War on Terror
& Basic Rights of Pakistanis
By A.H. Cemendtaur
CA
Going to bed yesterday I counted
the nights many prominent Pakistani lawyers have
spent in jail this month. I tallied 14, for it
has been 14 days since General Pervez Musharraf
proclaimed emergency in Pakistan.
Whereas, ostensibly, the purpose of emergency
was to arrest the advances religious extremists
had been making, in the wake of emergency thousands
of lawyers and political activists were detained
by the Pakistani government.
After imposition of “emergency”, the
Musharraf government has taken other repressive
measures. Independent minded judges who valiantly
challenged the executive branch of the government
have been removed from their jobs. Private television
channels that gave large coverage to political
news and broadcasted debates and analyses on government
policies and actions have been taken off air.
Just two days ago Pakistani TV channels broadcasting
from Dubai were made to shut off their operations.
Strident political leaders have either been put
in jail or put under house arrest. By all means
developments of this nature should be of grave
concern to any nation. In other parts of the world
people pour out on streets for far less serious
matters. But save for a small portion of the society
we don’t see a unified national movement
in Pakistan ready to take on Musharraf’s
government. You ask, why?
Democracies are always threatened by special interest
groups. In Pakistan the largest, most organized
special interest group has guns and tanks, it
is the Pakistan Army. The Pakistani army feels
justified in meddling in the political affairs
of the country because it believes it can do a
better job of governance than the Pakistani politicians.
And not too long ago this conviction of the army
was widely shared by the common man in Pakistan.
In October 1999 when General Pervez Musharraf
overthrew the democratically elected government
of Nawaz Sharif, people came out on the streets
to express their jubilation.
Pakistanis were truly happy to see the corruption-riddled
Nawaz Sharif government go. And before Nawaz Sharif,
the credibility of Benazir Bhutto too was eroded
by financial scandals surfacing during her two
tenures as Prime Minister.
In contrast to the economic activities that took
place during the democratic governments of Benazir
Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, what Pakistanis saw during
Musharraf government was spectacular. Businesses
started booming, foreign investments started pouring
in, construction of country’s infrastructure
picked up, and independent radio and TV channels
started operations. Who cares if these developments
were largely a result of the post-9/11 geopolitical
situation of Pakistan? Pervez Musharraf was at
the helm; he took the credit of turning around
the country and ordinary Pakistanis believed him
to be the savior they were looking for, all along.
If discredited politicians and the self-perceived
moral high ground of the Pakistan Army were not
enough guarantees of Musharraf regime’s
longevity, external support from the US cemented
the general’s grip on power.
The Bush administration never got tired of thanking
Musharraf for his role in fighting extremism in
that part of the world.
Musharraf did rule with a guise of democracy.
There were elections; there were assemblies where
political parties of all hues were present and
an active opposition debated issues, but the whole
show was acted out under the watchful eyes of
a dictator who was both the President and the
Chief of Army Staff.
With GDP growth rate averaging over 7% and Pakistan
Army and the US firmly behind Musharraf, the general
could probably continue ruling the country relatively
undisturbed were it not for his dismissal of the
Chief Justice of Pakistan on March 9.
Since then it has been a gradual but continuous
downfall for Musharraf and the November 3 promulgation
of emergency took the veil off the real nature
of his dictatorship.
Now, unlike ever before the future of Pakistan
is hanging in the balance.
How would Pakistanis claim back their country
from their army, especially when the country lacks
credible political leadership? Fourteen days after
the imposition of emergency this question baffles
Pakistani intelligentsia. Probably, such a monumental
feat would have to be accomplished with unity
among political parties and through active support
of civil society.
Unfortunately, Pakistan does have a precedent
of a showdown between the general population and
the army. It happened in 1971. Then, through external
help the largely unarmed population prevailed
over the army.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
