Political enmity

In a democracy political adversaries’ function within the confines set by the laws and the constitution, each having the right to voice their opinion or ideology without resort to violence. There is no concept of a ‘one-party’ system in a democracy. The spirit of democracy requires both the opposition and the ruling party to interact within parliament to legislate laws for the welfare of the people and safeguard the national interest.

Today’s adversaries can become allies tomorrow but this adversity should never degenerate into enmity, with the aim to destroy each other through use of violence or abuse of power. In pre-partition India there existed two political adversaries: the Congress and the All-India Muslim League. They each represented opposing political agendas and manifestos, yet they remained civil and ultimately, through political negotiations, the division of the subcontinent took place and Pakistan was created in August 1947. There was no armed struggle involved in the freedom movement for the creation of Pakistan. It was purely a political and constitutional struggle. For Pakistan to survive and flourish we must recover this spirit of negotiation, compromise and progress through fair, legal and peaceful means.

Malik Tariq Ali

Lahore