Islamabad: War over Pak President Pervez Musharraf has gone on to the cyberspace, and taking the sword by his side is his son Bilal. Bilal is facing friend turned foe rock band Junoon’s guitarist Salman Ahmed on the other side of the line.

Bilal and Salman are clashing in cyberspace over the imposition of emergency in Pakistan. Ahmed, who was till recently was a supporter of Musharraf’s policies especially his stand against terrorism and his vision of enlightened moderation, turned against the president after he imposed emergency in the country.

Salman termed Musharraf as a dictator and Pharaoh, which provoked an angry response from Bilal. In his letters, which have now been taken off most websites, Bilal has accused Ahmed who he says was a close friend and a spiritual guide of sorts since 1998 of indulging in venomous rhetoric against his father.

Bilal further writes: “If Salman feels the need to neutralise the burden of prior public contact with my father with his venomous rhetoric, I find it not just unjust but truly unfair. Looking back today, I am unable to decide whether his motivation for prior public overtures towards my father were selfless or selfish in nature.”

“No one is perfect, I realise. However, to the extent one can, one must try to reduce one’s integrity gap which someone defined aptly as the difference between lived values and stated values,” he said.

In his response, New York-based Ahmed wrote that despite their close friendship, staying silent under the present conditions that Pakistan is undergoing, is no longer an option.