In the past 3 years Pakistan has seen two wonderful developments in its national culture, first the transition from ‘state controlled’ media to ‘anti-state media’ was completed and then some substantial amount of activism led to revival of judiciary in the country.
The third change that we now expect to make is establishment of a stable democracy as a system of government. A democracy which is not defined as “the best or worst revenge” but a democracy which is sustainable and self cleansing. The key to sustaining democracy is to ensure that the elected government gets the opportunity to complete its term and is allowed to function during its term, and effectiveness of the system improves with each completed cycle. However, somehow soon as an elected government takes office a strong campaign is launched which revolves around the themes of incompetence, corruption and abuse of power. We saw this happen during 1987 – 1999 when each of the four elected governments were ousted on corruption charges – charges which were not proved by the successors.
However, General Musharraf’s dictatorial administration was hardly challenged during the first eight years on any grounds although:
- Former Prime Minister Shaukat “The Shortcut” Azziz was linked to many corruption scandals Steel Mills and Karachi Stock Exchange just to name a couple, then he was allowed to leave the country at the end of his term. ‘Senior Employees’ of a certain organization were also involved with numerous cases of financial corruption but I guess we aren’t supposed to talk about that.
- To gain international recognition Gen. Musharraf turned Pakistan’s foreign policy upside down putting Pakistan at the forefront of the ‘war on terror’ leading to the current terrorism situation in the country where thousands of civilians have been killed in terrorist attack and the military is engaged in a war against militants on the western border while eastern border remains vulnerable.
- Hundreds of Pakistanis went missing since 2001 most of whom are still missing, no charges were leveled against these individuals and none of them have ever been presented in a court of law.
- Political opponents such as Sardar Bugti of Baluchistan were eliminated using force leading to unrest in the province.
- General Musharraf got himself elected as President while still holding the office of the Army Chief.
- Pakistan’s constitution was blatantly violated by General Musharraf on multiple occasions.
- The Supreme Court was reconstituted by the dictator under the second PCO while the non-PCO judges were imprisoned with their families.
The list is not all inclusive by any means. Despite of the above facts no one is talking about holding General Musharraf and his team accountable for their actions and the debate around Article 6 has also been drowned in the noise. Somehow the current government is being played out as “pure evil” which needs to be eliminated to save ‘the system’. Haven’t we seen this campaign before in the 90’s? Don’t we remember what happened at the end of that decade?
It must be noted that President Zardari’s time in power including the period when Late Benazir Bhutto was Prime Minister adds to less than 7 years while General Musharraf had 9 years of unhindered control and General Ziaul Haq enjoyed power for 11 years. While President Zardari has only been part of elected governments, Generals Musharraf and Haq had 20 years of unconstitutional rule…..accountability …..anyone….??
While I understand and support the idea of accountability it has to be “all inclusive” to be effective. If it is to continue as a ‘witch hunt’ against elected representatives it would only be another unfortunate chapter in our political history leading up to another ‘uniformed disaster’. While I have no reason to doubt the motives of the Supreme Court I do struggle to understand our free media’s wild obsession with bashing the elected government. It is perfectly fine to raise legitimate questions but why should the elected government (specially the President) be attacked so viciously based on allegations that it swings the public opinion in favor of a potential imposed change? Because practically there is no real possibility of a Presidential impeachment primarily due to the number’s game in the Parliament.
The government must be given a fair opportunity to prove its worth in due course of time, while there have been governance mistakes, I don’t think going back to Musharraf or ‘yet-another-Musharraf’ will solve anything. For the government to have a realistic chance a certain self-righteous group of media personnel needs to calm down considerably because lately it is hard not to wonder if they are towing someone else’s agenda. I don’t think President Zardari will or should step down in the face of mounting pressure against him since he is the democratically elected President.
Political scenario over the next couple of months like always promises to be intriguing as the democratic government makes an effort to keep its head above water, in the meanwhile I choose to remain optimistic and passionate about Pakistan.
