The assumption that democracy in Pakistan will fix itself in a desirable way is erroneous.
LAHORE: This is with reference to Feisal H Naqvi’s article of June 26 titled “Not in my name”. The fact is that democracy grows in every country in a different way. The assumption that democracy in Pakistan will fix itself in a desirable way is erroneous. It has the capacity of fixing itself only to favour a small group of veritable thieves and will not benefit the masses.
Rural constituencies are small fiefdoms in Pakistan. In the West, democracies fixed themselves through a process that was genuine, and this was supported with social change, education, industrialisation, intellectual exertion, scientific approach, reason and so on. However, in Pakistan we do not have any of these ingredients. Hence, if we merely try and copy the Western style of democracy without first having all the necessary ingredients, we will not succeed in having true democracy.
I, too, did not like the removal of an elected prime minister by the Supreme Court but the truth is that the PPP was asking for such action to be taken against its leader. The Court delayed the matter for more than three years and gave the government and the prime minister several chances but all in vain. Should the Supreme Court have allowed its decisions to go unimplemented? Agreed, that the dismissal of an elected prime minister by a court sets a dangerous precedent, but so does making a verdict of the apex Court inoperative.
Tahir Younus
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2012.
