Fight Against The Emergeny Continues

The Emergency began on June 26th 2007, when vast torrents of water from cyclone Yemyin 03b devastated the province of Balochistan and the western districts of Sindh. Within one week, 16 districts of both Sindh and Balochistan were submerged, killing almost 200 people and leaving around 600,000 people homeless. The NGO I am currently employed with was already present in many districts of Sindh and just as in the floods of 2003, it immediately began relief activities in Dadu and Kambar–Shahdadkot districts. Food items to nearly 3000 families were delivered in August, shelter and long-term support were implemented in the coming weeks. In October, UNICEF launched a support program for restarting government primary schools in various districts of Sindh. My NGO was its implementing partner in Dadu and Kambar–Shahdadkot and since this was the next phase of the response to floods, the project was called ‘Emergency Support for Education in Flood Affected Areas.’

During this Emergency support, the then Chief of Army Staff and President Pervez Musharaff declared a state of ‘emergency’ on November 3rd 2007. The Constitution of Pakistan was suspended, all private TV networks were put off air, any judge who opposed the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) was thrown out of office and like four times before, the country was once again saved by the wise actions of a military general.

Wide-spread dissent against President Musharaff’s ‘emergency’ erupted all over the country almost instantly. In Karachi, civil society activists and concerned citizens formed a loose group by the name of Awami Muzahimat, People’s Resistance or PR for short. I participated in many PR protests, demanding the return of judges forcibly removed from office and the illegal ban on media networks. However, the selection of 200 schools and their slow rehabilitation began in November and my involvement in the project led to spending five to six days a week in interior Sindh. No matter what circumstances my fellow journalists, students and activists suffered all over the country, I had to focus on my work with UNICEF, knowing full well that the Emergency support for Education was as important an emergency to be fought against as the legitimate protests against this short-term ‘emergency’.

Hunger strikes at the press club, protests near the Geo office and rallies in different parts of the city were regularly taking place, with and without the inclusion of mainstream political parties. Around the same time, I was roaming on the highway from Dadu to Larkana and from there to the border of Sindh and Balochistan at Qubo Saeed Khan. While my PR friends advocated the independence of the judiciary and strict adherence of the armed forces to their constitutional role on the streets of Karachi, I advocated the importance of education to rural communities, regular attendance and child-friendly education to government teachers as well as coordinated efforts for rehabilitating schools affected by the flood.

Challenges to the ‘emergency’ were coming from different fronts. On November 14th 2007, Imran Khan was manhandled by Islami Jamiat Talaba and then arrested at Punjab University, where he was invited to speak by a joint action committee of students. A few days later, a large group of journalists and lawyers were arrested in Karachi for attempting to march towards Geo office from Press Club. State cowardice and incompetence reached new low when a group of 15 – 17 year old kids in Islamabad suffered lathi charge for standing outside their school with black bands around their arms. I was challenging the Emergency by meeting with masons, painters and carpenters for the physical repair of schools, as well as dealing with the communities each rural school belonged to.

Over the weeks numerous PR awareness raising sessions, street theatres, vigils and protests continued in Karachi, while Student Action Committees in Lahore and Islamabad kept the momentum rolling. With the on-going struggle of the lawyers and judges, the ‘emergency’ was certainly not meant to last for long. My schedule for the Emergency Support for Education project was finishing well before time as dilapidated schools, reeking of flood waters and years of neglect were transformed into shiny and attractive sources of education.

We rejoiced little on December 15th since the ‘emergency’ might have ended but the Emergency situation still remained.
This piece was complete on December 27th but I found no reason to share the events above after witnessing the mayhem in Pakistan following one of then nation’s most avowed political leader’s horrible assassination. But I ask myself: is there still reason for civil society to raise its voice? Is there any use to talk about an independent judiciary and free and fair elections in the face of such grotesque violence?

I found my answer in a saying of Imam Shafi, ‘All humans are dead except those who have knowledge ... and all those who have knowledge are asleep, except those who do good deeds ... and those who do good deeds are deceived, except those who are sincere ... and those who are sincere are always in a state of worry.’

If we are stressed, if we are constantly worried, then I believe it is a sign of great optimism. The struggle for a better Pakistan has just begun. For the first time in the nation’s history, politicians are publicly asking to be forgiven for their past mistakes. Judges are refusing to bow in front of the omnipotent military authorities and members of civil society, whether they are doctors, lawyers, journalists, businessmen or students, all are fighting for a constitutional and democratic system of governance.

The collective struggle against the Emergency must continue, not only for the real judges to regain their positions and to break apart the shackles of the PEMRA Ordinance, but also to establish a cohesive and progressive education system, an effective infrastructure of health care, sanitation, water, economic welfare and especially of providing equal security to all citizens of Pakistan.