Guess what is more supreme than law, parliament, court, constitution? Believe it or not, it is medical leave. To be declared too sick to be treated in this country has become the ‘Great Escape’ for alleged crime-doers in Pakistan. Becoming sick for certain people is not a moment of fear and sorrow but of happiness and joy. This sickness relieves and absolves you of all obligations, all allegations and all limitations. Pervez Musharraf’s case is neither the first of its kind nor the last of its type. Politicians, criminals and absconders have used this passage again and again to abandon the people of this country in a state of disgust and of strengthened cynicism that change is impossible. The Musharraf episode is insignificant as far as his inevitable exit is concerned but is significant as far as government’s ability to tackle its personal vendettas is concerned. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has had a history of turbulent relations with the armed forces. The reason given for this turbulence has been the coup that Musharraf did to dislodge the PML-N and the consequent treatment that made its leaders accept exile as an option. With this personal history and the opportunity to use the article six of the Constitution to nail the ex-general, it was a lethal personal and political combination that was sure to succeed. The top leaders were swearing by the pledge that if Musharraf is let go all hell would break lose, many of them would resign, and, of course, democracy will be in danger. However, none of this has actually happened as not only has he gone but seems to be living happily ever after. Some politicians term the 1980s and 1990s as the decades of victimisation as political parties were done in by dictators who hurt Pakistan so bad that all that is not happening in Pakistan is due to that never ending hangover of the autocratic rule. However, facts show a different story. Globally, when authoritarian regimes take over true democrats take that opportunity to stand for democracy, to sacrifice and to set examples of fighting till the last breath. Examples of such combats are present all around us. The current struggle in Myanmar is a great example of this resilience. Aun Sung Suu Kai’s story of courage truly sets off the hypocrisy of our politicians. Being the daughter of a general and settled comfortably with her husband and two sons in England she returns to Myanmar in 1988 to nurse her dying mother. Moved by the appalling state of her country under the military junta she got involved in the student-led revolt against the generals. She formed her party National League for Democracy (NLG) in 1989 holding massive support rallies but was put under house arrest for endangering the state. Ms. Suu Kyi’s NLD won a landslide victory in a 1990 general election, with 392 out of 485 seats, but the junta ignored the results and imprisoned thousands in a crackdown on all opposition. She did not flee the country and continued her struggle. Her husband who stayed back in England died of prostrate cancer but she remained in Myanmar fighting for many other lives. Of her 21 years of struggle she remained under arrest for 15 years. For our politicians Ms. Suu Kyi would be termed as mentally unstable, politically immature, a bad wife and more suitable for running social causes in NGOs. However, she has not only won a Nobel Prize but has actually made the generals bow down to democracy as per the latest elections. But to reach that stage she sacrificed her family, her comforts and risked her life for two decades, and all this time, she did not abandon her country. In contrast, most of the leaders, both autocrats and democrats, have used Pakistan as a stopover for their political ambitions, and as soon as they find hands of law reaching them they negotiate and use the ‘sick leave’ to leave Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif, the late Benazir Bhutto and Altaf Hussain are/were masters of this exit strategy. Musharraf arrested Sharif and Asif Zardari, and there were court cases against them when the Saudis came to the Sharif family’s rescue and got them out of the country. In 2000, 18 members of the Sharif family departed with Begum Kulsoom Nawaz saying that Nawaz Sharif is suffering from blood pressure and a heart condition but they would soon be back as and when his health improved. This is also the story of the leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement who in 1990 fled the country when the operations were carried out by army to combat violence in Karachi. Since then he is in London, and since then we are told how dangerous it is for him to come back to Pakistan given his precarious health issues. Similarly, the late Benazir left for to London when Musharraf came into power while Zardari spent eight years in prison only to be released due to lack of evidence. He found the USA more favourable for escape. Presently too, Zardari fearing the seriousness of Rangers and National Accountability Bureau in Karachi has is ensconced to Dubai due to ‘ill health’. After this rich history of the leaders’ pursuit for better medical facilities abroad, the Musharraf departure was predictable yet comical. The board of eminent army hospitals declared his spinal problem too acute and complex to be treated in Pakistan; there were pictures of Musharraf in hospital attire looking suitably ill; there was an air ambulance transporting the incapacitated man to the airport; and then a few hours later there was an energetic Musharraf seen in blooming health in Dubai: the land of miracle healing. The beauty of these escapades is that most of these leaders have massive investments in villas, property, palaces, businesses outside Pakistan; most of these leaders have family members with dual nationalities running the show; and most of these leaders have perfected the art of deals and dealing to such an extent that they know when all else fails the failing health succeeds. The sad part is not that they run away from the country, but the sorrier part is that they keep on coming back as soon as their ‘medical condition’ allows. Their safe passage out of the country and their healthy return back to the country is guaranteed by internal and external stakeholders who treat this country as a pawn in a larger game, helped by illegal and corrupt regimes within. Sick charades are played to promote these games. The recent news of the MQM leader’s demise on social media and then the video showing him dancing are case in point. We may doubt the extent of their physical ailments but the sickness of no-accountability that prevails in all these leaders psychologically, emotionally and mentally is beyond doubt and definitely incurable. The writer is a columnist and analyst and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com