A tale of two visions

Imagine a face-to-face confrontation between Asma Jahangir and Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf in a serious discussion on Pakistan’s national sense of direction and on what we have made of our freedom. It should be a gratifying experience, if the accepted rules of debate are followed.

We know that this is not going to happen. One reason would be that Gen (r) Musharraf does not live in Pakistan. Besides, a civilised discourse is hardly our cup of tea. Norms established by the talk shows on our news channels have greatly undermined our collective capacity to deal with ideas.

But where has this fanciful idea come from? Well, I was tempted to imagine it while reading the newspapers on Friday morning. Obviously, my attention was drawn to published reports relating to the two in the context of the present state of affairs. And the reports totally stood apart, with no reference to one another.

While addressing a ‘Meet the Press’ event at the National Press Club in Islamabad on Thursday, “outspoken human rights activist” Asma Jahangir criticised the military’s involvement in politics and the judiciary’s role during the critical moments of our history. She posed the question: why are only politicians held accountable in Pakistan?

Gen (r) Musharraf expressed his thoughts in an interview with BBC Urdu in Dubai. According to the published report, the ex-president and former chief of the army staff defended military coups in Pakistan and lauded the role played by dictators. He insisted that military rule is much better than civilian rule.

You may be surprised by the incongruity of someone defending military interventions and dictatorship in contrast to a democratic dispensation in a country that was founded purely on democratic principles. But we have to contend with 70 years of our history, marked not just by military interventions but also by the constant supremacy of the military establishment in the power structure. There was a hint of this in the headline: ‘Asma lashes out at the powers that be’.

It is significant that the BBC interview of Gen Musharraf was part of a series of interviews on the 70th anniversary about the creation of Pakistan. This is being observed as an important milestone and it applies to both India and Pakistan. A build-up to the Independence Day celebrations has started with the advent of August and the national flags and the green colour are quite evident.

As a result, the issues that have been raised have a specific relevance to Pakistan’s history. This is something that we are generally unable to do for many different reasons. There are sensitivities about religion and “the powers that be” that do not allow you to be candid. Our intellectual and moral deprivations also stand in the way of an honest and knowledgeable appraisal of the state of the nation.

With this focus on the celebrations of 70 years of freedom, we are certainly not in a joyous mood. On the contrary, a deep sense of depression is manifest in the vicious political wrangling that the media has worsened with its sensational and partisan coverage. This week’s explosive exposé is Ayesha Gulalai’s allegation of harassment against Imran Khan. One measure of the massive appeal of this story is that it overshadowed the induction of a new prime minister.

Meanwhile, the dust raised by the disqualification of another prime minister through a potentially controversial decision of the Supreme Court is refusing to settle down. Apart from it being Nawaz Sharif’s third ouster as prime minister, the record of not one premier being able to complete his or her constitutional term has remained intact.

Asma Jahangir mainly talked about this situation. She said: “After the JIT report, it was claimed that the PML-N was a ‘Sicilian mafia’, but unfortunately the courts have never given a decision against the real mafia; they don’t even rule against the land mafia”.

As for Gen (r) Musharraf’s defence of military rule and dictatorship, there is no doubt that some elements in the country would agree with him. But they cannot bear with an objective analysis of what military rule has done to us and how it has betrayed the promise of Pakistan. Gen (r) Musharraf praised Gen Ayub Khan without being able to understand that his rule had paved the path to the loss of East Pakistan.

All that is happening at this time is a testimony to the absence of a rational debate on the creation as well as the breakup of Pakistan in 1947 and 1971. The powers that be seem adamant that the events of 1971 are banished from our collective memory. It does not figure much in the curriculum of our educational institutions. Consequently, it is difficult for us to come to terms with our sufferings.

Incidentally, I also read this headline on Friday: ‘Judges shouldn’t be self-righteous, says former CJ’. This was the intro: “In the wake of a judgment that has shaken the country to its core, a former chief justice on Tuesday extolled judges to practice judicial humility and guard against complacency and self-righteousness”.

I could guess that it was former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani. In March 2014, I had used one of his speeches as a peg for my column titled ‘Sleep of reason’. In his address to the graduating students of the Forman Christian College in Lahore on the institution’s 150th Annual Day, he had quoted the Spanish painter Goya: “The sleep of reason produces monsters”.

How apt this is about our conditions. Justice Jillani had said: “Today these monsters are on the rampage. Every day men and women are being killed. The flight of reason is a threat to peace and social harmony but it is a creative challenge to all those who hold the office of a citizen to make a difference”.

Why I want to refer to that speech is that Justice Jillani had invoked the vision that the Quaid had outlined in his first address to the Constituent Assembly. What the Quaid had said on August 11, 1947 has become so much more relevant after 70 years of our wanderings in the wilderness. It is the rationale for Pakistan’s democratic survival.

So, let me repeat: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the state”.

The writer is a senior journalist.

Email: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com