Many things have been written and said about the man who is currently the president of our country. Some of them have been very good, while some equally horrible. Some targeted towards his integrity as a president, some towards his keeping two positions at the same time, and yet some again towards his political agenda.
However, many people forget, that above all, he is a person, a human being. And as such, he has both qualities as well as flaws. And its these things, which describe him as a person.
George Washington, the first president of the United States, is remembered throughout the world for his line “I will not tell a lie, i cut down the cherry tree”. It describes how he was as a person, describes his character and his courage.
The same goes for our current president. There have been many incidents, where the true image of the man called Musharraf is shown to the world. Yet, these have happened so innocently, so quietly that they’ve gone largely unnoticed by people, except for those who came in direct contact with him. And as an admirer and a believer, i will narrate just some of them here to show you why this man has become my Idol.
Before he was the president, in the days of being the Chief of Army Staff, he once paid a visit to one of his relatives, a naval officer residing in N.O.R.E. 1. As a rule, no one, except for residents and their notified guests are allowed to enter the presmises of the naval colony. Musharraf arrived at the gate in his civies, and in his private car. The guard at the gate stopped him, and the following coversation ensued.
Guard: Where will you be going?
Musharraf: To meet Commander XXXX. He lives at XXX.
Guard: And your name?
Musharraf: My name is Pervaiz Musharraf
Guard: Do you have any identification on you Mr. Musharraf
Musharraf: (searching his pockets for a card and coming up empty handed): No, i dont have my card on me.
Guard: Well, then you please wait while i call Commander XXXX and confirm your identity.
Musharraf: Okay (parks his car on the side).
The guard calls the Commander in question, and tells him a Mr. Musharraf is calling for him, the naval officer tells the guard to let him through, and the guard flags Musharraf to proceed on his way.
Does this story make you wonder why such an exchange even happened in the first place? Where people would use other peoples sources as ‘bharams’ to guards and policemen, here is this General, no less than the Chief of the Army Staff, who treats a lowly guard with respect and follows the rules. It wasnt even mentioned that he was an Army man, since at the time he was off-duty and out of uniform. When asked for his card, he even went as far as to search for it. Flag officers of the military (Generals, Admirals, Air Marshals and above) do not carry their own identification, as it is usually with their aide for any official business. And when he did not find it, he waited for his entrance to be confirmed by the naval officer he was going to visit. Above all, he had, as an official car, a Mercedes, however, when moving on his own, he still drove in his private, unmarked car. Many military and government officials here will let their private cars rust away happily once they were issued a official one.
This is just one of the incidents, where the simpleness, and the ‘feet on the ground’ behaviour annecdotes there are about this person, and this is the reason why people are in love with him.
P.S.
The next day, when the Chief of the Naval Staff found out that General Musharraf had visited NORE and was stopped at the gate, the guard in question was taken to task by the naval authorities.
