"Army is out on the streets. TV/Radio have been taken over. All private TV stations have been shut down. And mobile and internet disconnected. A general appears on the National TV."

Not again! But this time its a bit different. Actually under the guise of democracy, Pakistan was already under army rule. Musharraf was ruling the country single handedly. But now he has formally assumed powers that he was already enjoying anyways. I see this as a positive step and a proactive measure for the good of Pakistan and the world at large. Musharraf has done a lot for Pakistan in the last few years than anybody else could have done. He is a sincere and liberal leader and world community has a lot of stake in him. There seems to be no other better option. Pakistan was heading towards political uncertainty and lets face it, there was no chance for a real democracy even after the proposed elections. And Bhutto and Sharif are both worse than Mush. Judiciary and Islamic fundamentalists were only doing harm to the country.

Interestingly, just a day before, US issued a statement that they wont support any move to impose emergency or martial law in Pakistan. Bush, I think knew about all this and has hand in glove with Musharraf. The most awkward situation is that of Benazir Bhutto "न खुदा ही मिल न विसाल-ए-सनम". She has again started taking about alliance with Nawaz Sharif for resorting the democracy. Democracy has again died a premature death and this is a sad news for the genuine supporters of democracy in Pakistan and the world. In the words of Ghalib:

कहूँ किस से मैं के क्या है, शब-ए-ग़म बुरी बला है,
मुझे क्या बुरा था मरना अगर एक बार होता|