General Pervez Musharraf's coup in Pakistan and anointment at that country's Chief executive underlines three fundamental truths about South Asia.
One: Mediocrity is no bar to a bright career.
Two: It helps if you blunder, often.
Three: Sycophancy Zindabad.
Musharraf has achieved virtually nothing during his career except for a great deal of networking.
In May 1988, Gen. Zia-ul-Huq gave him the responsibility of putting down a virtual rebellion by the majority Shias of Gilgit against the Sunni administration. Using Pakhtoons and Punjabis, Musharraf proceeded to massacre the local population.
Since he must shed tears over the barren land he left behind, also left behind the Pakhtoons to settle there, thereby driving the Kashmiris out. But they still call that land Azad Kashmir! Zia smiled and paid the price. In August 1988 he died in a plane crash that is believed to have been engineered by a Shia airman from Gilgit.
That, of course, was preceded by another brilliant blunder by Musharraf. He is a tactical genius of the calibre of John Arbuckle. Even as the Indian troops had occupied the Siachen glacier in 1987, he masterminded (if the term ``mind'' can be applied even tangentially to Musharraf) a commando attack, which was repulsed and humiliated.
Obviously, this event infused in Musharraf the habit of being greatly embarrassed by the Indians as he proved this year in Kargil. While the original plan was to push in Afghan taleban insurgents, Musharraf decided that the glory of humiliation shouldn't rest with them alone and sent in the regular Army. After having secured his objective of having followed in the proud footsteps of Yahya Khan and Ayub Khan, he decided to share the accolades.

So he went around the country telling people that Pakistan had witnessed a major military triumph that the civilian Government had undermined. Actually, Musharraf greatest triumph till date has been to remain sober three days in a row. But some of the listeners actually believed him. Possibly, the oodles of hash that went with the words, courteously provided by his narcotics smuggler friends in the North-West Frontier Province may have helped. After all, no one in their right mind would pay attention to this guy.
Before Kargil Musharraf was so busy sucking up to Sharif that he developed a permanent pout and a lithp..er..lisp.
Sharif loved him since Musharraf hated his own people, the Mohajirs. He played a stellar role in trying to crush the Mohajir Qaumi Movement in Karachi and managed to get many of them killed and executed before the Supreme Court stepped in and spoiled his party. Musharraf was also engaged in backing the Sipahi Saheba in killing off more Shias in the country.
This, of course, is not the first time that Musharraf thought of taking over the country. In 1995 there was an attempt by senior Army officers to assassinate the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and instal Musharraf as the head of an Islamic State. But his complicity was never proved. And, interestingly, the plot seemed to have been hatched in Raiwind, the hometown of a certain Nawaz Sharif!!
So, the basic lesson here? If Musharraf offers to shake your hand, watch your back.