After five years away from home, Falam Hamid was only a week away from returning to Pakistan for his niece?s wedding ? but he fears for his safety in his native land.
Three days after Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf suspended the country?s constitution and declared a state of emergency, the turmoil continues with thousands of activists, journalists and lawyers forcefully silenced and arrested.
“The situation is so tense that it?s very worrisome,” said Hamid, 55, from the corner of his Shaheen Restaurant on Security Boulevard in Woodlawn.
Hamid moved from Pakistan to New York with his family about 38 years ago to go to school, but his extended family still lives in Pakistan, including five cousins who are colonels in the military.
“I do not know how they are doing because the military is not allowed to talk,” he said.
“They just have to do their job … but the majority of the military people have turned against [Musharraf] because they do not want to kill innocent people.”
To control Taliban extremists, among others, Musharraf has turned the liberal democrats against him by impeding the election process that would end his illegitimate rule.
“He?s very stuck. He doesn?t have any friends left ? only enemies,” Hamid said.
“His only option is toallow the election.”
Hamid?s other family members are safe and were surprised to hear the gravity of the situation in their own country.
“Since there is no TV, no radio, no media, they don?t know much of what?s going on, but they are living in fear too,” Hamid said.
Musharraf?s actions mimic a dictatorship, and the turmoil has stirred concerns among Western allies aware of the country?s access to nuclear weapons.
“We?re dealing with a country that has nuclear power … if it gets into the hands of fanatics, it can be moved around to anywhere,” Hamid said.
But Western military intervention would only lead to more bloodshed, because the extremists “are deadly against U.S policies” and not afraid to die, Hamid said.
“The strength of the Taliban in Pakistan today is so strong that nothing, no intervention, can stop them,” he said.
“We can only wait and see what Musharraf does.”
