History of Pakistan #60 | The story of NRO 2007 | Faisal Warraich
Friends, this photo is from the Rose Garden of the White House in September 2006.
There are 3 presidents, a vice president and a secretary of state sitting around the table.
If you look closely, the 3 Americans namely President George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice and Dick Cheney are smiling.
While President Pervez Musharraf and Hamid Karzai are frowning.
This picture is actually a complete reflection of a historical event.
It is a picture of the meeting in which Hamid Karzai and General Musharraf exchanged heated words.
The situation was so bad that the U.S. President barely managed to cool both of them down.
Why did this happen?
Why did America decide that it should pave the way for Benazir Bhutto's peaceful return?
What was the story of NRO?
I am Faisal Waraich and in this episode of Dekho Suno Jano's History of Pakistan, we will show you all this.
President Bush made a night's stay in Pakistan while returning from a state visit to India.
General Pervez Musharraf at that time held 2 official posts with great power.
He was the Army Chief and the most powerful President of Pakistan at the same time.
American foreign policy at that time revolved around the central theme of the so-called War Against Terror.
The U.S. military was busy in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Iraq, they needed the help of Saudi Arabia and anti-Saddam religious groups, while in Afghanistan,...
... they desperately needed Pakistan.
Especially the cooperation of Pak Army was crucial to secure the Pak-Afghan border.
Bush says he discussed 2 points with General Musharraf during his stay.
1st point: holding the 2 official posts at the same time was a violation of the Pakistani constitution.
He should lead the country as a civilian president.
He should quit the office of the army chief.
The Pakistani public was also demanding that he should put off his uniform.
The U.S. President repeated the same demand.
He says that General Musharraf reluctantly made a promise but he was in no hurry to do that.
The 2nd point was the War on Terror.
He asked General Musharraf to cooperate in this war.
He wanted to stop the terrorists from crossing Pak-Afghan broder.
General Musharraf replied positively.
He was ready to fully cooperate.
America was not satisfied with Musharraf's efforts.
It wanted a change in the army command.
But to do that, either Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif had to return to Pakistan first.
These two leaders were in exile
President Musharraf had made so many cases against them to prevent them from returning.
He could easily stop them from contesting elections.
Apart from these discussions, the U.S. President also played cricket with children at the American Embassy.
Pakistani Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq bowled a few soft deliveries to the President.
George Bush also bowled a delivery and gifted baseballs to the children with his autograph.
George W. Bush couldn't handle few of the deliveries.
At the dinner, the U.S. President complained about this.
He said that if he wasn't bowled a googly, he could have been a good batsman.
Perhaps Inzmam had told him about the googly.
A few hours later, he left on a special plane.
George Bush was gone, but General Musharraf didn't take off his uniform.
Bombings in Pakistan and Afghanistan also continued.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai used to blame Pakistan for the bomb blasts in his country.
While General Pervez Musharraf blamed Karzai and India.
He accused them of supporting terrorist activities in Pakistan.
The intensity of the explosions and deaths in both countries was so high
Both the rulers were highly frustrated.
1,043 acts of terrorism took place in Pakistan in 2006.
1,446 Pakistanis died as a result of these attacks.
Afghanistan suffered 139 suicide attacks and 1,670 bomb attacks in the same year.
The exact casualty figure in these attacks is still unknown.
So, America wanted Hamid Karzai and General Pervez Musharraf to work together.
It wanted to eradicate the safe havens for the terrorists in both countries.
According to the U.S., the 2 countries also received millions of dollars for cooperation in the war against terrorism.
But General Musharraf and Hamid Karzai were not even ready to talk to each other.
According to George W. Bush, the two were not on the speaking terms with each other.
George W. Bush made a special effort to melt the ice.
He invited them to a dinner on the evening of September 27, 2006.
This dinner was held in the Rose Garden of the White House.
George W. Bush was accompanied by Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
But when the Pak-Afghan presidents faced each other, they were frustrated.
They did not even shake hands formally.
This was a big embarrassment for the host president.
however, he ignored it and tried to settle the matter.
Hamid Karzai immediately accused General Musharraf of harboring the Taliban in his country.
General Musharraf asked where were those Taliban?
Karzai replied, "You know where they are."
