Pakistan's Moment of Democracy?

Presumption in this article and the interacts is that
the Pakistani populace is cursed with bad leaders
and a system while they remain themselves the paragon
of civic virtues. Nothing could be further from the
truth. Pakistanis are blessed with leaders and a system
which is very much like them: ineffective, corrupt,
and self-serving.

Much has been made out of "well-dressed" lawyers
and citizenry protesting in front of the cameras
of western news agencies. What has not been
reported is that the citizenry, majority of it, had
stayed home! Adil Najam and other media pundits are
portraying an exaggerated image to the western
world. Lawyers and students of Pakistan timed their
protests very well to the western media giving
a false impression.

Recent turmoil gave the self-important nation of 150
million something to crow about. The revolving door
of "democratic" process brought back the same crooks
and thieves that were robbing the country blind
in the 90s.

# 6
Glad that you got a chance to get this published in the Friday Times. Najam Sethi in my opnion is an over-rated jounralist/ editor. He has been towing the Musharraf line for years ... I think he has realised that his career will be dead if he does not take a U-turn from Musharraf. Najam Sethi is a half baked intellect, if ever there was one.

I think this article willresonate well with the average Pakistani. You have encapsualted what the average Pakistani has been going through... Yes, deep pain and resentment at at a Dicatator that constantly sells Paksitan short. At the same time immense, yes, pride at the Civil Society standing up for democratic values....

Very beautifully put by Adil Najam: "Even if we do not get democracy out of it, we have proved that Pakistan is a democratic society trapped in an undemocratic state."

The struggles in the past has given three times to the politicians cake and all of them floundered.
1- ZA Bhutto came on the shoulders of leftists and got rid of them as quickly as possible.
2- Benazir Bhutto was given mandate in 1988 by people despite all machinization by State and she compromized.
3- Nawaz Sharif was again given mandate when his Government was sacked and then reinstated. He tried to concentrate all powers in his hands. Ran over Supreme Court, Amended the constitution, Stopped the distribution of Jang Newspaper, ask the Army Chief JK to resign(retire).(Judiciary, Legislative, Press all institutions of state and democracy)
If the purpose of all this struggle is to hand over a blank check to the tormentors, and that is going to happen.
Why the people and so called civil society afraid to form a party of their own rather than being coattails of tested people.
Do we expect different outcome this time.
Famous joke about the wrong bet on suicide of a man in film (that man will not jump when the film is seen for a second time).

Forgot to mention, this article was published in the Friday Times,Jan 2008.

ZA

Nice ideas, decent thoughts, progressive thinking, ideal principles. All of these virtues mean nothing to those who will kill and be killed in the name of their fascist ideals. Where does civil society disappear when extremists kill at will, indiscriminately and unprovoked? Ideals sound hollow in the face of extreme measures, either civil society demonstrates egalitarian virtue or be ready for the extremist onslaught.

It does look like we are turning a new page in history. What history it will be remains much more uncertain. The problems of Pakistan are much more than Musharraf and the present dispensation. If victory is declared after getting rid of one, or both, it will be a hollow victory at best.

"Our geostrategic location has become an albatross around our neck". Those were the words of an ex-ambassador, Tariq Fatemi, in a TV discussion. Those words succinctly encapsulate the real problem we face from without, in addition to the considerable problems we have created for ourselves within. The without and within, though, are inseparably intertwined in that the outside attention which we elicit, and the direction it seeks to drag us into, does not sit well with a significant portion of our citizenry. This has become a major generator of violence in the Pak society, rural or urban; and it is not abating.

Of course governance under law and order is a "must have" prerequisite. It will not, in and of itself, fortify the country. To achieve the level of cohesion which is needed to overcome internal violence and acrimony, the state must build bridges with its own citizen who are, at present, largely alienated. This means working out indigenous solutions to the problem of extremism and violence in the society.

For those who believe that the militants will pack up and go home merely because a secular minded "democratic" dispensation comes to power in Pakistan after elections, or that the Pak army in concert with US and NATO forces can crush them and solve the problem for us, I have some prime ocean front property in Louisiana ...

Zeynab,

At the moment I remain Bearish on both the General &

Pakistan. That said, I think that this is quite an

important article which readers here should read carefully.

Just because I have thrown in the towel does not

mean that there cannot be another round!

And Salman Ahmad needs to be taken seriously. He is a lot

more than a Junooni.

Ras

The Pakistani middle class has demonstrated that it not only understands the importance of the rule of law, there are thousands of Pakistanis who have made personal sacrifices (loss of career, or getting injured or even laying down their lives) for liberty and the rule of law.

Musharraf, otoh, has demonstrated that he is a nothing more than a egotistical, self-serving, law-breaking scoundrel.

As long as a renegade soldier stays in the Aiwane Sadr -- where he does NOT belong -- you can bet "Pakistan's moment of Democracy" -- will not arrive.

for a bad wolf a sheepskin sherwani -- wont do.