Is
Democracy Doomed in Pakistan Forever?
Dr
Zafar Altaf
THIS QUESTION is being asked by all and sundry. The adipose tissues
that constituted the democratic government were and are nothing
but a bagful of hot air and like the bubble they seemed to have
been pinched.
They
were unable to strive for providing for the ordinary people the
requirements that make for a stable state. Who is to blame? The
motley crowd that constitutes the government has no idea of what
is decency.
Trade
offs took place in the National Assembly and I realized pretty
late in life that the opposite of ‘bastard’ is ‘bitch’.
And then came privilege motions. Privilege starts and ends with
oneself and not elsewhere.
Confucius
was told by a friend that so and so was against him and making
a lot of noise and virtually abusing him. Confucius realized that
the man was right in doing so. Later that day the same man came
and said that so and so was praising him. Confucius replied that
he too was right. Perplexed the friend asked him how could both
be right. Confucius replied: ’Each person does what he is’.
The matter ended there.
Now
one of the two who were involved in the altercations had suffered
in the past and was understandably short on temper. The other
had tremendous education and I rate him a future person. How come
he came to belie his education? Lincoln’s Inn would be worried
for he is a professional from there. And what is more a very likeable
person.
Provocation
and the inability to allow things to pass bring such matters to
a head. Then that very day one of the members made a gesture that
was unbecoming of the person. Now gestures are registered by persons
and cannot be struck off the record. These gestures are more lethal
for how do you counter them. Now God did not make these organs
to be displayed by proxy in the National Assembly.
Neither
the Cabinet nor the NA has done anything of note. Short of parochialism
in promotions and that too in the Cabinet, these guys have done
nothing. In front of them the last government with all its limitations
and idiocy of some of its members seems to be angelic. It had
some confused individuals and it did not govern in the name of
the people nor did it have any legitimacy but it performed better
in relative terms.
So
the question to be asked is ‘Can Pakistan have a viable
democratic system’. The answer despite all the limitations
is, it can. The provisos that have to be met are difficult to
understand. Ayub Khan ruled with an iron hand through Nawab Kalabagh
in West Pakistan and through Monem Khan in East Pakistan. Both
lost their lives and the one who outlasted the other because of
the nature of his tyranny, later lost his entire family.
We
lost first Runn of Katch, we had adventurism in the 1965 war and
we finally lost East Pakistan and 53,000 square miles of land
and dented the two-nation theory that was the corner stone of
Pakistan’s creation. The philosophy will haunt and taunt
us till we live. I was there and therefore witness to a number
of actions that were anathema to the fellow citizens of that country.
None of it was our fault I am told. The infidels had infiltrated
our country and did us in.
With
such attitudes we will merrily go on having a pathetic existence.
The NA, as the lead organization, is to lead. It was unable to
do this and in fact it was unable to perform any normal function
like legislation. The previous government did legislate but for
their own interests. Actions were sometimes taken by their Ministers
that belied the oath that they had taken. Why is our nature what
it is? Why do we have such a macho national personality?
The
current and the previous governments all took personal benefits
through the aegis of the state. That is one way of legitimizing
bribery. Bribery is not only illegally carried out but also legally.
Imagine what the development projects are? Go through the budget
and I did take you through the budget that was presented and yet
not presented to the NA. The rise in non-development expenditure
to the extent of 46 per cent speaks of the country not being serious
about the poor. Development expenditure dropped by 5 per cent.
Whatever
development expenditure is going to be made will only strengthen
the power bloc in the country. But that should be the subject
of a new article and must bide its time. The other day a friend
asked me what were these uniformed individuals doing writing all
the numbers of the cars that crossed the barrier at the toll plaza.
The computer print out provides all that is necessary. That is
extra job and they are paid for that extra job came the answer
from a third party standing close by.
Similarly
the traffic lights are supposed to be there so that there is no
need for a policeman to be there. But at all the crossings there
are a number of them and at one point near Serena hotel the number
varies from 8 to 10. The taxpayer instead of getting any service
from them is mortally afraid for they can, under the new system,
make a hash of the individual.
Why
should these governors of sorts of whatever color or hue be allowed
to use the assets and the functions of this country for their
own purpose(s)? Will our descendents be secure in their homeland?
Are the heirs of the late air chief secure in their homeland (and
I am talking about Air Marshal Mushif Mir)? With the world moving
towards a Darwinian marketing system in which only the fittest
can survive what will Pakistan’s inefficient political economy
do and how will it perform.
Ministers
and the power bloc have procured for themselves what ever makes
life cushy for them (Gwadar is a case in point). This has been
true since Pakistan came into being.
