Exile has become a requisite for any Pakistani ruler looking for rehabilitation. First the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was pushed into exile to be followed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and finally former President Pervez Musharraf. Bhutto returned from exile and paid the ultimate price. Sharif is struggling to regain his grip on the country’s fractious polity. In the midst of what is probably the most traumatic period of Pakistan’s history, Musharraf is seeking to return as well.
What gives him hope is his rising following on Facebook which is now more than 200,000. His Facebook “Fan demographics” suggest that over 75 percent of his fans are in the age group 18-34, something I am sure the former general finds greatly reassuring. The largest fan following comes from Pakistan, where Facebook is ironically banned. So the one definite policy move you can expect if and when Musharraf becomes Pakistan’s prime minister is that he would revoke the ban of Facebook, Twitter and hundreds of other sites.
While on Musharraf here is something he said in The Guardian. “Referring to Pakistan's relations with India, he recalled being told in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, of a proverb which said that when two elephants fight the grass gets trampled. "I shudder to think if two elephants start making love the grass gets more trampled," he said.”
Even factoring in a grandiose former dictator’s penchant for hyperbole, it is hard to consider India and Pakistan being in the same league of pachyderms.