April 03 , 2008
A Nation on Notice
Things move on only two tracks in Pakistan - express or the ultra-slow-please-come-tomorrow tracks. That non-violent people-power obtained the independence of the judiciary in the express track still leaves one disbelieving and amazed.
And yet starved of entertainment, strained by the economy, disillusioned by wholesale lies and bombarded by drones we are unable to savor completely the immense joy of this incredible occasion. Conspiracy theorists have sprouted aplenty. How much we doubt and denigrate ourselves, when in actuality there is nothing that the Pakistani nation lacks in the talent arena.
A Chief Justice refused to resign at the coercion of a military dictator who promptly suspended him and the lawyers’ movement for an independent judiciary was born. The Harvard Law School Medal of Freedom was awarded to Iftikhar Chaudhry in November 2007. According to Harvard Law School’s Dean Elena Kagan, “This award has been conferred to assure the solidarity of Harvard Law School with Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary and Pakistan’s valiant lawyers in their heroic struggle”. Previous recipients of the award have included former South African president Nelson Mandela.
From November 2007 to March 16, 2009 does not seem to be the express track, but the Long March had promised to be just that; long not just in distance but a long dharna or sit-in. With not just tear-gas shelling en route but spilling of blood.
Is it my idealism that says that people-power got the judiciary restored? Is the nation’s salute to our silent hero General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani misplaced? Did he just exert moral pressure on Zardari because he was unable to take over the reins of government due to the commitment of the armed forces in servicing the War on Terror? Would Musharraf have greedily jumped in and ousted all remnants of democracy? Did the United States and Britain do the same-old, same-old and pressurize Zardari to capitulate or else?
In all the news that has emerged since the historic and almost naïve speech of Prime Minister Gilani announcing the restoration of the judiciary, it appears that it may well have been people-power.
Perhaps it was the fall of the Islamic empire, the ravages of colonialism, rampant corruption and the worldwide American rampage post-9/11 that Muslims in general and Pakistanis in particular have taken conspiracy theory to not just a national pastime but almost a science. No situation appears straightforward. We are a nation of jaded cynics anymore.
Regardless of how we got here, God bless Pakistan, we are here and we are now a nation on notice. 61 years of chances is 60 chances too many and the stakes are so high now that singularly and collectively we cannot mess up.
The fountainhead of freedom, peace and a stable economy is an independent judiciary. The enactment of Unity, Faith and Discipline can only take practical form when courts function. Personal joy, the fulfillment of goals, self-actualization, contentment and financial freedom are only possible when an individual is promised legal recourse.
Pakistan for the first time in its 61 years just might be able to go beyond the plague of personality politics and start institution building and the placement of processes.
As much as accountability is vital, this is not the time for revenge politics. There is a lot to be achieved and scarce time for it. I don’t want to rain on this parade but all involved here have skeletons of various sizes and dubious numbers in the closet. After the PPP win and the parliamentary vote for Mr. Zardari, contrary to many soothsayers, I wanted very much for him to be given a chance, on the chance, that 11 years of incarceration might have changed him. Perhaps that was idealism gone the route of fantasy. For a president to be so startlingly disconnected with reality makes me want to go into a long distance differential diagnosis, but I shall refrain. Suffice it to say that that every president should be dealt with by the express wishes of the parliament. To blockade cities in order to prevent a democratically permitted peaceful long march and economically paralyze an already suffering people is egregious and to cause the deaths of patients unable to get to hospitals inexcusable.
Prime Minister or Maestro Yusuf Raza Gilani changed the cacophony of the Long March to a beautiful noise. He needs to keep practicing this skill; he is good at it, and needs to get a great deal better. Parliament must perform professionally; take the job as a service not as a perk, excuse me, perks and perks.
The media is awesome and needs to keep itself and all things in perspective. And on an individual level as professionals, businessmen, farmers, housewives or students - every and all persons Pakistani must have a sense of accountability. Not just to the Divine, but on a daily basis, to Pakistan.
Massive issues confront Pakistan, but none greater than American drone attacks, which now threaten to spread to Baluchistan. If people-power can restore the judiciary, then the people represented by Parliament and the judiciary must exert themselves to stop the invasion of sovereign Pakistani territory. If Musharraf had or President Zardari has a tacit agreement with the United States that it can bomb innocent Pakistani civilians in search of Al-Qaeda, then the people of Pakistan have a right to know. Google Earth shows the drones flying from Pakistani territory. This is the most shameless murder of one’s own people and worse than the wholesale lies that the PPP government indulged in the entire judiciary struggle.
We must celebrate the magnificent milestone that the restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry means for Pakistan, but we must not be lulled into a sense of complacence, for even as the Long March wound its way to Islamabad, American drones flattened killed 13 civilians in FATA. Slowly but surely they are inching eastward.
Pakistan has a democratic dispensation, and if we really want to suck it in, we can drop the begging bowl, tell America to keep its aid, suffer for a few years, but then like the phoenix rise to heretofore unknown heights. Like the great Allama Iqbal said: Aye tayire lahauti us rizq sey maut achi, jis rizq say aati ho parwaaz main kotaahi (O beautiful bird it is better to die than eat of that which retards your flight…) Yet our leadership couched in decades of corruption, housed in luxury and basking in power, lacks this vision which involves short-term serious sacrifice but long-term ease. Unfettered by the golden handcuffs of American aid and thus not obligated to do their bidding.
It took 61 years but for the first time in our history we struggled for and got an independent judiciary. It is, however, only the first step. And if we do it right we could be buying, like Led Zeppelin sang, a Stairway to Heaven.
( Mahjabeen Islam is a physician and freelance columnist, email mahjabeenislam@hotmail.com)