Musharraf said, "If I did, I would get them."
Hamid Karzai replied, "go do it."
The U.S. President began to realize that it was a mistake to invite the two to dinner.
But the United States had another revelation.
It realized that General Musharraf couldn't handle the Taliban and al-Qaeda single-handedly.
They felt the need of a popular government in Pakistan.
They also needed the government to have a clear stance over the war on terror.
Now General Musharraf was willing to fight terrorism.
But he was politically unpopular.
His political party Muslim League-Q was a right-wing party.
The party was unwilling to take a clear stand against against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The KPK province was then known as the the Frontier Province (NWFP).
Muttahida Majlis Amal (MMA) a religious alliance was ruling the province.
It had a soft stance against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Rather, the Taliban were the educated youth of Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Sami-ul-Haq.
Muslim League-N was against al-Qaeda.
Nawaz Sharif had even formed a special force to arrest bin Laden.
But he also had a soft stance regarding the Taliban.
Imran Khan's PTI was soft towards both al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
PTI, PML-N and all the religious parties were opposing the operation against the Taliban.
There was only one big political party which could support General Musharraf.
With the support of that party he could win the so-called war against terrorism.
This party was Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
But party's leader Ms. Benazir Bhutto, the head of the party, was out of Pakistan.
She was forced into exile by Nawaz Sharif who had come to power in 1997.
He had started ruthless persecution of Benazir Bhutto in the name of accountability.
Many cases were registered against Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari.
Benazir Bhutto had to look after her children while her husband was in jail.
In 1998, she moved to Dubai with her children to avoid arrest.
She later moved to London.
She had been living in exile for the last 9 years.
It was a self-imposed exile.
She eagerly wanted to end this exile.
She got the opportunity when General Musharraf was rejected by both the Pakistanis and the United States.
General Musharraf devised a plan to save his failing reputation.
This plan was centered around a deal, the so-called NRO.
What was the deal?
At the very beginning of 2007, General Musharraf contacted the United States.
He requested the U.S. authorities to act as a mediator between him and Benazir Bhutto to reduce their differences.
The U.S. desired too to align General Musharraf with a powerful political alliance.
Otherwise he should be replaced by a new military and civilian leadership.
So the Americans contacted Benazir Bhutto and invited her to the White House.
She started a weeks-long American tour at the end of January 2007.
The Americans used to say that Ms. Bhutto knew more about Washington than the Americans.
Actually, she had been living in America since 1969.
She also used to invite American journalists, politicians and officials to dinner parties.
She also sent Christmas cards to her links in America every year.
According to a New York Times report, these cards numbered over 300.
She was an experienced politician.
She knew that only contacts can keep a politician alive.
If the contacts are over, the game is over.
So, she started lobbying in America in 2007.
Now she was meeting Congress members and officials whom she had not met before.
She also visited the White House but it is unclear whom she met there?
But she was expanding her links.
She wanted to convince Americans that General Musharraf was a failure in the war on terror.
While she was quite capable of saving both Pakistan and America from the extremist mindset.
She was also popular in Azad Kashmir along with other provinces of Pakistan.
She was considered a chain-link between all the 4 provinces of Pakistan.
She contacted an American firm, Burson-Marsteller and paid it $250,000.
The firm arranged Bhutto's meetings with many U.S. officials, Congress members and journalists in the first 6 months.
Now Ms. Bhutto was relying on an American firm for political contacts.
The U.S., too, appointed an official to reconcile Bhutto with Musharraf.
This official was American Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher.
He had many meetings with Bhutto in London, Dubai and America.
There was a proper chain of communication in place.
Boucher would inform Rice about these meetings and she, in turn, would tell the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson.
The Ambassador would talk to General Kayani and then the information would go to General Musharaf's Principal Secretary Tariq Aziz.
Musharraf's reply would then travel back through the same channel to Benazir Bhutto.
General Kayani was DG ISI at that time,
He had also been Benazir Bhutto's military secretary during her 1st term as PM.
So she was comfortable in her communication with him.
General Kayani was in touch with Ms. Bhutto on behalf of Gen. Musharraf.
Gen. Kayani was already acting as a messenger between Musharraf and Ms. Bhutto.
In theory, Boucher and Kayani's contacts with Ms. Bhutto were a secret.
