Democracy Needs an Opposition
Without check and balance, even a democracy can become a dictatorship. For too long, we have had total rule unfettered by an opposition strong enough to effectively counter the totalitarian urges of the rulers, elected and unelected. The result has been that those who are mandated by the people to enforce the rule of law have invariably become the major violators of law in the land. Other than an extremely faulty system of democracy that enjoins “the first past the post” system rather than an actual majority of the votes cast, thereby giving a minority a rule over a majority, the practice in South Asia is to centre “democracy” around personalities, with only lip-service given to ideology and constitutional mores. The result has been voter apathy as more and more people are frustrated in the democratic process, with progress denied to the masses and confined to a privileged few or those whom they choose to associate with them.
In Pakistan the present Opposition lacks credibility. As much as Ms Benazir may try and charm foreign audiences to deny her corrupt governance, this is now a documented fact of life. She and her husband can invent any number of technicalities to escape the process of law, there is a pretty open and shut evidence against their corruption on scores of counts. What is amazing is that despite her known indiscretions, she continues to be blatant about her denials. This leads to a more serious charge, of brazen faced misrepresentation of the truth on a daily basis — and this is the stuff of leadership she has provided to the people of Pakistani! And she does not stop at that, having subjected the people of Pakistan to economic misery to accumulate illegal wealth, she is actively engaged in activity that is detrimental to the interests of Pakistan. And she is not alone, party workers mesmerised by her charisma one can understand but mature party leaders who privately acknowledge her and her husband’s corruption should only have contempt for her instead of publicly defending her. These include party colleagues as well as the smattering of allied leaders like Nawabzada Nasrullah, Hamid Nasir Chattha, etc, etc, who are guilty of abetment, having turned a glazed eye to the Zardari shenanigans. They have put the person (and their own selfish interests) before the national interest and any person who does that does not deserve to be called a leader. Leaders must have credibility and in the face of facts all those who are still supporting Ms Benazir lack the moral responsibility they owe to the people they profess to lead. That leaves only erstwhile ally ANP in the opposition and while one may disagree with them on any number of counts, the fact remains that they are at least credible and not prone to tell outright lies repeatedly as some of their colleagues in the Parliamentary Opposition do. The MQM, which despite being in the government, oppose their colleagues on most counts, has also lost its credibility over the years. A once-fine movement, founded on the rightful need to give the Mohajir community a rightful say under the sun, has now degenerated into corruption. When a leader is away in self-exile far away as is Altaf Hussain it is difficult to control the party’s militant cohorts who have made collection of “protection money” or “Bhatta” into a fine art, or for that matter their white-collar leaders who have mastered the art of siphoning off big money in Karachi’s mega-projects. As such their once-vaunted simplicity and credibility have been rather shot as they have descended into “business as usual”.
The Karachi Situation Playing Blind Man’s (?) Bluff
Even for those who have admired the many qualities of Ms Benazir Bhutto over the years and have been taken in by her charm and charisma, her recent speech in Kasur was shocking. It brought our Princess down to a particular low water mark unbecoming of her, both as a human being and as a popularly elected leader. The dignity of the Office of the PM requires avoiding the use of intemperate language or saying anything carrying racial inferences, Ms Bhutto crossed that fail-safe line that separates politically acceptable campaign rabble-rousing from the more colourful characteristics of the parade ground. The only excuse one can justifiably give is that the PM believes she should campaign endlessly irrespective of the audience and the occasion, the studied demeanour of sophistication she displays on her frequent State visits being the exception. Well, the last election campaign has been over for nearly 20 months and the next one is yet to commence, or does she know more than she is letting on? Instead of stooping low to conquer, she is succeeding in losing a considerable amount of goodwill among the intelligentsia and the masses who have tended to always give her the benefit of the doubt in the many controversies she manages to get herself mired in from time to time. Maybe she used an exorcist to chase away the demons that seemed to possess her in Kasur, or perhaps she was inspired by self-preservation in the face of noises emanating from quarters that matter, to the profound relief of her damage-control specialists, the PM appeared at a Press Conference flanked on one side by Hamid Nasir Chattha, and “regretted” the remarks “if they have hurt anyone’s feelings.” In true Bhutto tradition of defiance unto death, there was nothing contrite or apologetic in her tone or demeanour, in fact she relished launching into another diatribe of sorts against “terrorists” (by inference the MQM(A)). Regretfully, she may have irretrievably lost the battle for the hearts and minds of Karachi’s populace, only a miracle can salvage any remaining goodwill.
For whatever it is worth, the PM is right in one respect. There is militancy that can clearly be classified as urban terrorism within the ranks of MQM(A). One cannot objectively view the situation and give them a clean bill of health just because the PM chose to go off on a tangent. However there are extenuating circumstances. Given the way the MQM have been hounded over the past three years since the start of Operation Clean-Up, this is hardly surprising or unexpected. Even if you would corner an animal in this manner you would expect a reaction, case in point PPP-in-exile during the Zia years and the terrorist Al-Zulfiqar Organisation. Also the MQM(A) is not the only one playing the urban guerrilla game, what about MQM(H), Al-Zulfiqar and Jeay Sindh? To compound all this, Indian RAW has been actively fomenting violence in Karachi to take the pressure off Kashmir. In all fairness, the PM must acknowledge that it was the State (in the form of ISI) that created a parallel “terrorist” organisation, the MQM(H), and it is the State (in the form of IB) that still sustains it. Anytime the organs of the State acquire such powers which allow them to break the laws of the land they are pledged to uphold, the reaction is bound to be commensurate, as an act of self-defence if nothing else. When criminals function in the name of justice, justice becomes a crime. Two wrongs do not make a right, or for that matter, three, four or even ten. Every political party in Karachi including the JI, PPP, JUI, PPI, ANP, etc has militant wings whose high-handedness often borders upon terrorism. MQM(A) is simply the best organised, having the maximum sympathy of Karachi’s masses, followed by MQM(H) having the support of the Establishment. PML(N) is probably the only one without a coherent militant faction and certainly that is not for want of trying. Even the President mentioned MQM(H) and Al-Zulfiqar as having terrorist factions in a recent Press Briefing for foreign journalists. MQM(A) can be held partly responsible for the bad law and order situation in those areas of Karachi which are said to be in its control, who are the “terrorists” in the Landhi, Korangi and Lines Area? Even PSF got into the act with rocket launchers near NIPA Chowrangi the other day. Given the type of provocation that the MQM is subjected to every time that calm returns to Karachi, violent reaction by their cohorts in the streets is not surprising. In countless incidents Police and Rangers have been quite high-handed, thereby alienating the populace. The immediate cause of the current unrest is the LEAs raid at Nine-Zero (the home/office of Altaf Hussain). Since this was done at the advent of Muharram, it was certainly avoidable, i.e. unless the objective was to provoke confrontation.