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Turmoil in Pakistan is personal for some central Illinoisans

Posted November 11, 2007 10:00 pm

Scott Hilyard

For some in central Illinois, the current political turmoil in Pakistan is a confusing jumble of events that feels important, but seems unknowable.

For others, it's personal.

"I have friends who are law professors who are in jail," said Farhat Haq, a professor of political science at Western Illinois University in Macomb, who lived in Pakistan until she was 18. "I know of one who has been bailed out, but others have just disappeared. Their families don't know where they are."

Earlier this month, Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf suspended the country's Constitution, imposed emergency military rule, jailed lawyers and judges and silenced the open press. All were done in the name of Pakistan's war against terrorism. His opponents say the military emergency is a desperate personal attempt to remain in power.

"Musharraf likes to be king, I think," said Abdul Fahim Noonari, 44, a graduate student at Monmouth College from Hyderabad, Pakistan.

Noonari is studying in the United States, but his entire family, including his wife and two children, are in Hyderabad. He said he is in constant contact with family members who assure him they are fine and that the political unrest has not drastically changed their lives.

"They do not receive the private Pakistani television networks and the cost of things for the common people has gone up," Noonari said. "I am very worried about the future of my country."

Syed Bukhari, a doctor with Methodist Medical Center in Peoria, grew up in Islamabad. He's spent the last couple of weeks trying to monitor the situation on international television channels, the Internet and cell phone calls to family and friends in Pakistan.

"I talked to a friend who said life goes on in Islamabad, but that people don't go out as much. Bombs tend to go off in the daytime," Bukhari said. "Until this is reconciled and there are free and open elections, the threat of danger and violence is very high."

Musharraf has said that elections will be held in January, but gave no indication when emergency rule would be lifted. The different opposition parties have called for a boycott of any election held under emergency rule because the results would not be credible. Musharraf, who has a dual role as the head of the country's military, took power in a 1999 coup and had been seen as an important American ally and a moderate voice in a dangerous corner of the world.

Haq, who returns to Pakistan to teach each summer, said she was unsure how the situation would resolve itself. A march led by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who recently returned to Pakistan from exile, is scheduled for today. The military successfully quelled a similar march last week.

"I was extremely sad when the emergency began because I know how hard it is to come back from a destructive road like this," Haq said. "There were some important things going on. The open press had created a vibrant and open debate in the country and the judiciary had shown itself to be very independent. Those are what build a stable society. That's why I was so deeply disappointed in Musharraf, who in one act destroyed what took so long to build."

Scott Hilyard can be reached at (309) 686-3244 or at shilyard@pjstar.com.

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