his campaign:
Police wielding assault rifles rounded up opposition leaders and rights activists Sunday after Pakistan’s military ruler suspended the constitution, ousted the top justice and deployed troops to fight what he called rising Islamic extremism…
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the extraordinary measures would remain in place “as long as it is necessary.” He also said parliamentary elections could be postponed up to a year, but no such decision had been made.
Aziz also said that up to 500 opposition activists had been arrested in the last 24 hours.
Among those detained were Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif; cricket star-turned politician, Imran Khan; Asma Jehangir, chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; and Hamid Gul, former chief of the main intelligence agency and a staunch critic of Musharraf’s support for the U.S.-led war on terror.
Talk about casting a wide net.
It isn’t hard riding the tiger – the hard part is getting off.
Maybe we can get him for the mayor of San Francisco gig after he loses his job there, so he can beat down some of the rabble there.
Why not start there? The folks in Western Pakistan seemed to have kicked his ass, so he has to beat up on someone.