Review of Musharraf's - In the Line of Fire

In the Line of Fire, by Pervez Musharraf is an easy to read book that is written in plain and simple "high school" English. That is in fact a plus point. It is direct, devoid of any obfuscation and "pseudo intellectual" jargon. His anti-India stance is understandable and one might question his interpretation of facts and skewing them to his advantage. But the fact remains, it is his book and he is entitled to his opinion. One thing comes through in that he is an extremely capable bold, gutsy leader and a shrewd politician as well. He has "Balls" and Gall. His book has ruffled feathers everywhere, in India, in the US and in Pakistan as well. He does not spare anyone. He just states his point of view, as he sees it. For instance, he blames India for the creation of Bangladesh. Incidentally, Rajeev Gandhi made a statement that his mother was responsible for the creation of Bangladesh. That only validates Musharraf’s statement. Musharraf goes onto say that Pakistan’s friend, the US did nothing to help Pakistan, during the Bangladesh war, while India was helped by USSR. The fact is that the US sent the 7th Fleet to the Bay of Bengal. What they intended to do is anybody’s guess. Russian subs surfaced to stave of any US involvement. So according to him, the US stood by doing nothing and the Russians helped India. And because India was involved, it is India’s fault according to him, not withstanding, the situation would have probably played out with the same result with unnecessary bloodshed, if India did not get involved.

The accomplishments he mentions, if verifiable are laudable. His intentions and objectives assuming he "walks his talk" are noble. It is true he inherited a basket case and the fact that he has held Pakistan together is a major achievement in itself. There are lessons to glean for India’s Left and Muslims. For instance he chronicles the devastation Bhutto’s nationalization brought upon Pakistan’s economy and the impact of Madrassas on fundamentalism and terrorism. How he has and is undoing the follies of the past is very relevant to influence the thoughts of the Indian Left and the Indian clerics of Islam.

The book is an excellent attempt to lift the "veil of darkness" from Pakistan and promote it as a country that is an international player and not a gadfly, rogue, Islamic country. His responses to the crisis he has to confront, brings out his military training and but for Pakistan’s reputation, they could be excellent case studies for management, assuming they are verifiable.

He does acknowledge some of the deep-rooted problems Pakistan is facing. In the interest of maintaining an upbeat, positive outlook, he does not dwell too deep into the negative. He even acknowledges that there are terrorist activities being conducted by the mujahadeens against India, in the name of "Azad Kashmir" while acknowledging that their "Azad Kashmir" activities are legit. India claims that the ISI is helping these terrorists. Quite naturally, there is no mention of ISI propagated terrorist activities against India. Whether he knew of A.Q. Khan’s dealing with Korea and Libya, we can only speculate. It is highly unlikely that a leader who is in the process of legitimizing his country would allow such blatant infractions if he had knowledge of what was going on. And to his credit, even after the exposé, he has been able to maintain good relations with the West and is using the "War on Terror" to his advantage. Despite his India bashing, there is an under current of respect for India. It is clear, despite the internal troubles of Pakistan, of which he is quite candid about, Musharraf is good for Pakistan, good for India and good for the US.

Kashmir is the only sore point between India and Pakistan. This is the best opportune moment India has to address this issue, while Musharraf is in power. India is not blameless in this. No Indian is allowed to own land or property in Kashmir and no Indian can do business there unless he/she has a Kashmiri partner. What was intended to protect Kashmir has actually hurt it. India has treated Kashmir as a stepchild and the military intervention has decimated its economy. At the 10,000 feet level, there are parallels to US involvement in Iraq and India’s involvement in Kashmir. In our case it has been going on since the Hindu Raja capitulated a majority Muslim state to India.

There is a solution to the Kashmir problem and that is giving partial autonomy and self-governance to Kashmir. Also make Kashmir a full-fledged state under the Indian Constitution. This is not just a solution for Kashmir. It is a solution for all of India. It is time India matures as a country and starts decentralizing power. A lot of the programs Musharraf outlines in his book along with his goals and objectives are very relevant to the backward states of India. Each of these states can be looked at as a mini-Pakistan. The Center can act as a benevolent "entity" that works with the States in establishing goals, objectives and performance metrics. All the functions of the World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank can be integrated into this Central Entity. The role of the Center is to ensure consistency, compliance and good governance across the country. We should move to a model where the State "proposes" and the Center "disposes". In instances where the State is not performing, the Center brings on pressure, much like the developed countries bring pressure on "closed" and unregulated economies to open up and conform. And if a State is able to launch an activity without the Center’s help, then it should be allowed to do so, provided it follows environmental guidelines and is compliant with the laws of the country.

Musharraf mentions the setting up of a number of autonomous bodies to promote social issues, sports and for education in particular. These issues are all relevant to India. We need to de-politicize education, sports, the bureaucracy and the administration of essential services. There has to be a clear separation of the administration (bureaucracy) arm, judicial arm and the executive (elected) arm along with the appropriate checks and balances to ensure consistency, compliance, governance, performance and transparency. This is the time for India to mature and take the next leap. We can’t hide behind our "democracy veil" and accept our "laisez faire" approach. Look what a gutsy, bold George Bush did in the US within the context of Democracy? What we need is competent, gutsy, bold leadership for India.

Finally, I wish there were books written by the major parties of India, in clear and simple English as well as regional languages, endorsed by their respective leaderships that enunciate their intent, goals and strategies. This would serve as a reference to measure the ruling parties performance i.e. the walk behind their talk.

All in all, "In the Line of Fire" is a must read for all concerned Indian Citizens, OCI’s, NRI’S and PIO’s.

NRI – Non Resident Indian, having Indian Passport, living overseas.
PIO – Person of Indian Origin, anyone who can trace their lineage to India.
OCI – Overseas Citizen of India, a phoren national who obtains OCI.