International Media Has Spoken Out and Called the Bluff
By Karamatullah K. Ghori
Toronto, Canada
There’s an old and time-tested adage that says: ‘You may fool some of the people, all the time; all the people, some of the time; but you can’t fool all the people, all of the time.’
If one were to set out looking for a perfect embodiment of this adage in our times, one would have to settle for Pakistan, which neatly personifies the veracity of this aphorism.
Pakistan was carved out of the British-ruled South Asian Sub-continent, not as a result of a military struggle but due to the success of a political campaign. That non-violent, and thoroughly legal campaign was led by an astute man—Mohammad Ali Jinnah—who described himself as not the ‘leader but the pleader’ of the fully-deserving case of the Muslims of India for their own sovereign homeland.
M.A. Jinnah, or the Quaid-i-Azam (the Great Leader), the title given to him by his fawning followers, seems to have had a prescient sense of how the military of his newly independent state could entertain ideas of poking their fingers in the politics of his Pakistan. After all, the officers’ corps of the military that came to Pakistan, as part and parcel of the divided assets of British-India, had been raised and trained by the colonial power in its own colors.
As such, in his only address to the Command and Staff College, of Quetta, on June 14, 1948—less than three months before his demise on September 11, 1948—the Quaid warned his uniformed interlocutors, in no-uncertain words, that they weren’t supposed to have any role in the policies of the state. Their job, the Quaid intoned, categorically and emphatically, was limited to only implementing the policy made by the civilians.
But the Quaid’s prescience of the military meddling in the politics of his Pakistan was proven right within years of his demise. The military, for the past 70 years, has been the most regular and permanent feature of dictating the whole gamut of the State of Pakistan, either up-front through martial law, or pulling the strings from behind the scene.
As these lines are being written, Pakistan is less than 24 hours away from its general elections, slated for February 8. But the shadow of the military ‘Establishment’ looms larger over this electoral exercise than any other elections in the history of Pakistan.
Addressing young—college and university—students, last week at Islamabad’s Convention Centre, assembled there by his minions, Pakistan’s current military Chief, General Asim Munir, haughtily asserted the primacy of his military establishment. He told the students that Pakistan’s future couldn’t be made hostage to the whims of ‘any political party.’
The undisguised reference in the hectoring was to Pakistan’s Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) Party whose iconic leader, Imran Khan (IK) has been behind bars, for the past six months, because he fell out with Pakistan’s king-maker military establishment.
IK’s downfall was engineered by the military establishment—which has often been referred to as ‘the deep state’ or ‘state-within-the-state’ by international news media—because he refused to play second-fiddle to—or take dictation from—the pompous and hectoring generals who have arrogated to themselves the ‘right’ to delineate the limits of power conceded by them to politicians and political parties.
All efforts, from the ‘deep state’ czars—in the context of the impending elections, grudgingly conceded—have been focused on a singular point: not to give a free hand to IK or his PTI.
The result of this diktat from those who think of themselves as the self-appointed guardians of Pakistan’s physical and ideological frontiers is that PTI has been deprived of its popular electoral symbol—IK’s Cricket bat. On top of this arbitrary injustice against the norms of democracy—that insists on all parties in an electoral contest being treated fairly and equally—PTI candidates, forced to run, per se, as ‘independents’ have been haunted and persecuted, shamelessly and unapologetically.
In a country like Pakistan, where 40 percent of the people eligible to cast their ballot in the elections are illiterate, taking away PTI’s popular and universally recognizable electoral symbol is an appalling injustice. No, it’s not just a cruel attempt to corner a popular party but it clearly amounts to pre-poll rigging.
The hectoring military establishment has taken other measures to ensure that PTI’s candidates get no access to voice the naked injustice done to them. Pakistan’s mainstream news media—much of which is owned by vested interest from Pakistan’s industrial tycoons or commercial barons—has been beaten into total silence. PTI and IK have become pariahs to the establishment-controlled news media.
However, while the pompous generals may still be frozen in time, the world outside of Pakistan isn’t. Pakistan’s younger generation, too, has moved on. It’s savvy to the digital age and is fully attuned to its calls.
So, the Pakistani news media may have been beaten into toeing the military establishment’s commandments—on IK and PTI—the international news outlets aren’t shackled to them. Hence their take on Pakistan’s general elections, of February 8, is vocal about the gags being put on the free exercise of their rights by PTI, its incarcerated leader, and its so-called ‘independent’ candidates taking part in the electoral undertaking with one of their hands tied behind their back.
The outside world’s take on the electoral exercise is damning, as far as the military establishment’s larger-than-life role is concerned. The world media verdict goes against the hectoring ‘Khakis’ and their nefarious plans to doctor the outcome of these elections.
Some snippets from international news media prove this assumption.
The universally popular Al Jazeera Television—with a worldwide audience—says: “The legitimacy of the February 8 elections has been questioned as Khan (IK) is absent from the ballot sheet.”
Bloomberg , with universal reach, says: “Pakistan’s youth, big backers of Khan, are disillusioned about the electoral system.”
Council of Foreign Relations —an American think-tank of impeccable credentials, says the electoral exercise “has already turned into a farce, one that is not free or fair.”
The Financial Times —a paper of sterling repute—says: “If one were to have free and fair elections, Imran Khan would win by an absolute landslide.”
BBC —hated by the military establishment for its criticism of lording over every aspect of Pakistan—says; “It may look like Khan has been effectively neutralized. But instead, political divisions across the country look set to deepen.”
The Guardian , forthright and candid, as ever, says: “Military has put its faith in former PM (Nawaz Sharif) for fourth time, leading many to believe election outcome is already decided.”
Gallup International , dilating on the lack of credibility among the people of Pakistan in the fairness of the elections, says: “Seven in 10 Pakistanis lack confidence in the honesty of their elections.”
The Russian Television’s commentary is especially notable because the ‘deep state’ was squeamish about, and suspicious of, IK favoring a foreign policy that accorded equal status to Russia, along with US. It says, pithily: “This election is already hopelessly compromised.”
The New York Times says, guardedly because IK isn’t popular with the U.S. establishment or media: “Pakistani elections are marked by vote-rigging, political horse-trading and corruption….”
Time Magazine is more forthcoming and forthright than the NY Times. It says, candidly, “Various opinion polls put Khan’s popularity at around 60 to 80 percent and the threat of a strong showing from his supporters may prompt the military to take more decisive action to hobble them.”
Time says this as the bottom line of the Pakistani electoral exercise: “The election as it is set up is already not free or fair.”
It’s obvious that the outside world has already spoken out and called the bluff. Much to its abiding regret, the establishment has no way to gag the independent news media in the outside world. There’s, after all, a limit to the power of those who have been holding Pakistan and its 220 million people to ransom for as long as one can remember. - K_K_ghori@hotmail.com
(The author is a former ambassador and career diplomat
