Musharraf is being accused of having doled out some agricultural lands to the near and dear ones of Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman and Akram Durrani with a view to buying them politically. I have no intentions of defending Musharraf if he has done something wrong. But I cannot help saying that he could 'buy' them only because they were a saleable commodity and he knew their price. Had these religious stalwarts, who claim to know Islam more than the ordinary men, had some bit of integrity, they wouldn't have sold out for a few acres of land. As to why did Musharraf 'do it', I don't believe the usual accusation that he wanted 'to prolong his rule. Prolong his rule, for what? What did he gain by prolonging his rule? How much wealth did he amass? Anyone else in his position, of being an absolute dictator for 8 long years, would have amassed billions of dollars. Please don't give any hearsay in reply, give me facts and only facts, if you have any. How many mills and factories, palaces and necklaces, luxury flats and condominiums, foreign bank deposits and accounts, off-shore companies, etc. etc. does he, or anyone in his family own? -COL. (Retd) RIAZ JAFRI, Rawalpindi, via e-mail, November 3.