Adil Najam
These are distressing times. But this is not a time to be depressed.
This is a time, as Owais reminds us in his last post, to reaffirm our hopes for the future. True defeat would be to give up on those hopes. I have put up the splash image (on the front page) that I have to reassert and to remind ourselves that ultimately Pakistan will be what we make of it. Emergency or no emergency, no one can snatch our Pakistaniat from us. Not until we ourselves surrender it!
Back in May, at a moment of similar desperation, I had written a post where I had sought “solace in the one place where I always find it. In poetry. Especially in Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry.” The video clip I had used there is worth repeating here.
I had written then – and it seems even more pertinent today to repeat it:
Here is Faiz – in his own words, in his own voice. The second half has the same poem masterfully sung by Nayarra Noor. Enjoy this rare find of kalam i Faiz, ba zaban i Faiz. But more than that, think about what he is saying and how it relates to what is happening today.
What I had to say (including about US role) I said at length in an NPR Radio show today (or here). But what Faiz has to say is far more profound.
The words of Faiz certainly cut deeper than anything I can say. They are an invitation to action. But they are also an invitation to thought. An invitation to responsibility. An invitation to continuing the struggle no matter what. An invitation to keep moving onwards despite the odds. An invitation to celebrate the spirit of defiance of those who will not give up.
I had ended that post by reaffirming ATP’s committment “to celebrating all the diverse trials and tribulations of being Pakistan … the mundane as well as the profound; the sad as well as the gleeful; the immediate as well as the long-term.” It is time, today, to repeat that commitment.
This is our commitment to Pakistaniat. We love Pakistan not because everything is right in it. But despite that which is clearly not right. And with a commitment to make right that which has gone astray. Ameen.
The case which bars the official notification of presidential election. ( I am aware those elections were farce). It was widely expected the judgment will be against the Musharaff. Why not deliver it? Why holding it, so that BB can negotiate the NRO in her favor.
Justice Iftikar might be a good man, but he was playing politics from an influential post. He should have deliver the verdict rather then getting involve in facilitating the politicians.
On the Go Petition website:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/we-oppose-emergency-in-pakistan/signatures.html
One can see even the non-Pakistanis voting for the petition. That is another proof of this globalized reality.
Seconding Arslan Haider I would request that the voting right should be given even to the non-Pakistanis as well. In this globalized world every one has stakes in every other country.
The courts always come up with short orders and the detailed order is released afterwards. That is a Pakistani tradition, if not followed by the rest of the courts. And which particular case are you talking about?
Pakistan ultimately may turn out to be like Zimbabwe, where one man’s, Robert Mugabe, lust for power has put the country on the path to destruction. Freed in 1980 from the clutches of colonialism, Zimbabwe was put on the path of soveireignity (if i spell it right:)), freedom and development by the then guerilla leader, Robert Mugabe. Yet over the last 27 years he has turned from a freedom fighter and father of the nation to one of the worst dictators on the earth. Thanks to his lust for power Zimbabwe is in dire shape now. With inflation running as high as 7,000% per annum, Zimbabweans are the ones to suffer the most. 3 million Zimbabweans have already crossed the border, most notably into South Africa. But with clinging to power of Mugabe, things are set to get worse.
Ring a bell? Musharraf doesn’t compare well with Mugabe, since he is neither a freedom fighter and nor the father of the nation. But his lust for power is equally bad or even worse. Worse still he is the head of a nation of 160 million, and not a measly 12 million. The process of destruction has already started and if he still tries to cling on to power, as Mugabe has, the results could be devastating for Pakistan. Inflation rate could get very high ultimately, since such regimes are poor on policies, and Pakistanis might start fleeing to the neighboring countries, a nightmare scenario for them.
@ Ahmad Shahid
The interest was proxy support for political parties. If you have bench who have heard all the arguments on case. Why not deliver the result. Let it be whatever it is. I would have love to see the decision against the Musharaff. Why holding the result so that specific parties can use it as a tool to negotiate the power sharing or future elections in their best interest.
How come the judiciary was acting in its own interest if it was following the constitution? The argument just beats me.
I read some interesting arguments about the “Rule of Law”. The most of arguments seems like in the favor of “Rule of Lawyer” not Law.
I am no insider to claim that who is wrong and who is right, but indeed I have seen enough to establish that even judiciary with all it’s plethora of suomoto was acting in it’s own interest, not to give relief to a common person.
I believe every now and then just for the heck of change we like to ridicule who ever is running the country. I am in no way saying that Musharaff is doing right. He has done horrible thing to impose the emergency, but what can we do now? Should we put the whole country in flame as a protest? Should we make mockery of ourselves by letting the other countries interfere? I believe, we should prove by our actions that the majority of Pakistanis do not favor Musharaff actions by voting against his choice of leadership. The resentment can be shown more peacefully then by setting the public properties on fire. We need to remember this BB/NS are no better either. They are equally tyrant as well, they have done horrible things against this judiciary , which is now the “flavor of the month”. They are using the judiciary to gain their own political mileages. These political leaders ask for democracy, but how many times they have held elections in their own parties? We need to change the political atmosphere first by getting rid of the most popular brass BB/NS/Chaudries and other occupying forces on the political atmosphere.
On a separate note, giving rights to expatriate Pakistanis vote through their embassies will be an excellent step.