I just received this e-mail coming from a loop. I cannot vote for the autheticity of this e-mail, but it sure is a good read. Even if it is fake, it has the substance and weight to be heard, read and spread to as many as possible as the words seem to be coming from the heart of every sincere Pakistani.

Have a read.

Sharing with you an open letter sent by Salman Ahmed of Junoon to Bilal Musharraf, son of General Pervaiz Muhsarraf.

Dear Bilal,
Thanks for this shared e-mail.

I've never publicly responded to you but am compelled to do so now. I'll respond to the public part of your criticism of my changed stance against your father's policies. For the record, my support for your father's vision of "enlightened moderation" was never based on any personal expectations or "marketing" (rock musicians don't usually like hanging out with military dictators). My prior public support to your father's govt. along with that of the vast majority of Pakistanis was given in the belief that he would deliver on his public promises to fight extremism, respect civil institutions, bring accountability to corrupt politicians, open up a free and independent media and reduce the immoral gap between Pakistan ' s rich and poor. The picture that you took of me with your dad was taken in 2003, when I felt that the international media was cynically and wrongly depicting Pakistan as a total terrorist state being defended by "only" one pro-western moderate Pakistani, your father. Although I was ridiculed by many for doing so, but I chose to put that picture on the Junoon website after the assassination attempts on your father in December 2003.

The picture was meant to symbolise the majority support of Pakistan's civil society for the fight against extremism and lawlessness. That picture and my support for your father's govt (WHICH YOU WOULD VOUCH, I HAVE NEVER ABUSED FOR PERSONAL GAIN NOR HAVE MY FAMILY OR FRIENDS) was never meant to be taken as a blank check for the state machinery to run amok and start dismantling civil institutions, making deals with crooks and plunderers, treating civil servants like common criminals, kidnapping and killing innocent Pakistanis under the guise of the "war on terror" and illegally spying, torturing and jailing thousands of Pakistanis (which include national heroes, Supreme Court judges, lawyers, rights activists, house wives and students).

My recent op-ed in the Washington post and my public disassociation with your father should not be a surprise to you. I wrote many candid e-mails to you in August and September of this year, sharing my concern about your father's policies and his govt's high handed tactics. You responded by saying I was being too harsh to which I reminded you that true friends are not meant to be mistaken for sycophants and cronies but are a True barometer of the public ' s perceptions. You chose to ignore these warning e-mails and dismissed them as "emotionalism".

Even when you visited me while I was on tour in Canada in October, you promised that there would be no reason to impose emergency in Pakistan and you assured me that your father respects the judiciary and has spoken to the chief justice of the Supreme Court in this regard. Alas, even that myth has now been totally shattered.

The Supreme Court judges are also citizens of Pakistan who have courageously tried to stick to the letter and the spirit of the law for which they are being punished by your father's govt. Why is this so?

All that I write above is not just my view but the view of millions of Pakistanis and independent observers. I ' m not writing out of spite or revenge but conveying the voice of Pakistan's not so silent majority. As an artist I have also publicly criticized previous Pakistani rulers who like your dad made the mistake of not respecting civil society or civil institutions and I will continue to do so in the future as well.

taying silent is no longer an option, Art disturbs and artists have no choice but to listen to their conscience.

Yours Sincerely,
Salman Ahmad