Thursday, August 18, 2022
75 Years Of Pakistan’s Independence: A Bone Or Bane? – OpEd
By Gulnaz Nawaz
The day of Pakistan’s independence always brings out the best in individuals and their deepest feelings for their nation. Flags and lights are strung from every rooftop and draped over every passing vehicle. On this day, people start writing new patriotic songs and have parties to honor their freedom. Being a proud Pakistani, I also spent the morning getting up in my best Pakistani attire and am ready to celebrate the day. Let me assure you: I am not different from you. But my point is this: have we taken a single moment to consider the future of our country? Why do we agree on something once a year but then continue to disagree the other 364 days? Even though it’s been 75 years, I still wonder whether we’re independent.How come we choose opposite sides, fire on Shia processions, and recklessly turn the nation into a battlefield when it comes to sectarian violence? So, what path does the nation plan to take? Is it leaning forward ever so slightly because we want our young people to save us? Then again, maybe it’s a descent into the depths of infinity. The most important anniversaries of our independence have all been marked by major crises or the closeness to them. The 25th one found us recovering from the trauma of 1971, while the 50th saw us set to enter the nuclear age. Our economy and other important institutions are under severe strain on this, the 75th day. In reality, we became a state prone to crises not long after 1947, with a new political and/or economic crisis surfacing every three to four years. Pakistan is a challenging nation. Constantly, we are put to the test of our patriotism. Our Oscar victory was marred by controversy, and our team’s performance in the Olympics was a letdown for the nation. Even more upsetting is the widespread belief that this was to be anticipated. We have made some progress in the ways we think about issues like honor killing, terrorism, politics, women’s rights, and the future of children, but our society is still on the brink of disaster when you take into account everything from the food we eat to the education we receive to the state of our minds and the affairs of our own country.Half of the politically and administratively savvy population wastes their time criticizing one another and does nothing to improve the situation in our nation. I’m not referring to the kind of life-altering choice that involves building a dam or becoming president. Yes, I am referring to the little things, the ones under our control. Creating much-needed facilities, such as hospitals and educational institutions, in underdeveloped regions The other half of the population, however, doesn’t give a hoot about the political party in power since all they care about is maintaining the status quo of mediocrity in our society. In reality, our leaders or the governments of other nations have nothing to do with this. Our flawed ideas and actions are to blame for all of society’s ills. Our aggressive and self-centered nature means that we don’t care if anybody is wounded as we pursue our own goals. It seems we never stop to consider how we may improve our society. There’s no way one of us is going to consider the other’s proposal. We call ourselves “independent,” yet we actively work against the freedom of others to pursue their own goals in life in this nation. We band together when we perceive the nation is on the upswing, then turn on each other when our expectations are dashed. The comforts this nation provides are worth the hassles we have to go through to get here. Those who wrongly feel they are free are much more oppressed than the others, as Goethe put it. We are diving headfirst into this bottomless pit of dangerous madness because we want to. Nothing or no one else can be blamed for the current state of affairs in our nation. But the renewed patriotism we’ve felt today isn’t enough to solve the problems of corruption, economic collapse, social inequality, and political intimidation that our country faces. It won’t help people who require necessities such as food or shelter. This won’t help people get out of their plight or educate the masses. Were you able to answer the question? To what use is freedom if it does not include freedom from want, inequity, injustice, and exploitation? To be free is to have the power of choice. Irresolvable dilemmas raise the question: what do they imply? Politicians in our nation are always at each other’s throats, so how can we expect them to see the larger picture? This leaves us, the idealistic patriots, to pick up the slack. It is imperative that we not allow our spirits to wither away today. If you want to make a difference in the world when tomorrow comes, you have to carry the same feeling of pride and responsibility you feel now. One of the most valuable qualities we have is the capacity to maintain optimism and self-assurance in the face of difficulty. If we can continue our ancestors’ tradition of hard work and optimism, we just might change our national identity and become a respected country once again. Our nation, and all of its citizens, can only improve and become truly independent if we first improve and become independent. If we all do what we can to make our immediate surroundings better, like respecting the rights of others, being kind to strangers, and giving money to people who need it, we may be able to start making positive changes in our society. But we shouldn’t take advantage of each other. Instead, we should show respect by listening to each other and working together to make ideas happen instead of just criticizing them. If we are successful in making the world a better place for future generations, there is hope that the larger issues will be resolved and that this nation and its people will be able to declare its independence with confidence.
