The March of Democracy
By Dr Ghulam M Haniff
St. Cloud, Minnesota
After sixty-six years of independence Pakistan for the first time conducted clean, honest and fair elections. All those election watchers, who traveled to Pakistan for the purpose of observing the process, praised the action and commended the people of the country. They were impressed by the way in which votes were collected and ballots tabulated. For the first time, there was not a hint of unfairness although some people may have complained privately.
The entire process remained democratic and fair until the very end. This came after half a century of trying although there were some undemocratic incidents among the dictatorial feudal lords. The implementation of democracy was a momentous event for the country. Democracy triumphed though people hoped that the three holidays, Independence Day, Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitrs could be celebrated together perhaps during the middle of the month. But that was not to be so. It was a tall order to ask for, or to wish for that state of affairs.
The father of the nation, Quid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, would have been proud if all the holidays had come together through some quirk of fate though that was to be unexpected. If that had happened the founder of the nation would have joined the jubilation enthusiastically.
Jinnah talked a lot about Pakistan being a democratic state with Islam as the basic foundation of the country. Islam was to be a rock holding the country together linking all the parts of the nation in one magnificent piece. It would have been a fitting tribute to both Jinnah and what is turning out to be the ideology of the nation.
From the start of the elections the two candidates who showed promise were Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan and, at the end both showed strength by emerging the first and second positions. In the end Nawaz was able to acquire more seats in the National Assembly and was made the Prime Minister. From the newspapers it appears that Nawaz has learned a lot, no doubt due to his prior experiences in the office of the Prime Minister, and in dealing with other nations in the global arena.
Although he has been in the office for barely a month he has already initiated a dialogue with India and China. These are the two emerging superpowers and are already scrambling for the top positions in the global arena. By the end of this century scholars say that China will occupy the number one position in GNP with India coming in at the number two position.
Nawaz has already visited China and signed numerous documents bringing Pakistan and China closer together. The two nations hope to build a road jointly traversing the mountainous and hilly region from Gwadar to the Karakoram.
At this moment the policy decisions that Nawaz makes seem to be much more in line with the national interest of Pakistan than the other players who passed through the Prime Minister’s office. It is about time that Pakistan begins to act in its own national interest.
Both China and Pakistan need to cooperate for the sake of delivering natural resources to the Western part of China for the opening up of this region. It is likely that this area contains enormous wealth and the goods manufactured here could be directed to the markets in Europe and Russia. The infrastructure built in this region in Pakistan could also be used for the opening up of Central Asia. The goods manufactured in Pakistan would also find readymade markets in the Central Asian region.
The children of the country, mostly Pakistanis, could be given education consistent with democratic society and taught democratic behavior from early on. They can also participate in some aspects of the learning the Chinese way of life and later on deriving the benefits in multiple ways. The benefit of democracy is that the structure is always open for enhancing learning regardless of the setting.
At the moment the only advanced nations are the democratic ones and it is quite likely to remain so in for seeable future. It is not accidental that Western Europe is quite advanced, innovative and progressive as it marches to the future. There is no reason why Pakistan too could not be taught similar democratically innovative behavior.
Pakistan has evolved from the Mughal Empire with religious traditions as an important element for the Pakistani nation, given that the country was conceived in the name of Islam for the Muslims of South Asian subcontinent. Pakistanis are great inheritors of two traditions, the religious one from Mohammed bin Qasim and the artistic one from the Mughal courts.
These two needs to be researched thoroughly and their pillars planted for the glory of the nation of Pakistan.
Indeed, Malala Yusufzai, with her cadre of girls, has already shown the way to the people. What they need is the support from the populace of the country.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to Pakistanlink Homepage
