Adil Najam
The stream of disturbing images from Islamabad continues. It has left one dumbfounded. But one must never be silent in the face of injustice. Of the many disturbing reports and images that have been floating in, there is probably none more poignantly disturbing than this one from ARY:
Violence, of course, can only beget violence, and one saw this too in the manhandling of the State Minister for Information, Tariq Azeem. Yet more evidence that violence is replacing discourse as the mode of disagreement in Pakistani society.
This is not a question of which side you are on. Ultimately you have to be against violence. We have written about shameful violence and police brutality before - tearing down the shalwar of a young man in a ‘missing persons’ protest and then also against the lawyers during the CJ movement. But this is not just shameful; it is needless. Now there are also reports of muzzling the media; another tactic we have seen before. It demonstrates the government’s slipping grip on power, but it also demonstrates a society that is so torn that every issues - may it be religious, social or political - has to end in violence.
The government, after all, has already gotten the verdict it wanted. At least let the people vent out their anger. There is nothing to be gained from this violence. For a nation that has already lost so much, this is merely also losing whatever little dignity that might have remained. As I have written already in a comment elsewhere, history shall judge the merit of the decision that was given by the Supreme Court on the 28th of September, but the violence of the 29th of September was shameful and needless and will remain (yet another) blot of our national political psyche.
The images are a true reflection of our society. Today these lawyers are the so called beacon of hope for Pakistanis and just yesterday they were threatening to torch the office of the EC and were threatening to set the building on fire. They were acting like a mob and were handled like a mob by the security forces.
Kurd was heard on national T.V stating that he planned to take the mob inside the EC’s office and tear up the nomination papers for Mushy. With these clear threats on record, what should the law enforcement do to the mob? escort them in so they can manhandle the EC and the P.M who was also inside? Come on guys, use some common sense.
When lawyers become a political party with their own political agenda and a candidate then their profession means nothing, they are just political dogs barking when they get a chance and their so called “pur aman” procession was on the T.V screen for all to see. I was watching it live and was wondering why police is not taking a harsher stand.
As far as the media is concerned, all I have to say is that they have a long way to go before they can be given full freedom in a country like ours where abusing power is a part of our genes, be it the power of the uniform or of a T.V camera. For almost half an hour AAJ T.V reported that Pervaiz Elahi’s car mowed down ten people during it’s exit which turned out to be one guy whose foot got under the tire. The exact words reported were ” Chief minister sahib sahafioun ko rondne ke baad wahan se farar ho gaye” . I was watching it live and the journalists were standing in front of his car, when his driver tried to back up the car they surrounded it from all sides. Now I am no expert in security protocols specially in a country that has no shortage of teenagers willing to go to heaven using the shortcuts, but i saw it as a security threat that had to be dealt with quickly and effectively and that’s what police did.
I would like to say that we should not let emotions take the best of us. If the verdict of the supreme court is to our liking then the court is free but it is shackled in the chains of dictatorship if we don’t like the verdict? People like Kurd, Aitezaz, and Munir Malik who are nothing more than the mouth pieces of a political party trying to prove their loyalty to the leadership are running this movement. Kurd who was the biggest supporter of the Apex court just few days ago said after the recent verdict ” mai laanat bhejta hoon aisi court per aur aisay faislay per”.
I am not defending violence as a general rule but I would like to ask all readers what might they have done if they were the chief of security for the P.M and were tasked with clearing the way so the P.M could leave the building. Keep in mind the situation in Pakistan with suicide bombings, and the value of the target. Would love to hear your ideas.
Shocking images. They speak as much for our social turmoil as our political turmoil.
In this case, it seems to me that both the parties are equally guilty. Violence begets violence. Brutality begets brutality.
The question that troubles me is how do you break out of this vicious cycle?
I totally agree with classof71’s fifteen points. It is sad that Pakistani’s suffer from selective amnesia and somebody has to constantly keep reminding them. The Bhuttos (father and daughter) have done nothing but irreparable damage to Pakistan. If our only choice is Benazir or Nawaz (I am glad he was shooed out of the country) I would rather put my bets on Musharraf.
SUPERIMACY OF THE RULE OF LAW
We all must respect and abide by the decision of the highest legal insitution of the country whether some or most of us like or dislike the decision of the S.C .
NO ROOM FOR PROTESTS AGAINST THE SUPREME COURT”S AUTHORITY SPECIALLY WHEN THIS PARTICULAR SUPEREME COURT HAS RECENTLY DEMENOSTRATED IT’S COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE FROM MUSHARRAF’S INFLUENCE .
The decision may be unpopular but it must be respected by every pakistani to establish the fact in the history that the final power, rightfuly so , is in the hands of the Supereme Court and not the administrative or the legislative branches of the government . If we dont like certain judges as being just or fair then impeach them thru the rulings of the consitution and not thru protests.
