Military Action Begins in Afghanistan

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dost-mittar #252: Thanks for the article. Actually, I had read it at internet addition of Dawn. I did not reply you earlier because, except for thanking you, I had nothing to add to this topic. I actually feel guilty of posting couple of lines saying formal words or ridiculing someone because I feel it would be a wastage of time for readers going through a useless post. It is not difficult for me and for everybody else to follow what a person with ten or more different usernames has been doing. Anyway here is a decent readable article which I copied from www.matteela.com courtesy of one of ``our own``-AnNy.

Searching for a Framework by Haider Ali

Language and separatism ideas are so intertwined in Pakistan’s history, both pre and post independence that in most people’s mind language has become a symbol of separatism. The secession of East Pakistan and language movements in West Pakistan added to this confusion. The truth is quite the contrary. Language, as the essential articulation of human history and culture, binds rather than separates mankind. All the non cultural dimensions of human history like property, economic class, gender or male domination, barbarism, vandalism and all forms of nationalism are the real separatist elements. It is the expropriation of language by the nationalism idea, that has created this distortion. The spiritual , linguistic and literary father of the Punjabi language , as we know it today is Baba Fareed , whom Maulvi Abdul Haque called the first writer of the Urdu language . I found all the verbs of the Bengali language common with Punjabi . Sindhi and Punjabi ,at one level are difficult to tell apart . And I could get away with some form of Urdu all over Pakistan and most parts of India . The problem is nobody cared to learn any language . Script rather than the language became the primary issue. Separatism has its roots elsewhere and is buttressed by the idea of nationalism , which is a very recent European aberration . The rulers in Pakistan as well as in India have continued to use this tool to maintain a false consciousness that suits the rulers better than peoples’ awakening, peoples’ rights, democracy, economic justice and other moot cultural issues like development of language and arts. The enemy of Pakistani culture is not the so called cultural invasion from India or other foreign channels but the imbecility of the PTV and puerility of our print media. Human language is a thing apart; language provides sustenance to people, keeps their memory alive, enriches their communication and makes them creative. The media uses the art of advertising that kills all these. The TV and the newspapers have become tools in the hands of repressive rulers. We listen to their babble over TV and the newspapers advertise their mindless policies. Pushkin identified these as the mimatic vis a vis the creative elements in human culture. Gunter Grass says that language is destroyed before a people are destroyed and he traces the changes in German language at the time of rise of Nazi Germany. The first germs of bad literature in Punjabi came not from denial of language rights to Punjabis but from bad writing . The bad writing in Punjabi came from the disempowerment of the people and a devastation of their consciousness by the media and by the illiterate rulers. All poetry in Punjabi now , like in Urdu, or Sindhi and Hindi for that matter, has a one word theme “lookwhatagreatpoetIam “ ! The rise of the left and youth movements world wide in the sixties and political movements in Pakistan provided a breath of life to the Punjabi language in Pakistan. Language is born among the people and nurtured there for thousands of years . Only pro people govenments and elements can understand this. Language ( the ability to name things ) according to Holy Koran , makes humans superior to angels ! The poetic tradition in Punjabi for nearly a thousand years had been pro people. All the Sufi poets as Maulvi Abdul Haq observes, wrote in the people’s language in Punjab. In fact, they were way ahead. Most of them used the feminine gender for themselves. This is not an issue of radical feminism as we understand it today. The oppression of women, like all forms of human oppression, is class and property based : woman is the most opressed creature because she is treated like a piece of husband’s / man’s property. The absence of female writers in Punjabi, may be only symptomatic, but is a real deficiency . The only sign of hope in Pakistan in many fields of education is the rise of the womenfolk. From tribal areas to the cities, the most serious students are girls. Unfortunately that is not the case in Punjabi writing. “Gabhroos” (young lads) and “daang” (the rod) and “Mirza” the “all male” hero of Mirza Sahiban rather than the feminish , lovable and gentle Ranjha, was mistakenly made the symbol of an imaginary Punjabi culture and Punjabi manhood. That would be a piece out of a British army recruiting mela anthem, enlisting the cannon fodder for the army of the British Empire. This has also been typified by the Punjabi movie hero. Bhartee ho Punjabi sher Dushman de bhumbiree pher ( Get enlisted you Punjabi lion Make the enemy spin like a top ) The typically Punjabi character would be difficult to define. This is where language comes in. The Punjabi language more than anything else defines the Punjabi culture and character. The nuances of the language express nuances of a culture. That is why all languages need to be kept alive. The process of imperialism from the medieval times onwards or even earlier in the Roman conquest of Europe brought in the idea of power - languages; the languages of the rulers and the ruling classes. From this the language movements borrowed the idea that transfer of power to the language group will enhance the language and culture of a people. Punjabis, despite having ruled as a majority province in Pakistan of today , destroyed the Punjabi culture and language. The idea of power- language and power- culture is destructive. Language is of a gentler specie. Imperialism more than feudalism killed the spirit of the Punjab. The Punjabis were more colorful and creative till the time of the advent of the British Empire. Look at the rich profusion of poetry in the eighteenth century Punjab, its decline in the nineteenth century and death and burial in the twentieth century. Most of the good writers of Punjabi in the latter half of the twentieth century came from the left. Both in Pakistan as well as in the Indian Punjab so far, they have been the bulwark of creative Punjabi writing. But the rise of BJP and the Khalistan movement in the East Punjab , like Gen Zia’s rule in Pakistan have caused great cultural confusion .Despite a quantum jump in the number of Punjabi books in Pakistan and , perhaps in India too , in quality there has been a great leap backwards . The next generation of writers, hopefully, would be a better read breed of writers. Majority of writers of Punjabi in Pakistan today are only there because they think anything goes on a vacant stage and most of those who write badly, as a rule , have read very little! Let us hope the next generation of writers in Punjabi in Pakistan would have read some Punjabi, would be independent minded yet a tolerant lot, and preferably be of a feminine gender ! Looking at the current lot of Punjabi writers , that will not be an unfair discrimination ! The pen may not supercede the sword , essentially a male weapon , in the foreseeable future But the biggest enemy of the culture is not the sword but the powerful media. We live in a media defined world. Backed by money and technology, it is becoming monstrously powerful. We today write and speak the language of the media . The print media in the hands of the barrons is bad enough, but the TV is sheer murder . And it is so much more powerful . Language will not be promoted by compromising with the idiot- box , but by transforming it , if not by boycotting it, and creating a more humane world , where people instead of dumbly looking at the TV screen , talk to each other. That is what language is all about !