But details of these contacts and meetings were regularly reported in the American and Pakistani media.
Bhutto and Musharraf sometimes denied and sometimes explained them according to their convenience.
But now every concerned quarter was well aware of these proceedings.
Everyone knew that the PPP and Musharraf are trying to make some kind of deal.
But even after long meetings and contacts, nothing was settled.
A one-on-one meeting was necessary.
It was inevitable.
So a secret meeting was arranged.
Bhutto and Musharraf agreed to meet outside Pakistan.
Pakistan was holding general elections in January 2008.
All opposition parties, including the PPP, were asking Musharraf to quit as army chief.
They wanted him to hold elections after leaving the post of army chief.
While Musharraf wanted to keep both offices (army chief and president) until elections.
He wanted to quit the post of army chief after the general elections.
The ruling Q-League, also called the King's party, was supporting Musharraf's stance.
CM Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was his staunch supporter.
He used to openly say that his party would elect Gen. Musharraf 10 times as president with his uniform.
The Chaudhry brothers of the Q-League and Altaf Hussain's MQM were his only supporters.
No one else trusted Musharraf.
The Supreme Court, the opposition parties and even the U.S. didn't trust him any more.
There was a reason behind this distrust.
Musharraf had promised to take off his uniform in 2003.
He made this promise in an address to the nation on TV.
Just like General Ziaul Haq.
So there was a logical reason behind the distrust.
Benazir Bhutto, a shrewd politicians, was now taking advantage of this distrust.
He wanted to ensure her return to Pakistan.
It was the only straw of hope for the drowning general.
He was convinced that once he made a deal with Bhutto, the U.S. would help him too.
Then he would hold the elections and save his uniform as well.
In the last week of July 2007, both leaders held a secret meeting.
The meeting was held in Abu Dhabi.
A traditional denial by both sides followed the meeting.
First, Musharraf's spokesperson flatly refused to acknowledge the meeting.
Then Benazir Bhutto also told the media that she was unaware of any such meeting.
She said that the government spokesperson's explanation was enough.
But the meeting made headlines on July 28.
According to the headlines, Musharraf and Bhutto had had a secret meeting for a deal.
But there was still a very important issue.
Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif also had signed an agreement a year before.
A Charter of Democracy.
Article 22 of this charter forbade all the political parties from becoming part of any military regime or government.
It also stated that no political party would solicit the support of military to come into power or to remove a democratic government.
So, under this agreement, Benazir Bhutto had a moral obligation.
She was bound not to negotiate or deal with General Musharraf.
If such talks were unavoidable, she was to take other parties into confindence.
But she wasn't doing that.
A BBC reporter asked this question to Bibi Bhutto.
Bhutto replied that she was consulting other political parties, and as a leader the final decision was for her to make.
However, their meeting was widely reported by media around the globe.
In the end, Benazir Bhutto and General Musharraf also acknowledged the meeting.
But this meeting was deadlock.
4 main issues were still unresolved.
The 1st issue: "When will Mushrraf take off his uniform."
"Before or after the elections."
Because he was ready to take off his uniform after the elections.
But he wasn't ready do that before elections.
While Benazir Bhutto wanted him to leave the post of Army Chief before the elections.
The second point was about removing a ban on becoming prime minister for a 3rd term.
General Musharraf was authorized by the judiciary to change the constitution.
He had banned every former pm to seek a 3rd term in the office.
This amendment specifically targeted Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.
Because each had served twice as prime minister.
General Musharraf was ready to remove the ban.
But he wanted the PPP to accept him both as army chief and the president.
The PPP didn't agree.
The third point was about ending the corruption cases.
Nawaz Sharif had registered these cases against Benazir and her husband Zardari.
The President was ready to drop these charges. But his demand was the same; he should be recognized as president.
The 4th point of the deadlock was about Bhutto's return before the 2008 elections.
General Musharraf made the same demand: "support my uniform."
In simple words, Benazir Bhutto was trying to return to Pakistan through this secret deal.
General Musharraf had a different plan.
He wanted to get reelected as president in uniform.
This was the major disagreement.
The U.S. Secretary of State and the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan were both trying to break this deadlock.
This deal was politically important for the Pakistan People's Party and General Musharraf.