https://www.eurasiareview.com/17082022-75-years-of-pakistans-independence-a-bone-or-bane-oped/
Pakistan at 75: A Country in Search of Itself
By
Its Independence Day should be a day to reflect and ponder on the mistakes of the past rather than celebrating fiction as history.Since Jinnah’s death in 1948, Pakistan’s leaders have marked Independence Day with fanfare, making sure that the founding father’s vision remains at the center of all celebrations. However, with every passing year, the country has only moved further away from Jinnah’s vision.After more than seven decades, the country has not been able to escape the “India syndrome,” meaning some vested interests in Pakistan have made unambiguous efforts to find a permanent enemy in India. As has been the tradition since the country’s inception in 1947, anti-India oratory will mark Pakistan day. For many in Pakistan, independence is more about showing the world that India remains an exclusive threat to Pakistan’s existence and that the partition of the Indian subcontinent has not been accepted by New Delhi yet.
In the words of French Orientalist Ernest Renan, “Getting its history wrong is part of being a nation.” This accurately describes Pakistan’s case. For more than seven decades, the history taught at Pakistan’s schools tried to make a case for a country that was part of some sort of prophecy. For instance, school children are taught that Pakistan has its origins in Muhammad bin Qasim’s eighth-century invasion and takeover of Sindh, one of Pakistan’s current provinces, and that Islam was the sole uniting force behind the Pakistan movement.To this day, debate remains open on whether Jinnah wanted a state whose laws were to come into conformity with Islam. On the other hand, many historians have argued that the creation of Pakistan was perhaps the unintended result of Jinnah’s strategy to force the Indian National Congress to accept a federated arrangement in which Muslim majority provinces would have considerable autonomy. If anything, Pakistan’s Islamic identity has not been able to keep the country united. As Pakistan celebrates its 75th independence day, the country is internally divided along religious lines. Islamic parties and right-wing conservative groups openly and regularly dispute the state’s writ.Pakistan’s 1973 constitution lays out the rules of governance. However, political parties and state institutions have done everything to trample the laws of the land. For instance, the real power in Pakistan does not rest with the Prime Minister’s Office and Parliament – the two institutions that are supposed to make key policy decisions under the constitution. There are other institutions that have become so powerful that they have literally become a parallel state with little accountability.The irony is that opportunistic politicians and religious fundamentalists look toward these state institutions for support to sustain their own grip over power, and in the process strengthen their hold over the state’s affairs further. Pakistan is currently in the midst of one of its worst political, constitutional, and economic crises in its history. Parliament has become practically irrelevant as the political elite is at loggerheads. The country’s judicial system faces a collapse, as thousands of cases remain pending in courts. The bureaucracy is deeply politicized and resists reforms that could see the administrative system becoming more effective. The country’s security institutions are more involved in managing politics than doing their mandated work under the constitution. Moreover, militant groups and their ideologies have taken deep root in Pakistani society. As I write this, there is a mounting power struggle among political groups and institutions which could see Pakistan getting destabilized substantially. The country is far more intolerant, regressive, and radical than ever before. Indeed, the biggest security crisis confronting Pakistan today emanates from within rather than from outside. In this setting, Independence Day should be a day to reflect and ponder on the mistakes of the past rather than celebrating fiction as history. It is about time that Pakistan’s leadership do some course correction and think about making Pakistan a country that is respected, valued, and sought after by the world. More than ever, Pakistan needs a clear direction, otherwise, the gradual decay of the state’s institutions and ethos would eventually lead to the implosion of the state. https://thediplomat.com/2022/08/pakistan-at-75-a-country-in-search-of-itself/
Opinion: Pakistan at 75: Attacks against democratic institutions have to stop
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By Hamid Mir
