FURTHERING “DEMOCRACY”?
Most politicians can be economical with the truth even at the best times. With Khursheed Shah shedding crocodile tears in the Joint Session of the National Assembly about the PM buckling under pressure from the Army and the resultant threat to “democracy”, Mian Sahib crossed the failsafe line that an awakened public is now increasingly not likely to tolerate between truth and falsehood. “Sotto voce” a solemn-faced PM categorically denied requesting the Army for mediation to defuse the political standoff and assured the House about upholding the Joint Parliamentary Resolution supporting the Constitution in letter and spirit.
Recalling his struggle alongwith late Benazir Bhutto, “governments come and go; but principles can’t be sacrificed”. Describing the Opposition leader’s speech as reflecting his sentiments, “how one can expect a U-turn from me, who endured the hardships of arrest and exile for the cause of democracy?”
The PMs recollection of sequence of events was that after he was telephonically informed in Lahore in the presence of Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan about PTI and PAT leaders’ request to meet Gen Raheel Sharif, he did not object, “if they want to meet the Army Chief then they should certainly meet. The Army did not ask to play the role of mediator, neither have we requested them to play such a role.” Confirming that the Army had been specifically instructed by the government to step in. The ISPR flatly contradicted Mian Nawaz Sharif’s statement.
The two “Dharna” leaders vehemently denied requesting the Army to broker a settlement, insisting the PM was blatantly telling lies to Parliament. Referring to DG ISPR Maj Gen Asim Bajwa’s “twitter” update “(The Army Chief) was asked by the Govt to play facilitative role for resolution of current impasse, in yesterday’s meeting, at (Sharif’s) House” as proof, Maulana Tahir ul Qadri said, “the request to resolve this issue as mediator came from the PM and incumbent government.” Following the public denouement of Mian Nawaz Sharif’s credibility, a three member Bench of the Supreme Court (SC) admitted a petition seeking the PM’s disqualification for telling lies to Parliament. Declaring that “who said what” was between the PM and the COAS, the SC Bench put the credibility of at least one of them on the line. Prima facie, the facts are pretty open and shut, does one really expect anyone to fall over themselves to deliver justice?
Mian Nawaz Sharif mouthing “Geo, Geo” on primetime TV attempting to prompt the Federal Interior Minister against the Army during the Joint Session of Parliament was really uncalled for. That stage-whisper seen and heard by millions fully exposed Information Minister Pervez Rasheed’s atrocious remark to the media targetting the ISI, “now you know which side we are on,” after the Sharif visit to Hamid Mir’s bedside. Given the innuendos and accusations about scriptwriting from “democrats” in and out of the House (and disparate TV anchors), the military has been forced to repeatedly “clarify” they were “not siding with anyone”. Being reactive instead of being pro-active, appeasing detractors on the one hand and on the other taking friends for granted, or even ignoring them altogether, no wonder they end up on the receiving end. Munich 1938 is a historic precedent that “appeasement” is always counter-productive, appeasement should have ceased after the wake-up call rendered by the “Hamid Mir” affair. Does one need Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the nasty misleading story aired by a foreign news agency about a “split” in the Army originated from someone a particular Cabinet Minister has a fancy for?
These sideshows unfortunately detract from the change that the people of Pakistan want (and deserve). Imran Khan must get his priorities right, redemption for the electoral deviations suffered by his party or the struggle to change the destiny of the people? Fixing the electoral system being the primary objective, those planning and executing strategy need boning up on Clausewitz’s first principle of war, the “Selection and Maintenance of Aim”. Demanding a Judicial Commission for the 2013 elections diverts from the selected “aim”. Consigned invariably to the dustbin of history, which Commission’s report has ever achieved anything in Pakistan? A legal passage to nowhere geared to derail aspirations for a free and fair electoral process, the suggested “Terms of Reference” (TORs) were tailor-made for filibuster. Imran is playing into the hands of feudals comprising the majority in Parliament. Look at their influence in preventing Local Bodies Elections. The fountainhead of democracy is “Local Governance”, without it “democracy” is a farce.
Freedom from the evils associated with the present “democratic” bondage” should be the greatest gift for the poverty-stricken and discriminated populace of this country. Feudalism and democracy cannot co-exist, is this the moment where history will record that democracy finally got the better off feudalism in Pakistan? Deviating from the selected aim will render us an unfortunate footnote to history, it will simply pass us by.
Don’t hold your breath about getting justice from those responsible to render it and/or for that matter, enforce it. Lack of an honest agenda, the arcane laws of evidence and a battery of glib lawyers will likely give legal sanction to “our Constitutional duty to tell lies on (and off ) the floor of the House.”
To “serve and further the cause of democracy” that should be an ideal follow-up Resolution of the Joint Session of Parliament.
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