It was also in the U.S. interest.
It wanted a powerful general and a popular political party to fight together against terrorism.
The U.S. Secretary of State Rice was in direct contact with Gen. Musharraf.
He and Ms. Bhutto could call her any time.
So, one night in October, General Musharraf telephoned Rice.
This call was the end of Benazir's 8-year-long wait.
Musharraf called the U.S. Secretary of State at 12:41 AM.
He told here that he was ready to accept Benazir Bhutto's terms.
Rice consulted her team for 3 hours.
She called Benazir Bhutto in London at 4:58 AM.
She informed Ms. Bhutto of General Musharraf's offer.
Now, Benazir Bhutto had to make a decision.
Rice says that she spoke to the two again in the morning and finalized a tentative deal.
Nobody has ever written all the points of this deal.
Secretary Rice informs us about some of its points.
Under the deal, Bhutto was to be allowed to come to Pakistan in January 2008, before elections.
The New York Times and Pakistani newspapers have also reported other points of the deal.
According to the newspapers, General Musharraf got approval from his cabinet for this deal.
This deal is historically known as National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
The deal covered all the corruption cases registered from Jan. 1988 to 12 Oct. 1999.
It was decided that all the corruption charges against politicians, bureaucrats and bankers would be dropped.
This was the fundamental demand of Benazir Bhutto.
Now she could become PM candidate again.
The Oct. 12 clause, perhaps, had a political motive.
The major cases against Nawaz Sharif were registered during Musharraf's rule.
The deal didn't cover these cases.
Now, Ms. Bhutto could contest the elections but Nawaz Sharif couldn't.
He was also out of the country.
However, Bhutto asked Rice another favor.
She said that Musharraf wasn't a trustworthy person.
So she accepted the deal on America's guarantee.
It made headlines the next day, Oct. 5.
The headlines said that Musharraf and Benazir had a deal.
Musharraf said that he was ready to work with Benazir Bhutto.
The same day, NRO was officially issued.
It was reported that Benazir was getting amnesty while there was nor relief for Nawaz Sharif.
However, the politicians who had signed the Charter of Democracy were furious.
In London, Nawaz Sharif issued a statement that he didn't need an NRO.
He said that it was a bitter joke with 160 million Pakistanis. It was shameful.
Other opposition leaders also disliked the deal.
But the deal was already done.
The deal was done under an international guarantee.
Very next day, presidential elections took place.
General Mushrraf was reelected as president in uniform for next 5 years.
The PPP provided an indirect support, their presidential candidate, Amin Fahim, boycotted the elections.
The PPP members stayed out of the parliament.
Benazir also announced her return after the NRO.
Oct. 18 was the date of her return.
But the deal soon ran into troubles.
A petition was filed in the Supreme Court by Justice Wajihuddin and Amin Fahim.
The court starting processing this case at a fast pace.
A 10-member bench was appointed for the hearings.
They had to decide the legitimacy of Musharraf's reelection.
Whether Musharraf could be reelected in uniform or not?
So this was another hurdle for Musrharraf.
Even Benazir's support was meaningless now.
He asked Ms. Bhutto not to return until the court verdict.
These 2 developments overshadowed the NRO deal.
Benazir Bhutto refused Musharraf's warning and announced her return.
She was to return the same day, Oct. the 18th.
NRO weakened General Musharraf's 8-year dictatorship.
It was not just Benazir who was returning.
Another leader, whom Musharraf had exiled under a 10-year deal, was also returning.
Nawaz Sharif.
When Nawaz Sharif was in Attock jail, the son of an Arab Prime Minister visited him.
He had brought documents of a deal.
This 10-year deal bound Nawaz Sharif to stay away from politics.
Who did bring these documents?
How did Nawaz Sharif break the 10-year deal?
How could Saudi intelligence not stop Nawaz Sharif's return to Pakistan?
Why?
What did Musharraf do to Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in his camp office along with three 3-star generals.
Which threats did he make?
What was the result?
We will show you all this in the next episode of the History of Pakistan series.
Pakistan's history is full of such events.
This answers the Million Dollar Question, why is Pakistan unable to make progress?
You may watch all the previous episodes of Pakistan's history here.
Here is history of Afghanistan's playlist and watch here, the American history.
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