By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL: “It would be really a pride for my family if I am hanged instead of my beloved Parvez Musharraf if he were hanged for high treason”, says Ahmed Khan, a resident of Barghuzi village of Chitral who is known for his special affection for the former Army Chief and President Parven Musharraf.
A vendor of fuel wood by profession running a stock in Booni Road, the 61-year old Ahmed Khan claims to love the whilom army chief beyond everything thing else including his sons and daughters and himself.
“I was captivated by his charming personality that day he came to Chitral as Army Chief in 1999, some months before he ousted Nawaz Sharif on 12th October that year to meet the families of the martyrs of Kargil for which a public gathering had been arranged in the Chowni Ground.
I had a chance to have a glimpse of him from a close range along with the father of a martyr on that day although I could not shook a hand with him despite my hectic efforts as I was pushed back by his security staff”, he said while chopping a log of oak in the premises of his stock.
“My dream of meeting my beloved came true in July 2004 when he (Musharraf) embraced and hugged me for minutes in the residence of Shahzada Sirajul Mulk who was his intimate friend and had been his batch-mate in the Army.
I will remain indebted to Shahzada Siraj throughout my life as it was he who gave me this fabulous chance otherwise I could not even imagine to meet an Army Chief who wielded the authoritative office of President of Pakistan simultaneously”, he paused for a while and said.
With his small living room inside the stall decorated with the pictures of the former military dictator, Mr. Khan also keeps his chest decorated with a badge carrying his (Musharraf’s) picture while the rear windscreen of his motor car is inscribed with saluting words of “General Musharraf Teri Azmat ko Salam” arrayed around his picture in uniform.
Mr. Khan says that the former army general loved the people of Chitral from the core of his heart who immortalize himself in the history of Chitral by starting working on the Lowari tunnel project which was a matter of ‘death and life’ for them.
His said that every Chitralis travelling through the tunnel showers tributes on him (Musharraf) especially during the winter season when the district used to remained cut off from the other parts of the country for five months.
He said that it was due to the unflinching love and respect commanded by Pervez Musharraf that when his nominees both for National and Provincial Assembly seats from Chitral got a thumping victory in the General Elections of 2013 and Chitral happened to be the only constituency in the country where candidates of All Pakistan Muslim League got elected to the zilla council as well.
Shahzada Sirajul Mulk, a prominent social figure of Chitral and a friend of Parvez Musharraf, when contacted said that he was stunned to see the affection of Mr. Khan with Parvez Musharraf in 2004 which urged him to arrange the crucial rendezvous when the President came to Chitral to attend the Shandur Festival.
He said that he (Mr. Ahmed) still holds him in the highest of esteem which crosses the threshold to enter the border of fanaticism where one sacrifices one’s life for his beloved.
