Pakistan has chosen wisely

Is the crucial condition for the fulfillment of Allama Iqbal’s dream and of Quaid’s Pakistan vision now in place? Has democratic tradition taken root? Is the Constitutional frame, that steely-supple frame within which participation, transparency, accountability and comprehensive progress is possible within society, now in place, one wondered.

The occasion was the administering of the oath to the new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, by President Asif Zardari at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. As the assembled guests, mostly yesterday’s political gladiators, were exchanging pleasantries, a happy subtext spelling discontinuity, also pervaded the chandeliers-studded hall — that unlike in the past, those who lost at the hustings were not looking to be a B team for the khaki adventurers.

Perhaps it was because of the cumulative wisdom that flowed from the decades of political blundering and suffering by the politicians and which made Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif sign the Charter of Democracy, a sign that finally the politicians were convinced of the power of constitutional democracy. There was a flashback to Pakistan’s manipulated politics, its many dimensions, martial laws, GHQ-scripted politics, guided-democracy, engineered democracy, quasi-democracy. At the swearing-in ceremony, there were many who had participated in the country’s manipulated politics: generals, judges, bureaucrats and the politicians we labelled as the B team. The indirect supporters included some of us from the media, the business community, professionals, etc. There were many of us who had in the past — to quote journalist-friend-politician Senator Mushahid Hussain — seen the “triple A” route to Islamabad: Allah, Army and America. Many of us were witness to the power of the Army and America at work within Pakistan’s political domain.

While experiencing a sense of vindication, the heavy costs of this derailment were hard to forget. They surface almost effortlessly: wars, break-up of our beloved homeland, hangings of elected leaders, violence and intolerance and sections of society immersed, courtesy mostly state policies, into sectarian and ethnic hatred. Competent management of national affairs, from the social sector to business and national security to legislation, was absent — what was present was expediency and ad-hocism. For many decades, Pakistan’s brand of statecraft has largely been non-serious, resulting in deeply damaging and distressing problems.

We have also stood witness to Pakistan’s great potential — that rested in its people, resources and strategic location — misused, under utilised and wasted. This will change, because the dynamics and the realities of Pakistan have changed, so I thought. Just then the huge door flung open and in walked the president and the PM-to-be. The same faces, same parties but now with the power of transparency and public debate — which means that those who err will be stopped in their tracks. Trashing the rule of law will be vigorously questioned, as it was in March and November 2007 and also through the last five years.

Pakistan’s turning points have been the Charter of Democracy, the 2007 movement against military rule for an independent judiciary and the peoples rejection of terrorist threats in the 2013 elections. In 2007, we recognised the importance of an independent judiciary, in the post-2008 period the Constitution was civilianised and in 2013, people rose against terrorism to vote for democracy.

My thoughts were interrupted by the tune of the national anthem, we all rose in a pledge of honour to our beloved homeland. It was a proud moment, one of collective pride. Above all, this moment belonged to the cumulative lessons that the Pakistani nation, the politicians and the institutions had learnt from our painful and volatile history.

The world must know, as we do, that Pakistan proved against all odds to be a learning nation, a wise nation. Our hardships made us suffer but our ability to reflect, to discuss and debate has made us wise, not bitter. It is also the miracle of open debate, of an independent media, that the people of Pakistan rejected the blundering ways and gravely simplistic ways of the establishment and opted for the long and tedious route of democracy to reform Pakistan.

We can now genuinely say, Pakistan is no more at the crossroads. We have chosen a path towards rule of law. Our destiny is in our collective hands.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2013.

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