The Flip Side
That We Are Not Getting from Our Media
By Isha Abdullah
Atherton, CA
President Musharraf has made
some monumental mistakes. The declaration of emergency
with dismissal of the judicial system and choking
of the media is a sad and desperate attempt starkly
reminding us of the despotic era of another military
dictator, General Zia ul Haq.
Zia came into power by the blessing of the then
democratically elected leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,
who was being challenged by his opposition to
have rigged the elections. So confident was Mr.
Bhutto of his people’s love affair with
him that he readily went to jail leaving the reigns
of the government in the hands of the stuttering,
diffident, unattractive “yes man”,
and then chief of army staff Zia. What Bhutto
did not see was the face of a clever, double-crossing,
self-serving fanatical general Zia, who seized
the opportunity and hanged Bhutto illegally and
assumed power. He legitimized his government by
creating havoc through a fanatical Islamization
of a very moderate nation and kindling the fire
of divide by ethnic identity. These tactics won
him 11 years but left Pakistan’s society
changed forever. We unknowingly succumbed to the
notion that our religion had to be worn on our
sleeve for us to justify our existence as a Muslim
nation rather than the open, cultured, educated
society that we were who did not see a role of
overt religiosity in the public domain.
After a tumultuous 12 odd years where our democratic
parties played ping pong with the PM’s seat,
a culture of political intolerance flourished
and the democratic process was annihilated. Thus
between Mrs. Benazir Bhutto and Mr. Nawaz Sharif
through repeated coups, our country was held hostage
and each one while paying lip service to democracy
did every thing to in fact negate it and went
forth to plunder our national treasures, transferring
billions of dollars into overseas accounts, with
such a sense of entitlement that we wondered if
in fact Pakistan was private property of these
two leaders.
In 1999 steps in General Pervez Musharraf. Initially
there was suspicion and unease, but gradually
he started gaining the trust of the masses. Musharraf
talked the talk but strangely enough to Pakistanis
he even walked the walk. This calm, authoritative,
straight speaking army man soon started resonating
with the moderates not only in Pakistan but the
world over. In the next few years he carved the
way for a meaningful and sincere dialogue with
the then arch enemy India, and was so successful
that even the Indians looked up to this man. He
then took on Pakistan’s economy and at least
tried to tackle tax evasion, infrastructure issues,
privatization of key assets and slowly the stock
market started to strengthen and foreign investment
began trickling in. Media (which during Zia’s
regime was shut off and journalists openly flogged
and imprisoned) was given a free reign and arts
and culture which Zia had completely wiped out
as Satanic, cautiously reentered our lives. On
a closer look Musharraf was nothing like his predecessor
General Zia. He was a principled man, a moderate
Muslim, a progressive leader and a unifier not
a divider.
In 2001 events took a turn and as America waged
war against “terror” the world was
told, “You are either with us or against
us”. Musharraf prudently aligned himself
with President Bush and in doing so became the
most vocal and hands on ally of the USA. In return
Pakistan was duly rewarded and financial aid once
again started pouring into the country. However
an element started to take shape in Pakistan.
Afghan refugees who had migrated in the 80’s
during the Afghan-Soviet war and had now amalgamated
completely into Northern Pakistan with intermarriages
and with their Kalashnikov culture and their violent
and fanatical ideology started to organize themselves.
Pakistan was not their motherland. Their loyalties
were with their Al Qaeda brethren and this militant
group had no sympathies for the country that had
given them shelter. In the process if the youth
of this country were misled and sacrificed and
civil society was shattered, it had no bearing
on them. In fact anarchy suits them better, allowing
them to establishing their own law in the land.
So along with Bush, Musharraf became a target
for the Taliban.
Taking advantage of the situation, the opportunistic
elements in Pakistani politics positioned themselves
portraying Musharraf’s alliance with the
West as him being “anti Islam” and
him having sold himself to the US.
The West having little to no understanding of
the intricacies of politics in other cultures
all got on the band wagon of democratization of
Pakistan. In their defense this was a way of legitimizing
the military rule in Pakistan but in fact this
was the beginning of havoc for Musharraf. Before
the staged elections in 2002, Musharraf had credibility
which was established on the premise that he was
an outsider in the political world of Islamabad,
but now that was no more. Familiar and corrupt
ministers became part of his cabinet. With disillusionment
setting in and the war on terror going badly,
Musharraf’s popularity dwindled.
