This
picture of a bombed mosque and a brutalized child is what Pakistan
looks like
Questions
Galore as Musharraf Completes Half a Decade
By
Muhammad-Najm Akbar
WASHINGTON,
October 12: This
day marks the mid-point of Musharraf's Decade of Misrule. It is
time for all of us to reflect on where we would be once he is
done with us and also look back at where it all began.
In
this year of American elections, we must reflect on our collective
self, our national psyche, our historical being. This is essential
to figure out for posterity as to why we have offered neither
credible alternative nor consequential resistance to the Musharraf
juggernaut or any incentive to the hundreds poised to pass virtually
the 18th amendment to the constitution to stop what Dawn
of 10 October describes as “voluntarily abridging the supremacy
of parliament and the Constitution.”
In
the year one of their self proclaimed independence the leaders
of America had codified their strong will to secure constitutional
rule. In the 57th year of our existence we have not been able
to reverse the framework of gunpowder-based structure of allegiance
Lord Clive had defined for us at the inception of the East India
Company rule.
Each
12th October, 5th July and 7th October should take us back to
the later half of the 18th century but for the moment let us focus
on the autumn of 1999 to visualize what led to our defeat.
We
see inadequate to poor governance, unrestrained imperialism, water
and power crisis, rampant vengeance in the name of accountability,
corroded institutions, attacks on judiciary, internal dissensions
in the judiciary, unbridgeable cleavages between elected offices
of the State, waiting in the wings is a top brass that is inherently
untrustworthy, mutinous, undisciplined and blatantly involved
in critical decision making on sensitive issues of foreign policy,
national security and defense outside the ambit of their authority,
without clearance or knowledge of the elected Chief Executive
and imposing embarrassing choices on the country, a sudden surge
in the sectarian violence, provincial dissonance and then at the
last moment a botched, clumsy, arbitrary and ineffective move
to reinforce the legitimacy of the elected office that ricocheted.
One strike and we were reduced to the ground zero of our national
misfortune.
We
need to understand that there is nothing new or surprising about
the remotely controlled hands that go up or down to show subservience
to the marauders of our national institutions. New, in fact, was
the inspiring multitude of humanity that took to the dusty roads
and difficult terrains in Pakistan to assert their claim to power
and aspired to exercise it universally through the ballot box.
Our leaders betrayed those hopes, aspirations and dreams.
Where
is our political leadership at the moment? Do
they have any desire left in them to rollback the military regime
and restore supremacy of constitution to Pakistan? Apparently,
this is not the case. They have shown no willingness to match
the ambitions of suffering humanity in Pakistan who have lined
up their paths, waited long hours at the airports and railway
stations and outside their offices, struggled under long years
of oppression to welcome them and confer power upon them, again
and again. The people are left with no interlocutors.
As
places of worship in Pakistan are littered with mutilated, disjointed,
bleeding limbs of the victims of sectarian terrorism, the Jihadi
Frankenstein spins out of control targeting also its creators,
as lawlessness devastates our lives, as the smaller provinces
simmer with volcanic grievances, as the distance between a common
man and economic opportunity and prosperity keeps growing, have
you noticed our political heroes somewhere in your vicinity?
Does
the political leadership come to your rescue as fascism spreads
its tentacles into every nook and corner of your lives? Do
you see them doing any substantive organizational work? Have
they introduced democracy within their own rank and file? Have
they sought your help to rejuvenate the sagging apparatus of political
parties in Pakistan?
Did
they ask you to reinforce and revive your local units at the grassroots
level to solidify an invulnerable political system in the country
for the survival and growth of unfettered democracy? Have
they asked you to elect delegates to work with them at the tehsil,
district, provincial, inter-provincial and national level to steer
the country out of its interminable quagmire? Are they working
on irreversible alliances putting their petty differences aside
to serve the country?
Have
they internally institutionalized transparent mechanisms to seek
unadulterated and well-informed advice, to keep working on issues
of crucial importance to our national and individual lives to
pose a convincing challenge to the military government? Do
they sit down with you in your town halls and deliberate with
you on how we must plan our future?
Have
they shared their thoughts with you about how the incidence of
poverty keeps rising even though the foreign exchange reserves
and the stock market and the industrial production are no longer
on the decline? Do
they seek your support to increase their membership? Have
they shared with you if they have learnt any lessons from their
mistakes in the past?
Have
they visited your hamlets recently to share your sense of frustration
and anger? Do they come and tell you how they would undertake
the renaissance of political culture in Pakistan? Have
they given you a chance to ask them if they know by now as to
where did we all go wrong? Have
they figured out that political system does not mean limiting
themselves to their personal gains, greed or some of their very
serious problems?
Next
time you see them, inform them that you heard a foreign government
official telling you on 5th October on your TV screens, “We
believe that President Musharraf is the right man in the right
place at the right time in the right job.”
Also
tell them that like sovereign, American voters, you want to see
your leaders look into your eyes and seek your decision on who
should lead Pakistan in the war on sectarian terrorism, poverty,
ignorance, fanaticism, illiteracy, national disintegration and
that you also want to regain total control over your national
life held hostage to yet another dictator’s egregious lust
for far more power.
The
writer is a senior Pakistani diplomat who took premature retirement
from service recently and is now based in Washington DC