The electronic media has been used for what Fukoyama calls megalothymia
or the desire of individuals to project themselves for special
recognition and respect. So the budget of the electronic media
has been wasted in terms of glorifying those who can hold a pistol
to their head and say ‘deliver or go home and be without
a job’.
Pakistan
has never made the distinction between the state and the government.
The result is continuing uncertainty and continuing deterioration
in moral values. Meanness and rapacity that Adam Smith talked
off is rampant in the economic, in the political and in the social
sectors. The Pakistanis can and do respond to the same situation
differently in different domains. Surprised? Do not be, for that
is the truth.
There
are very few of us who can take on uncomfortable situations. The
fear that this society has rolled in for us is more like the Qeema
Paratha rolls. The mince would be the human meat. The subjectivity
is such that the individual make for simplifying complex situations
to ones own disadvantage.
Consider
Kalabagh dam and the other mega projects. Merely arguing for its
validity is silly because of a whole host of factors that have
to be covered. Wapda is not the agency that can even remotely
handle the complexity of the project. I said this when Kalabagh,
Left Bank and Right Bank Canals came up. To no avail. I was involved
in intangibles. Well get into tangibles and see where it will
take you. Do you think that arresting a couple of journalists
will stem the rot once it sets in? It does not and it will not
stop. So beware.
But
to come back to the topic. The cabinet has just passed a law saying
adulteration will be severely punished and the jail term is as
heavy as the PM himself-25 years. Pray do they know as to what
a life term in jail is? The pity of it all is that they will have
to arrest all the Nazims who were created by General Naqvi. The
water in the mains is polluted and they have nothing to sort it
out.
Finally
who created this mess? Who ever did it and on what basis must
answer. A proper post mortem for the benefit of the common man
ought to be made. Why not, after all, we are using the resources
provided by the taxpayer.
Not
only this worse things were going on in the world of the Nazims.
The trouble is that by the time they will find that out, it will
be too late for the country. Look what happened to Fatima Jinnah?
Any one cares to go searching for the newspapers of the time (1964).
We have as Pakistanis always done well by the present and neglected
the future consequences.
What
will happen to the graduates if the NA and the provincial assemblies
go? Any thing. Some of them will go back to preaching, some to
their old mundane ways and some of them will keep on being poodles.
Serving the cause of the country as best as they can as servile
people. Pakistan is riddled with power syndrome and if one were
to ask what is one aspect that is predominantly responsible for
what we are, the answer will be what Tawney called ‘The
acquisitive society’.
Greed
has ruled us. Reason has been some where in the forests. If the
cards had been allowed to unfold on, as is where is basis, this
democratic exercise could have paid off. Now the choices are even
more limited and we know that when external choices become limited
the choices within are even more so. But these lessons of history
are not understood by the current people.
There
is at the moment functional in-determinacy in politics and the
rational basis does not exist in the bureaucracy. This is going
to stay this way for sometime. The decisions are not going to
come and there is more of the power base taking away the critical
benefits to themselves. The non-development expenditure is going
to increase. The poor are going to get poorer and the numbers
are going to increase because we have people here who think that
they are doing a good job when in fact not only the periphery
has collapsed but also the hard inner core is rotten to the limits.
Things
are going to go on like this for there is no one who can give
direction to the functions of the state. Vultures on vultures
are the order of this society. The negative chant in the NA will
go on. The members of the NA have been bitten very severely while
those that were responsible for much more are either in power
or are the real power brokers.
A
society which cannot honor its eminent has no reason to survive.
Pakistanis are continuing to question the tit for tat policies
of the government. Meanwhile arteries are hardening in Sindh and
the minor provinces are moving in directions not conducive to
the ‘federation thinking’. The state is withered,
it needs to be rejuvenated.
When
will the hand strike, when will it bite? This month, this week
or what? The only thing that Jamali can hold is the Kim’s
gun or as it is known in Lahore ‘Bhangian di tope’.
It does not fire any more just as the political system is not
firing at the moment. The options are limited and therein lies
the difficulty.
Those
who are outside the country are not part of this current uncertainty.
Good, bad or indifferent this is my country and I refuse to be
elsewhere and I refuse to compromise on the goodness of my country.
And I propose that those of us who brave conditions here take
this oath for the powers that be are angels and angels can devastate.
The
devil is always more desirable. So be it. So Mr. Jamali please
take care of the system as it is, and it is and ought to be, larger
than even you. You do not have to sign on the dotted line and
you certainly have no right to destroy the little bit of courage
that our political system has. Savvy.
The
writer is a former Federal Secretary, Government of Pakistan