Immediately recognizing this crack in the armor,
the old dogs started sniffing again. With the
drum beat of 2008 elections came the rotten old
candidates. Horse trading started again and unholy
alliances began to form; educated people like
Imran Khan shook hands with grotesquely self-serving
parties like the (clergy) mullahs. The democratically
elected Musharraf now could only be ousted by
attacking his one gaping weakness, his status
as COAS. By Pakistani law a civil servant cannot
run for office till two years of having acquired
a civilian status. Under pressure Musharraf makes
one of many subsequent mistakes and publicly takes
on a confrontational stance with the Chief Justice
of Pakistan, Iftikhar Chaudhry. It is speculated
that this man was not going to play ball with
Musharraf, barring him from running for president
in uniform. However, for Musharraf, resigning
from the COAS position is rife with danger; therefore
Justice Chaudhry is dismissed on charges of corruption.
Pandemonium breaks out and the judiciary appalled
at the highhandedness of the government launches
an effective protest forcing Musharraf to reinstate
the chief justice. However this time around within
the Supreme Court there is private vendetta being
taken under the garb of justice.
The miffed chief justice spares no one in the
establishment and the highest ranks of police
officers are humiliated in the courts. Unreasonable
ultimatums are given to find missing persons and
individuals being held for interrogation for terrorist
activities are released, including those arrested
during the raid on Lal Masjid in Islamabad. Individuals
who openly claim to be allied with the Taliban
and the militants in the Northern Regions who
in Oct openly beheaded four police officers in
Swat and since then have taken over 59 villages
and are responsible for numerous bombings. Within
days, the government finds itself in a gridlock
stagnated by the interference of the judiciary
in executive functions through numerous suo moto
cases a day. The situation is quickly deteriorating
and Musharraf is under attack from the militants,
the democratic parties, the civil society and
even the irresponsible and immature but free media.
During all of this the media is self-absorbed.
Instead of unbiased reporting we see news anchors
taking sides and talk show hosts jumping on the
bandwagon of anti-Musharraf rhetoric.
Despite grave reservations of his own and clear
warnings from his transatlantic supporters Musharraf
is forced to take the only option open to him
in order to take charge of the country again,
and that is dissolution of the judiciary and placement
of a state of emergency. The media is choked and
all independent news channels are suspended.
Though unconstitutional this is not a martial
law as life on the streets goes on as usual. There
is no increase in army presence on the streets
and strangely the masses almost relieved or in
the least despondent, show little or no resistance.
What happens next is anyone’s guess; however,
I suspect this emergency will be short lived.
In my opinion there are several lessons to be
learnt from this abridged account of the state
of affairs in Pakistan.
Politics everywhere is an intricate and complex
business and has a temporal relationship in time
with the people. When nations act in certain ways
it may not be objectively the best decision but
they do so in reaction to the prevailing circumstances
which have existed for decades in those regions.
No sovereign nation wants interference from an
outside agency even if that interference is for
their own long-term good. All revolutions start
at grassroots level, they cannot be imposed or
imported - even the notion of democracy.
1) Restoration of democracy, independent judiciary
and alignment with human rights activists needs
to be done. But why attack only Musharraf? Why
use different yardsticks to measure the candidates?
Why are we willing to quietly accept second-rate
tried and tested corrupt leaders?
2) Media has to play a more mature role. When
the right of free speech gets overshadowed by
irresponsible rhetoric and news agencies instead
of unbiased reporting of events start to report
opinion, they need to be held accountable.
3) The society has to rethink the role of religion
in the public domain and to evaluate how much
of their belief is cultural rather than religious.
Is action against militants and extremists siding
with any outside agency or is it in the self-interest
of our own country?
Pakistan is going through a tough time. However,
all nations have to pay their dues to get on the
right track and I am hopeful under the right leadership,
vision and a vigilant civil society Pakistan will
emerge out of this crisis a stronger and a more
cohesive nation.
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