It must not be forgotten that by invoking Article 245, govt has involved itself in endless crisis that may harm it.
KARACHI: Use of military and force, either in developed or developing societies, are always the last option. Only when entangled in a vortex of internal or external security crisis, calling the help of armed forces or paramilitary can be justified. But the Nawaz Sharif-led government called in the army for securing the capital at a time when its law and order situation was not particularly bad.
The government seems to have made the decision in haste. Complete handing over the federal capital to the military which is already busy in combatting insurgency and fighting the war of survival of Pakistan, can only be equated with acceptance of failure.
On the occasion of presenting an interim Constitution for Pakistan, the late prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto said: “If you are not vigilant and if you do not handle things carefully, if the politicians make mistakes and if we indulge in petty matters, go along destructive channels or fight amongst ourselves, it is just possible that the bygone era (martial law) might recur.”
The situation today is not much different from what it was in 1977. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is not willing to accept the election results of some constituencies, though heading one provincial government. Their members in the Lower House are duly elected and sworn in as a result of the same election which they are calling illegal and unconstitutional.
That said, it must not be forgotten that by invoking Article 245, the government has involved itself in an endless crisis that may end up harming it. When Article 245 is invoked, the High Court of that province (in this case the federal capital) ceases to exercise authority over its jurisdiction. If a law and order situation is somehow created, the army enjoys the implicit right to suspend certain fundamental rights, including freedom of movement and freedom of assembly, etc. This would make an already bad situation worse.
Hence, the need for the government to review the decision.
Abdullah Nizamani
Published in The Express Tribune, August 13th, 2014.
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