Pakistan has just turned 75. The anniversary should be a cause for celebration, but also for serious self-criticism. Many Pakistanis are fond of citing our achievement of becoming the world’s first Muslim nuclear power. But how are nuclear weapons supposed to save Pakistan if our institutions are falling apart? The army, of course, remains strong. But our parliament, judiciary and media are becoming weaker by the day. It is a matter of shame that four military dictators ruled Pakistan for more than 32 years. Civilian prime ministers — 29 of them — have ruled the country for 43 years. No elected prime minister has completed a full five-year term. Three different constitutions of Pakistan were abrogated or suspended five times in the 75 years since the country achieved statehood. True, Pakistan – once routinely referred to as a garrison state – has not seen a military intervention since 2007. Yet democracy is still very weak. The Economist Intelligence Unit recently described Pakistan as a hybrid regime — a country that doesn’t qualify as a proper democracy even if it has some democratic aspects. It’s not a secret that the generals effectively installed Imran Khan as prime minister with a rigged election in 2018. When Pakistan became ungovernable under Khan, the army decided to stay neutral. Earlier this year, Khan created a crisis by dissolving the national assembly to save his government — but he was ultimately ousted by a parliamentary no-confidence vote. He then proceeded to blame the United States for his downfall. He started attacking the neutrality of the military leadership and declared them to be traitors. He tried to return to power by blackmailing the same generals who once made him prime minister. His trick didn’t work.His anti-Americanism and economic crises did help him to regain a degree of popularity. Now, his political opponents are trying to disqualify him from another term with allegations of corruption and receiving prohibited funds. Back in 2017, the Supreme Court made Khan’s victory possible by disqualifying previous prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The current government now wants to do the same. Even if it is justified, the disqualification of another popular leader will create yet more instability. The Pakistani judiciary does not enjoy a good reputation. The World Justice Project, a group that tracks legal systems around the world, ranks Pakistan 130 of 139 countries on the rule of law. A historical pattern of collaboration between dictators and judges has weakened democracy. Pakistani judges need to stop getting involved in politics. On one side, Khan is challenging the “neutrality” of the army, and on the other the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is pushing the courts to disqualify Khan. Both the government and opposition are fighting with state institutions. Media freedom is another casualty of the political war among power players. Pakistan is ranked 157 of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index of 2022. Pakistan fell 18 points in the ranking since 2018, when Khan took power. TV channels were blocked. Journalists were attacked, arrested and banned.Media freedom is under threat even now that Khan has left power. When my colleagues Asad Toor and Absar Alam were attacked last year, then-opposition leader Sharif visited them and expressed his commitment for media freedom. Now, he is prime minister, and his government has banned ARY, a pro-Khan TV channel. The owner and anchors of that channel are facing sedition charges for allegedly airing criticisms of the army.When I was facing sedition allegations last year, ARY commentators wanted to see me behind bars. One of its anchors declared me an enemy of Pakistan just because I made a harsh speech against those who had attacked one of my journalist colleagues. Yet, I never left the country. I chose to stay. My former critics are now facing similar allegations. I don’t support silencing them. Freedom of the press is an essential pillar of democracy. It is hard to imagine any form of democracy that does not allow for wide-ranging discussion of social and political problems. Last year, I was banned from the air for nine months without an order from any court. A few days ago, yet another anchor, Imran Riaz, was taken off the air by his channel without any charges being filed. These kinds of tactics will not only weaken the media as an institution but ultimately turn Pakistani democracy into a joke. I know I might face a lot of criticism from people in positions of power for taking the side of those who were not nice to me. But I don’t think that revenge is a solution to our problems. I think that Khan should say that supporting a disqualification of Sharif was his mistake. Sharif should also oppose the disqualification of Khan. President Arif Alvi belongs to the biggest opposition party, which is led by Khan. Shehbaz Sharif is the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, who made Pakistan a nuclear power in 1998. Can these two power players start a dialogue with all political stakeholders to strengthen democratic institutions? The best way forward is the rule of law and supremacy of the constitution. Only they can save the institutions from crumbling.https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/18/pakistan-75-democratic-institutions-crumbling-weak/