The Suicide of Our Rights

Musharraf declares a state of emergency and issues a Provisional Constitutional Order, meaning that the Constitution has been held in abeyance. Fundamental rights under articles; 9, 10, 15, 16, 19, 25 have been suspended. The judiciary has been accused of interference and curbs on media have been established. It is more than just ‘suicide’.

In the past eight days, Pakistan seems to have regressed back to another era altogether. We should be disgusted at the velocity at which we have reverted. The question that comes to the mind which is tired of such humiliation would be, “why bother, someone else will come and amend the wrath that has befallen on us yet again!” On the contrary, a rational or a patriotic mind would ponder another question: “What to do now?”

I write this article with a mixture of both mindsets. From the texts of ‘Pakistan Studies’ haunting me and taking me back to the memory lane of my O’Level days, to the present, where I read and hear speeches on the Pakistani politics everyday.

To be quite honest, in a debate or a declamation that I might have, I would certainly have a lot to say about the present situation. I am deeply saddened by the way the Pakistani politics have taken their toll on the citizens of Pakistan and the international community.

It surprises me that the Musharraf regime had made me proud at a few points and quite ashamed at many others. It nearly had me gaping at the television screen when he addressed the nation on Saturday evening. When he spoke about the ‘civil rights’, at that instant only one thought struck my mind: “Am I the same journalist who had been presented a shield of honour by Mian Soomro at my speech in the parliament house?”

As if lightening had struck me down, the line from my speech at the parliament house ran across my head. In front of ministers and parliamentarians, I had praised them by saying, “I am a citizen of a free country which enables me all the freedom I can exhibit, anywhere and on any medium of communication. There by, I thank you for allowing and respecting the same need and right to my fellow countrymen.” A huge applause followed that statement of mine.

With the state of emergency, President General Musharraf has put curbs on the media for reason that no material should be presented on media on the following points:
a) It may aid terrorist activities
b) That Jeopardises the integrity of Pakistan
c) That defames the administration
d) That is deemed vulgar or obscene
e) That promotes ethnicism
f) That defames the army
g) No broadcast video footage of militants
h) No programmes that incite violence
i) No live coverage of incidents of violence

He neatly uses extracts from a letter by the 19th century US president Abraham Lincoln to justify the extra-constitutional measures that he has taken in the 21st century. Then he efficiently quotes, “Inaction at this moment is suicide for Pakistan and I cannot allow this country to commit suicide.”

Is not the curb on media, the way the judiciary has been taken over, the way the human rights activists have been arrested, in manner in which students of FAST-NU been beaten up by the police, and the way the lawyers and journalists alike have been treated, socio-political ‘suicide’ enough? What about the international aid that is given to Pakistan now being ‘reviewed’? Is this baloney not enough to be labelled as ‘suicide’?

On Friday, 9th November, journalists observed a ‘black day’ at a response for a protest call by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). The black day was observed in all the major cities. The PFUJ President Huma Ali said that the protest would carry on until the journalists’ demands were not met. The demands include the withdrawal of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulation (PEMRA) and Print and Publication (PPO) ordinances 2007, restoration of all television channels’ and FM radio transmissions and the withdrawal of all cases against journalists and newspapers. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is set to arrive on November 19, to review the media situation in Pakistan.

All this and what has taken place ever since the state of emergency has been declared makes my rational and patriotic mind wonder, “What next?” At the same time, I ask myself, that can I really do anything substantial without being jailed or to be made to shut up in a way the government considers it right to do so? Where are my fundamental rights to which I had been applauded at in the parliament house and given a nice shiny shield of honour? Do my fellow citizens see a ray of hope in this dark? And lastly, where do we go from here onwards?