Why in Pakistan
We Are All So Helpless, Powerless
By
Muhammad-Najm Akbar
THEY
ASSEMBLED every time in front of the custodian of their privileges,
the Speaker, to howl out their helplessness and desperation for
at least an hour a day before staging a collective walk out. They
come from all the regional and socio-political backgrounds, almost
80 of them.
Some of them have traversed all possible combinations of political
affiliations including alliances with the armed forces. Few of
them also give the group benefit of their expertise in the public
protest from their student days.
At
least one of them has demonstrated unparalleled decibel level
in Pakistan's Parliamentary history. To top it all, the have been
able to smuggled some banners into the precincts of the House
to express their sentiments in writing, unambiguously: "Issue
production order," "Powerless speaker (must) resign,"
"Go Musharraf go," "No LFO no," "Rule
of the generals not acceptable," "Lay kay rahengay Azaadi
from the army and from the president," the last slogan would
translate: We will ensure our freedom from the army and the General.
They
were protesting against the arbitrary arrest of one of their fellow
Parliamentarians and continuing detention of the husband of the
exiled leader of largest political force in Pakistan, under three
government, without conviction, since 1996. Throughout Pakistan,
protesters from all walks of life have come out in the streets
to show their resentment. The street is as helpless as its representatives
in the House. We are all helpless.
The issue is simple: what is the applicable law to the so-called
Mutiny case, extra-constitutional LFO or Article 6 of the consensual
constitution of 1973. Javed Hashmi invoked Article 6. Backed by
the command of over half-a-million troops, the regime defeated,
arrested and conquered the rebellious MNA. Invoking Article 6
in the war against democracy is forbidden. The prisoner of war's
supporters can protest but they have already been warned that
their behavior can become a ground for the dissolution of the
Assemblies. The
conquerors have spoken. The people are helpless.
Senator
Farhatullah Babar had a better chance. He has made an effort to
raise before the Senate the issues that the unidentified authors
of the letter received by Hashmi had evoked. He asked for "suitable
legislation to regulate the functioning of intelligence agencies
and the ISI particularly with respect to issues relating to raids,
detention and arrest of suspects in the country".
He
also wanted to know if there was any law on the statue under which
the ISI was authorized to conduct raids and detain and interrogate
suspects. Through another resolution, he called for setting up
a parliamentary committee to hold inquiry into the Kargil war.
The Senate Secretariat refused to submit these resolutions to
the august House. We are all immobilized, in different ways.
In his press conference of 22 October, Mutinous Hashmi had dubbed
the Justices as 'accomplices' of the generals who had given them
excuses to usurp rights of the people. He is having a taste of
it now.
According
to one report, the Mutineer was not produced before any court
of law. Instead, a Judicial Magistrate and Civil Judge was taken
to the house where he had been kept. His lawyers have contended
in vain that this being a habeas corpus petition, the court should
dispatch the bailiff immediately to recover the ARD leader.
The
Mutineer 's daughter, herself an MNA has complained that despite
her best efforts, she could not obtain a copy of the FIR against
her father. His lawyers were denied the facility of his defense.
In its war against democracy, the army has already planned second
line of attack against the Mutineer. In case the Mutiny case fails,
the National Accountability Bureau is ready with fresh corruption
reference against him.
Hashmi
and Zardari are resourceful people. What about the ordinary guys.
On November 6, the Federal Shariat Court set aside the sentence
of amputation of a hand and a foot awarded to four persons, and
ordered their release after they had undergone 11 years of imprisonment.
An Additional District and Sessions Judge, Lahore, after nine
years of trial had convicted them. Two more years later, the Shariat
court came to the conclusion that the evidence produced in the
case was not up to the standards of Tazkiatul Shahood.
We are all helpless.
One
more, a bit cute example of our collective defenselessness. The
military government's Parliamentary Secretary for Defense, a retired
Major, offered arrest at the floor of the National Assembly on
7 November. He denied that he had arranged a manifestation against
military in his area but admitted that he did arrange a demonstration
in his area against "five big guns of his area" who
were allegedly stealing irrigation water meant for the small farmers.
We are all powerless.
Where is the hope then? President Bush has proclaimed a new "forward
strategy" for advocating freedom. In essence, it stipulates
that stability cannot be purchased at the cost of liberty. The
New York Times of 8 November, in the context of this
policy, limits its hope from the Administration to avoid immunizing
the Musharraf dictatorship "from needed criticism."
Note
for the champions and standard-bearers of democracy, all that
Mutineers like Hashmi would be entitled to is some "needed
criticism" of the military regime. It will take time before
the bounties of the "forward strategy" would trickle
down to a country like Pakistan. Until then the Mutineer's daughter
can meet American diplomats in Islamabad, write to the foreign
Missions there and the EU's External Relations Commissioner can
raise the issue with the Foreign Minister of Pakistan.
The
people of Pakistan must realize, however, that for the time being
security and stability take precedence over democracy. A dictator
with a shaky (Mutiny) power-base is still relevant to the end-users.
We are all helpless.
The
writer was till recently a senior Pakistani diplomat
