Local Actors,
Foreign Scripts
By Dr Shireen M Mazari
With another
September 11 approaching, there was a thought that
one should examine the disastrous US strategy for
the war on terror, which has only succeeded in creating
a continually increasing space for terrorists. Then,
there was also the new Osama tape, which showed
a man barely resembling Osama bin Laden. This led
many to really wonder whether Osama was actually
alive or whether he was now a creation of Langley,
USA, given how the CIA almost immediately asserts
the authenticity of such tapes, which also tend
to come at interesting and troubling times for Mr
Bush. Our domestic absurdities, however, have a
more powerful pull –-- dwarfing all other
critical issues.
And they truly are absurdities that are draining
our energies and destroying our domestic fabric.
At a time when we are facing some serious substantive
threats, the whole nation has been made hostage
to the political shenanigans of deals, deportations
and bizarre interventions from external actors.
All this, because the people of this country have
shown their commitment to a democratic dispensation
and rule of law. In the nation's pursuit of the
democratic and rule of law ideal, some crucial and
debilitating factors are coming into play. The first
is to find that despite sixty years as a sovereign
nation, external players continue to write our political
scripts for us -- because we allow them to. Hence,
our path to democracy is littered with deals and
political engineering.
As we watched the Sharif versus the State drama
unfold at the Islamabad airport, one wondered whether
anyone really was interested in even hearing the
voice of the people. If Sharif was using the Supreme
Court to escape his deal with the Saudis, why was
there such an excessive response from the State?
Would it not have bolstered the government's image
of tolerance and accommodation to have allowed Sharif
a populist homecoming, before he faced charges of
wrongdoing/corruption filed by the State? After
all, the State's accommodation of the massive but
peaceful processions of the Chief Justice during
the judicial crisis was reflective of the confidence
of the State, just as the mayhem of May 12 in Karachi
was reflective of a hasty intolerance and perhaps,
of a level of political insecurity. After sixty
years, we must learn to trust our own people --
certainly more than outsiders who, no matter how
friendly, do have their own agendas.
Indeed, we Pakistanis were embarrassed into seeing
the image of the visit by the Saudi intelligence
chief and Saad Hariri a few days earlier, laying
bare the deal brokered by Saudi leaders and Hariri,
which allowed the Sharifs to escape incarceration,
while their party people stayed on to face the music.
Of course, it seems this was not the first time
that the Saudis have been brought into the internal
machinations of our national politics -- remember
Mr Bhutto, the PNA and a Saudi interlocutor, Ambassador
Riazul Khateeb? It is not without its irony that
Hariri should be visiting us at a time when he would
do better to deal with the multiple issues confronting
his own country, Lebanon.
Nevertheless, it was sad to see denials to the contrary.
There was a deal made by the Sharifs to exit Pakistan.
Equally, at the end of the day, as the Supreme Court
asserted, all Pakistanis have the right to return
to their country and they must face the consequences
of their deeds, according to the laws of this country
rather than be denied this opportunity -- deals
notwithstanding. That is why it was so disheartening
to witness the whole September 10 episode at the
Islamabad airport. And why must officialdom always
resort to the abuse and humiliation of their target?
It seems as though deals brokered from outside are
going to be our fate, unless the people show their
rejection of this – but for that, a new leadership
is needed and that does not seem to be emerging
on the horizon. Perhaps, that is part of our tragedy
– that we cannot find anyone beyond the tested
and failed leaders of the past, whenever we move
towards unhindered democracy. Or is it because the
democratic trail must perforce recommence from where
it was truncated?
So, we now face the truth of one leader being made
to pay the price for a deal, which allowed for an
exit from the country, while another one makes a
deal to ensure her return to the country in a position
of power. This is surely the worst of all motivations,
and to seek a hostile power's intervention makes
it even worse. After all, no one in Pakistan is
blind to the negative Pakistan agenda of the US;
but those who ostensibly seek to lead the people
of this country through a democratic process are,
it seems, unwilling to put their faith in the same
people. Instead, the wooing of Washington takes
primacy and so the US now is attempting to engineer
the future democratic dispensation within Pakistan,
aided and abetted by its faithful ally, Britain.
After all, the US has had a foretaste of what results
democracy will bring within Muslim political entities
in the form of the Hamas victory, and it cannot
live with the results. Hence, democracy must be
tailor-made in terms of the "correct"
leaders coming to power!
What a farce. Is this what the people's struggle
for their democratic rights has been reduced to
-- deals and still more deals? This is not to say
that political forces do not form alliances for
elections -- but the deals we are seeing, involve
external players and are intended to pre-empt the
form of the political dispensation even before the
elections have been held. Already, the US has damaged
our body politic immeasurably with its eventual
goal to target our national strategic assets. Must
we now endure their machinations in our domestic
politics? Incidentally, it is a trifle ironic that
our lawyers who want to lead a movement for democracy
are not prepared to allow democratic dissent within
their own ranks. Such dissenters are given a sound
beating.
Meanwhile, as we remain so mesmerized by the shenanigans
of our political elites, issues that should be focused
on are getting lost. For instance, the fact that
no head has rolled over the bridge collapse in Karachi
and there is no public outcry, which would compel
the authorities to pinpoint responsibility and punish
the guilty, has taken place. In addition to this,
mobs are impeding the judicial process in Karachi
and a senior lawyer has become a victim of political
terror. Then, we have the growing targeting of our
security personnel by terrorists, and the disturbing
question of how twenty men could take over a hundred
(the exact number being unclear) security personnel
hostage. Are our fears of the external forces wishing
to undermine the institution of the military, coming
true? And should the State not be giving more serious
attention to US statements, following the Osama
tape, which implied that Osama was in Chitral? Is
the US building a rationale for a more excessive
military foray into Pakistan than the air violations
of our sovereignty?
There are so many issues that require our national
focus right now, including some critical external
developments. We, however, are almost mesmerized
by one political drama after another unfolding on
a daily basis to impact our right of free choice
– and in all of which, civil society is a
mere bystander. The pride and hope that subsumed
us with the assertion of the judiciary as a strong
and independent pillar of the State is fast being
replaced by a cynical weariness. This is a great,
generous and forgiving nation, which does not deserve
the elite it has to contend with. The question is:
will it always continue to be the same or can we
make it different this time around?
The writer is director general of the Institute
of Strategic Studies, Islamabad. Courtesy The News)
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