Musharraf Jr fights for father’s honour

Son Bilal and rock band Junoon’s guitarist Salman Ahmed clash in cyberspace over the imposition of Emergency in Pakistan.

President Pervez Musharraf’s son Bilal and rock band Junoon’s guitarist Salman Ahmed, who till recently were good pals, are now clashing in cyberspace over the imposition of Emergency in Pakistan.

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Ahmed, who was a supporter of Musharraf’s policies especially his stand against terrorism and his vision of “enlightened moderation”, has been prolific on the cyberspace, calling the President a “dictator”, since the imposition of Emergency on November 3.

This provoked an angry response from Bilal. In his letters, which have now been taken off most websites, Bilal accused Ahmed who he says was a close friend and a spiritual guide of sorts since 1998 of indulging in “venomous rhetoric” against his father.

“If Salman feels the need to neutralise the burden of prior public contact with my father with his venomous rhetoric, I find it not just unjust but truly unfair. Looking back today, I am unable to decide whether his motivation for prior public overtures towards my father were selfless or selfish in nature,” Bilal wrote.

New York-based Ahmed replied: “My support for your father’s government was never meant to be taken as a blank cheque for the state machinery to run amok... kidnapping and killing innocent Pakistanis....”

The letters have recently been a subject of great interest and debate in the country.