Let Musharraf run for the presidency and let the people decide his and next prsident’s and the country’s fate .He is just a man and not a superman that he can not be defeated at the polls if he, indeed , is unpopular among the pakistanees . Let an international organization like Ex Presidents Carter’s organization monitor the legitimacy and fairness of the election’s process .Let Musharraf be elected by the present assemblies but choose independent assemblies in the general elections ,who , if appopriate can throw Musharraf out by holding a yes or no vote of confidence about him being the president .
Also watch out the process of the general elections because the loosers in Pakistan’s history have a history of crying FOUL when they loose the elections so also let the results of a fair election pervail regardless of who wins and who looses.Remember Nixon vs Kennedy and Al Gore vs Bush and the dignified way of acceptance of the outcome of questionale elections by the loosers for the sake of their country..Why not us do the same for the sake of Pakistan .
Let the little bud of true democracy blossom into a beautiful flower of full democracy IN PEACE .Rome was not built in one day.America did not become what it is today in a single decade or a single election .So Pakistan will too, if given chance and time , one day peacefully be an examplary MUSLIM democarcy in the whole world .
AVOID VIOLENCE .Do not instigate violence by the police .Do not give the police and the army excuses to inflict violence in the name of LAW and ORDER . This is exactly what Musharraf wants on our part PROTESTS so that he can do whatever he wishes in the name of LAW and ORDER.
GHANDI JEE taught all the indians of every faith the POWER OF NON VIOLENCE .QAID E AZAM never spent a night in prison or jail by adhering to the rules of BRITISH LAW AND ORDER .THE QIIAD used his brains not his body and beat the unsurmountable odds against him , the cunnings of the Mountbaitens, the Nehrues and the Patels.
We must not use protests with loud slogans but we must cool down , think and plan with cool minds and not hot tempers .What is it that we as pakistanees REALLY want and wish ? Then make a united plan and make all effort to execute our plan with utter resolution and detemination at the polls PEACEFULLY during the next scheduled general elections .Let those elections happen even under Musharraf as The President .Our newly elected reperesentatives can throw Musharraf out if they saw that is what the ,we ,he people want.
Let us use our brains in place of our tongues yelling out useless MUSHARRAF MURDABAD OR MUSHARRAF IS A DOG slogans . Not civilized , not dignified , not a conduct becoming of a nation and most of all NOR EFFECTIVE NEITHER WISE .
Let us not bark uselessly and ineffectively like dogs but let us think, plan and execute like a FOX.
Thank you for your attention .
The system as constituted provides extraordinary benefits to those who control its levers. The army not only runs billions in business, it ensures that its officers are considered the highest “un-torturable” class in Pakistan and its general staff can promise luxury and comfort to two generations of descendants (or so they think). The mercenary politicians who work with the army are allowed to accumulate billions of dollars (I am not exagerrating) in ill-gotten gains and so on. All these people are serious crooks with serious money on the line. They will not stand aside just because 6 judges or 9 judges say they should. They will fight with every means at their disposal. That includes pressurising those judges via family members, money, threats…whatever it takes. The issue is not legal. It is power and it cannot be bought cheaply. In a more “normal” country, the ruling crooks may want to hang on, but there are definite lines they cannot cross (”the rules of the game”) because the whole invisible weight of the system is on the side of maintaining the system and its core rules (which may not include fairness for all, but definitely follow some comprehensible structure). In Pakistan, the civil administration and the army will obey every illegal order unless they fear physical annihalation (like the poor soldiers trapped in the islamic emirate of waziristan) or total breakdown due to mass agitation. That second fear forced them to reinstate the chief justice, not the sudden daring of judges who had never before dared to stand against the army. By successfully deporting nawaz sharif and marshalling his troops (especially the intelligence agencies) the president has reasserted his power and most judges are back in their familiar role of enablers for dictatorship. …this can change if real disorder looks like a possibility again, but its not going to happen that “lathi bhi na tootey aur sanp bhi mar jaey”…
At the same time, I do not think that Musharraf can last another year. He has lost the mandate of heaven. This is a temporary reprieve. The real issues have not gone away. What we have learned is that he and his “team” will not go quietly. If they had packed up quietly, Pakistan would have been better off because we would not have to pay the price of another 6 months of the necessarily disruptive disorders that will finally lead to his exit…..he will still have to go..it will just be harder than it should be…but if one looks at what the choudhries or the MQM have to loose if he goes, then its understandable that they will fight tooth and nail.
shamefully i don’t see it any news on international media or message from any other country on this act ?
Very shameful indeed. Can we extrapolate and draw a picture of where these crisis are heading?
During ZAB the was operation wheeljam - are the religious parties weighing in to grab this opportunity as well and turn this soon to spread popular revolt into a new jihad?
Trajetory of events is disturbing.
God help us all.
Why are the lawyers and journalists alone? Where are the other people?