Head of PPP Media Cell
The wave of uncertainty and scare has been cutting across the country lately as the PTI’s determination of laying siege on Islamabad draws closer. The fear of the known and the unknown is tightening the noose around people making them badly upset and distressed. The need of the hour is to allay their fear sooner than later in the face of their agony.
Their apprehension is the derailment of democracy, and the imposition of autocratic rule in the country that had already wreaked havoc with the country as the political history of the country bears it out quite candidly. Although, the revisiting seems unlikely because the incumbent military leadership led by General Raheel Sharif is committed to the Constitution and will desist from making any move contrary to the primary law of the land. This view gets credence when reviewed in the context of terrible aftermaths of the successive autocratic rules those had irrefutably embroiled the country in unmitigated political and economic mess notwithstanding the irreparable damages to the territorial integrity of the country. The contemporary establishment, thankfully, is fully conscious of the history and therefore will not repeat it. The people, however, deserve the institutional response to the effect through concerned department to address the fears of the people.
It may be pertinent to mention the contextual perspective in the following of the national tragedies inflicted on the nation during the successive dictatorships periods. Also, the achievements of the elected/civilian rules those will stop the establishment not step in the forbidden domain again.
a) General Ayub Khan destroyed the basis of national unity by abrogating the 1956 constitution. b) His 1962 constitution resulted in acute political and economic alienation of the East Pakistanis culminating in the emergence of Bangladesh during the watch of General Yayha Khan. c) India occupied Siachin during General Zia’s ferocious dictatorship. His evil legacies in the forms of extremism/terrorism and Kalashnikov culture had cost dearly to the nation both in blood and treasure and still counting. d) General Musharraf’s Kargil debacle earned despicable title for the institution in the form of advertisements placed in the international media. e) All wars were fought during the dictatorships eras that spoke volumes of their disregard for diplomacy and preference for brinkmanship. f) Not an inch of territory was lost to enemy during the civilian/democratic successive rules. Instead thousands of square miles of territories were retrieved from the enemy country by the elected prime minister. g) Gwadar, now jewel in the crown, was acquired from Oman by Prime Minister Feroz Khan Noon. h) Above all, Pakistan defence was made invincible by two elected prime ministers, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, by making the country a nuclear power and equipping it with pin-drop accuracy of missile technology. i) Security Establishment performed superbly under the umbrella of civilian rules. The successes of Malakand Operation and now Zarb-e- Azb are the recent shining successes.
My vision like others gets little blurred when militants and elements of proscribed organisations, mostly on the international watch list, take on the streets with impunity and the state and its institutions just prefer to look the other side. Only two conclusions can be drawn from this. Either the state or its institutions are in collusion with the non-state actors, or the state and its institutions are scared of stirring the hornets’ net. Both deductions are not acceptable because these hit the root of the existence of the state and its institutions, lying parallel to the spine before them.
Tariq Khosa, a retired police IG and DG (FIA) of impeccable integrity, has recently maintained in his article, ‘non-state actors cannot exist without the support from visible and invisible state elements and certain external players’. It warrants institutional response without ifs and buts. Inaction is not tenable any more. Tangible action against such elements should not only be taken but also be seen to be taken if we want the world should take our words seriously. The endorsement of the international community is essential if Pakistan wants to promote the cause of Kashmir on sound-footing and also to evade the onslaught of looming diplomatic isolation. Dafa-i- Pakistan rally in Islamabad on 30th October, 2016, will be the test of Pakistan’s level of commitment. The world is watching us closely. Their rally, if held, will be deemed as open defiance of the NAP and the international conventions this country is signatory of. It will hand out the message loud and clear that state and its institutions are helpless.
About PTI, no doubt peaceful protest is a constitutional and democratic right, but threatening and announcing the date to lay blanket siege on Islamabad (federal capital) tantamount to the defiance of the constitution as it intends to paralyse the functioning of the democratic government at the expense of normal life of the citizens. Freedom to exercise the right ends where the freedom of other people commences. The Oxford educated is expected of not only knowing this indispensible linkage but also its propriety in letter and spirit.
All the democratic forces of the country should actively consider and immediately huddle together like in 2014 to frustrate naysayer’s designs against the democracy and the country. Their role at that time was highly appreciative. It was being judged so even now by eminent political analysts. The undertakers of sit-in politics were considered as spoilers. Their second attempt should also meet the same fate because it was against the democracy and therefore anti-people.
Opposition Leader Syed Khurshid Shah while talking to media recently made it clear that PPP was against sending the elected government home. Qamar Zaman Kaira, Central Information Secretary PPP, made no bones when he said on Saturday last, ‘PPP will not only oppose unconstitutional moves against democracy but also resist resolutely’. The spirit may be materialised again to stem the tsunami thoroughly and comprehensively.
The genuine democratic parties may not lose time any more as timing makes the difference between success and failure. Pleasantly, the urgency of the matter is passing through the leadership rank and file. For, neutrality or looking the other way will greatly help those who are hell bound to hurt the continuity of democracy considering it as the only insurmountable hurdle in their way to fulfill their insatiable obsession to grab power by hook or crook. It is different matter they will certainly fall the victim of their obsession eventually but then a lot of water may have been passed down the bridge. The booting out of such characters is always the foregone conclusion. History of such misadventures bears it out without fear of contradiction. But, ironically, they are compulsive fiddlers.
People are fed up with vagaries of such politicking and want an era of settling down devoted to address their problems in the domains of education, poverty, health, unemployment, clean drinking water and efficient delivery of other services. For that to happen, continuity of democracy and political stability is absolutely critical. PTI leadership, unfortunately, has been contemplating on the reverse gear since the government came to power as a result of smooth transfer of power as per the constitution in 2013. It seems PTI does not want to see this government succeeding in addressing the problems of the people due to the trivial power politics considerations. Its politics apparently is based on imposing failures on the incumbent government considering that will clear the way to ascend to the ultimate seat. It is a petty politicking trailing power politics for its sake. It is self-defeating and therefore short-lived.
PTI chief has declared war against all others. Demonisation of all the politicians, asphyxiation of the state institutions, unabated blitzing on the Election Commission of Pakistan, and the condemnation of FIA, NAB, FBR serving their political masters, are his favourite subjects of his rhetoric. His contempt for the incumbent Parliament labeling it as “fake” is enough to circumscribe his distaste for parliamentary democracy and constitutionalism. No wonder he has chosen streets instead of parliamentary forum to reach at the zenith of power. His quest for short cut may end up leading him to a dark room running after the black cat.
Both Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan are guilty of keeping the nation on the tenterhooks for so long. They have been keeping the people of Pakistan as their hostage by playing on their fear of revisiting the cycle of political destabilisation in the country. Nawaz Sharif is drawing the political destabilisation closer by not presenting himself for accountability hoping that delaying tactics will blunt the edge of the drive against him. Imran Khan, on the other hand, has been threatening to lockdown Islamabad with the street power in a bid to crash through the portal of power. He may be serving as a conduit for the resultant imposition of dictatorship -- by default. Default on the part of the politician of his stature is unforgiving.
The political history of the country presents numerous precedents when usurpers in the guise of saviors pushed the country in a vicious circle leading to political and economic mess of grotesque proportion. Its re-visiting is the major cause of anxiety that is taking toll on the nerves of the people of this country. But, fueled by their limitless impetuousness, they are terribly determined to rock the boat. They, ironically, see the opportunity for the fulfillment of their dream in the sinking of the boat rather than its steering in the direction of tranquil waters. They will sink but the nation will swim to attain cherished goals, Insha Allha.
muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com
