Educating the youth: ‘Political parties ruled by individuals, not their own constitutions’
Dr Ahmed termed Pakistan's history as one of trials, where the country witnessed both good and bad rulers
PHOTO: PID/FILE
KARACHI:
Pakistani political parties are ruled by individuals, not by their own constitutions and have not delivered when given a chance to do so.
These sentiments were shared by the director of Karachi University's Pakistan Study Centre, Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed, as he spoke about the country's history in a seminar titled, 'Imperatives of a New Social Contract: Building on the Charter of Democracy and the 18th Constitutional Amendment', on Thursday morning. The lecture was the first of the Benazir Bhutto Memorial Lecture series.
Dr Ahmed termed Pakistan's history as one of trials, where the country witnessed both good and bad rulers. He argued that the leaders of political parties must clean the mess inside their parties and only after that can they regain the lost ground between them and the people of Pakistan. He was speaking to a jam-packed Arts Auditorium, comprising students from the political science, international relations and Pakistan studies departments.
For a better future, he suggested political parties evolve an agenda together. He said it was high time the rulers of Pakistan paid attention and had a serious dialogue about the rights of children, transgender people and the working class.
Role of Benazir
Defining Benazir Bhutto's role in the country's political scene, Dr Ahmed termed it an adoption of the political wisdom which she got from her father. "She emerged as a power and sign of democracy in the times of dictators," he said.
If we ignore the role of three women from the history of Pakistan, nothing would be left, he felt. He accredited Fatima Jinnah, who fought against Ayub Khan's military dictatorship, and Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, the mother and daughter who took a stand in favour of democracy against General Ziaul Haq. The three women changed Pakistan's history.
Alamgir and Ataturk
He labeled General Zia as the 20th century Aurangzeb Alamgir, and General Pervez Musharraf as Kamal Ataturk. Even today people discuss and blame the 2006 Charter of Democracy but no one bothers to discuss the damage done to the system by Zia's Eighth Amendment. Highlighting points from the 2006 Charter of Democracy, Dr Ahmed said the charter had the vision to correct the mistakes in Pakistan's political arena.
The dean faculty of social sciences, Professor Dr Moonis Ahmar, while highlighting the most important point of the lecture, said the common perception in Pakistan that dictatorships have been economically successful is wrong. "Only luck favoured them," he claimed.
Political parties have only one agenda; to form an alliance only if their enemy is common, he pointed out. Dr Ahmar said the political parties are not ruled even by own their party agenda. "They lack agenda, a level of organisation, knowledge, and future plans," he alleged, adding that they must learn the true meaning of democracy.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 4th, 2015.
Pakistani political parties are ruled by individuals, not by their own constitutions and have not delivered when given a chance to do so.
These sentiments were shared by the director of Karachi University's Pakistan Study Centre, Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed, as he spoke about the country's history in a seminar titled, 'Imperatives of a New Social Contract: Building on the Charter of Democracy and the 18th Constitutional Amendment', on Thursday morning. The lecture was the first of the Benazir Bhutto Memorial Lecture series.
Dr Ahmed termed Pakistan's history as one of trials, where the country witnessed both good and bad rulers. He argued that the leaders of political parties must clean the mess inside their parties and only after that can they regain the lost ground between them and the people of Pakistan. He was speaking to a jam-packed Arts Auditorium, comprising students from the political science, international relations and Pakistan studies departments.
For a better future, he suggested political parties evolve an agenda together. He said it was high time the rulers of Pakistan paid attention and had a serious dialogue about the rights of children, transgender people and the working class.
Role of Benazir
Defining Benazir Bhutto's role in the country's political scene, Dr Ahmed termed it an adoption of the political wisdom which she got from her father. "She emerged as a power and sign of democracy in the times of dictators," he said.
If we ignore the role of three women from the history of Pakistan, nothing would be left, he felt. He accredited Fatima Jinnah, who fought against Ayub Khan's military dictatorship, and Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, the mother and daughter who took a stand in favour of democracy against General Ziaul Haq. The three women changed Pakistan's history.
Alamgir and Ataturk
He labeled General Zia as the 20th century Aurangzeb Alamgir, and General Pervez Musharraf as Kamal Ataturk. Even today people discuss and blame the 2006 Charter of Democracy but no one bothers to discuss the damage done to the system by Zia's Eighth Amendment. Highlighting points from the 2006 Charter of Democracy, Dr Ahmed said the charter had the vision to correct the mistakes in Pakistan's political arena.
The dean faculty of social sciences, Professor Dr Moonis Ahmar, while highlighting the most important point of the lecture, said the common perception in Pakistan that dictatorships have been economically successful is wrong. "Only luck favoured them," he claimed.
Political parties have only one agenda; to form an alliance only if their enemy is common, he pointed out. Dr Ahmar said the political parties are not ruled even by own their party agenda. "They lack agenda, a level of organisation, knowledge, and future plans," he alleged, adding that they must learn the true meaning of democracy.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 4th, 2015.