Pakistan: For the sake of democracy

How ironic it is that 68 years on as an independent people we still nurture and relish a whole host of paradoxes instead of accepting soft and hard realities that come our way in our national life. Take, for instance, the anti-government sit-ins in front of the Parliament House; the fact is that by the end of the week these have morphed into a sort of carnivals contributing - in a significant manner - to the ongoing turmoil. Courtesy this prank whatever recovery of our national economy was in evidence it has been seriously undermined; people's faith in the democratic system has eroded and our image abroad has taken a serious battering. We have received warning from our friends in the West not to rock the boat and we have requested the Sri Lanka president to put off his visit. We vow to defend democracy whatever it takes, but just one ISPR statement has made us launch a series of 'muzaakraat' to explore ways and means for political co-existence. We have broken the back of terrorists in North Waziristan but we are not yet on the ground hospitable enough that the IDPs should return to their homes. If air strikes were to be our weapons of choice against terrorists' hideouts what is wrong then with the drones that cause much less collateral damage? Is the continuing turmoil in the Capital a perfect diversion from what is happening on the warfront? Nobody is talking about the tens of thousands of men, women and children, who are out in the open under the high noon sun as a token of their contribution to our national independence. Maybe, what the people are fed by the media as daily staple is projection of cultist populism and clash of big egos. We seem to be irretrievably addicted to saying one thing and doing just the opposite.

This is a sorry state of affairs that the men in uniform have to act as monitors as if their political counterparts are unable to walk on their own two feet. We need to walk out of this make-believe world and come to grips with realities of life as they come. Those who are rocking the boat too hard need to revisit our political history. It was the unending political squabble resulting in a game of musical chairs that opened the door wide enough for General Ayub Khan to walk in. By the time he left the stage, all that squabbling lot was nowhere in existence. Yet another generation of squabbling politicians 'invited' General Ziaul Haq. For 11 years there was no democracy. Unless we shun paradoxical attitude of paying only lip service to democratic norms and practices, we keep alive a potent threat to the democratic system. Of course, there is a strong humanitarian aspect to Dr Tahirul Qadri's agenda; but there is no reason it should be executed by force resulting in derailment of the democratic system. His only option is walking the democratic path to reach the parliament and heading a majority big enough to amend the Constitution. By staging a sit-in in front of the parliament building he has no chance of implementing his agenda. Imran Khan is part of the parliament and a part of his agenda deserves to be implemented. But seeking its implementation under threat of force is not what the Constitution permits and the parliament should countenance. Under the Constitution, the prime ministerial slot gets vacated only, if he/she resigns or is voted out by the majority of the members or dies, which is not the case in the present scenario. The remaining five demands, however deserve attention and therefore should be addressed and discussed to determine their applicability under the Constitution. As regards the government it must take appropriate measures that should not only improve the climate for a meaningful dialogue but also walk some reasonable distance from its tightly-held 'heavy-mandate' fortress. Rejecting the idea of majority rule, Thomas Jefferson, a founding father of one of the world's oldest democracy with a written constitution, the United States of America, said: 'Though the will of majority in all cases must prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that minority possesses equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate which would be oppression'. The truth is that a hubris-ridden PML (N) government exhibited scandalous nonchalance over Imran Khan's call for vote verification posing as if it was not its but others' concern. But now, that it appears willing to review its position, we expect Imran Khan to return to the parliament and ask for this - instead of remaining defiant and unbending in his unenviable position of denial. The guru of pragmatic politics Winston Churchill once said 'a good politician should be able to tell you what would happen tomorrow, and if it doesn't happen he should be able to tell you why it didn't happen'.