VOICE OF NATION

Voice of the nation



Having crossed the age of 80 I had decided to lay down my pen and spend the sunset years of my life just lazing around. But the tragic scenes of the streets of Karachi which were being flashed on TV screens by all the independent channels shook me out of my self-imposed stupor.

I heard the president’s speech on May 12. On his call hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the Islamabad parade ground. Even more could have been assembled by the ruling party, as they had all the resources at their disposal. Dancing crowds raised slogans in favour of General Musharraf. How many of them were genuine supporters and how many were rented is another question.

The president was not entirely wrong when he said that the chief justice was politicising a judicial matter. In ordinary circumstances judges should not air their views in public. They are required to express their opinion only through their judgments. But when a person is pushed against the wall, pitched against the entire governmental machinery and whose future is at stake will use all kinds of tactics to gain support for what he believes is an injustice to him. It is up to the crowds and the political parties not to follow him if he is in the wrong, but an opportunity to drum up support against the president was provided and they are making full use of it.

Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, whose professional qualities, till a few months ago, were known to the lawyers’ community only, has been suddenly turned into a hero, because he has become the symbol of defiance and a focal point for the opposition to rise up against the government. By asking the president/chief of army staff to address public gatherings has the regime also not politicised the judicial crisis?

Staging demonstrations to show one’s strength, particularly in an election year, is perfectly justified. There is no denying the fact that the MQM has been and will remain the largest political party in Karachi, but to proclaim that Karachi hamara shahar hai (Karachi is our city) amounts to showing a red rag to the others, who also reside in the commercial capital. The PML (Q) presumably encouraged the MQM not merely to bring out a massive rally in Karachi on the very day the Chief Justice was to address the Sindh High Court Bar Association but to also prevent rival political groups from using this occasion to display their anti-government feelings. To achieve this objective the Sindh government blocked all the roads with heavy containers that were leading from the airport.

This was a recipe for disaster and both the MQM and the opposition knew this and were prepared for the bloody clashes, which were bound to occur in such a tense situation. The law enforcing agencies by placing themselves in between the opposing groups could have prevented the clashes. They were apparently told to step aside. According to the president 25,000 people of the opposition moving about freely in MQM majority localities of Karachi could lead to clashes. But by stopping them from doing so also led to the loss of more than 40 bread earners

Altaf Hussain must have been fully aware of the consequences of his directive to hold a rally on May 12 as millions of non-MQM followers also live in this mega city, many of who are armed. It was distressing, therefore, to hear him shedding crocodile tears when he ended his telephone address to his followers by praying for the souls of those MQM supporters who were killed.

President Musharraf was full of confidence during his interview with a TV channel recently. He implied that he was prepared to accept the ‘crown’ if it was offered to him the third time. The fact that it could become a crown of thorns does not seem to bother him, because he still believes that the vast majority of the 160 million people in Pakistan are with him. It was so in 1999 but is that so now?

To find out the views of those who read newspapers, those who follow talk shows and those who get together at study groups and think-tanks I went through 30 English newspapers and ten Urdu ones, which appeared between May 13 and 18. I looked at 25 editorials and found that only one supported the government on the judicial crisis. I glanced through 20 articles, nearly all of them were critical of the tactical handling of the events, which followed the confrontation at the army camp on March 9. I read 40 letters to the editor, only two were against the chief justice, 33 were against the actions taken by the government against him. All the cartoons dealing with the current events showed the government in an unfavourable position. I stayed up late into the night and switched from one channel to another listening to the several discussions on the events leading up to the bloody clashes between rival groups on that Black Saturday. I saw his interview with Talat Hussain. I listened to the views of retired diplomats, bureaucrats, and senior army officers at study groups and private functions.

Two well-known female columnists have turned their attention inwards and have come up with scathing criticism. Their columns had headlines with phrases like ‘we have hit rock bottom, where is the state, the state is adrift’. The vast majority of us feel that the issue was not handled correctly, which has resulted in such a violent reaction against the government. Several British newspapers including The Times, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Financial Times were, reportedly, all of the view that the judicial crisis in Pakistan has weakened the president.

On the issue of enlightened moderation and religious extremism the people are asking why the government is not taking sterner action against the clerics of Lal Masjid, who are defying the writ of the state. When two policemen were allegedly brought into the offices of a private TV channel some weeks back the police forced their entry into its premises. They smashed the window panes, broke the furniture beat up the workers and ‘rescued’ their comrades. Now when the clerics kidnap four of them negotiations are being carried out. A mockery of the state’s authority was made when para-military forces surrounded Lal Masjid on one day and then withdrew before the next morning. The clerics stood their ground and even threatened to declare a jihad against the government. The writ of the state vanished into thin air. A double-standard is being followed.

President Musharraf has been at the helm of affairs for eight years. During his watch the economy has indeed improved. The foreign exchange reserves have gone above $13 billion. Relations with India are inching towards normalisation. Grassroots democracy has been introduced. The international community acknowledges his active support in the war on terror. But the law and order situation has deteriorated. Political polarisation has increased. Religious extremism is creeping into the settled areas. The president has repeatedly said that he will abide by the constitution. According to the constitution no citizen of Pakistan can be prevented from returning to his country. Benazir will face the courts. Nawaz Sharif will face the wrath of the Saudis for breaking a deal in which they too were involved. So be it.

In the last 60 years we have experimented with basic democracy, controlled democracy, socialist democracy, Islamic democracy and now quasi-democracy. Let us get back to genuine democracy. To reduce the highly charged atmosphere in the country the president should now doff his uniform; declare that he will not be a presidential candidate; hold early elections and provide a level playing field for all the political parties.

This, I believe, is the voice of the nation at this critical juncture.



The writer is a retired lieutenant-general. He writes for the International News, Islamabad.



Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Pakistan Think Tank Organization (PTT) or its members.

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