From Dawn:

[Pakistan is suffering from its own trauma. The institution, which had shaped and nurtured the Afghan policy over the last 20 years, is paying a horrendous price for the failure of this policy with its credibility and its standing in the country`s power hierarchy.

Those belonging to the minuscule minority providing the political under-pinning to the institution`s Afghan policy all these years are paying their own price in the shape of the sudden collapse of their bigger than life political image very craftily crafted by the authors of the failed Afghan policy themselves.

The silent majority, which had acquiesced in this policy without a whimper all these years, is paying the price twice over. First because it sees itself, for a change, agreeing on an issue like the Taliban and Osama with the Americans whom this silent majority had always viewed as the world`s most oppressive of oppressors. And secondly, they see the institution, which had more than once led the country into blind alleyway, once again being pushed by the short-sighted world into a pre-eminent political position in the country.

Those very members of the ruling elite, who used to froth at the mouth protesting what they would call ``interference in the internal affairs`` of Pakistan when the Commonwealth secretary-general or the UK foreign minister would condemn the military takeover of October 12, 1999 and demand a quick return to democracy, were seen clapping unabashedly and thunderously the other day when the visiting British secretary of state for international development Claire Short, speaking at a well-attended dinner hosted by finance minister Shaukat Aziz condemned the Pakistani politicians for `plundering` their country when they were in power.

This maligning of Pakistani politicians by the new found friend of the regime not only was not seen as ``interference in the internal affairs`` of Pakistan but it went so well with the ruling elite that a couple of days later the finance minister who has an exaggerated self- image of his economic management abilities proudly recalled the British insult in the presence of a number of local editors, perhaps to win on the rebound the elusive domestic mandate for his policies at least. And he had the cheek to ask another editor who was present at the Claire Short dinner for corroboration.

It is certainly unjustified at this point in time to ask those who lost so much on September 11 to keep in mind the small little matter of democracy in Pakistan, their new found friend. But it would be equally wrong on the part of thinking Pakistanis if they did not point out to the US and the UK at this point in time in their war against international terrorism that Afghanistan has become what it is today because of lack of `genuine` democracy in Pakistan. The term `genuine` here is not being used in the same sense that the present military rulers are using it to define the kind of democracy which they have in mind for Pakistan following the promised October 2002 elections. The term has been used here for a democracy free of interference from the permanent establishment, no matter what the provocation.

General Ziaul Haq and the successive chiefs of Army staff, who followed him after his demise in 1988, had pursued an Afghan policy which could not have ended in any other way than what it has turned out to be in the post-September 11 international environment. Pakistan`s foreign office had nothing to do with this policy. In fact the FO was taken out of the Afghan loop soon after the signing of the Geneva accords which the permanent establishment in the country had thought to be an outright betrayal of Pakistan`s national interests. It was in order perhaps to keep this very scatterbrained policy on its course that after 1988 the permanent establishment had kept rigging election after election to bring in governments of its choice and throwing them out when the elected government tried to interfere with this policy.

Now in their desperation to distance themselves from this policy they are even seen seeking scapegoats for this policy in Benazir Bhutto and her interior minister Naseerullah Khan Baber. In fact, if you ask some of the responsible people in the regime for their opinion on Taliban today you would be shocked by their vehemence against the rulers in Kabul.

Tailpiece: In a city like Karachi where there was no significant presence of Jamaat-i-Islami for at least two decades, the permanent establishment had manoeuvred to bring in a Jamaat Mayor through what looked like a fair and free local government elections. Some ask: ``Was this a test run for the real thing to come?`` Well, it would sound too ridiculous today, more so because of the current crisis, but do not be shocked if after the October 2002 elections, if they are held at all, the Jamaat Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed is elected the prime minister of Pakistan.-Chatterbox ]

Why should any person trust what they are saying now?

Ref Shitt Pitt #: 235

[The tragedy of Pakistan is that during its 54 years of existence it has been hijacked by its military rather than run by the representatives of its people.]

The tragedy of Pakistan is simply the fact that it exists.

[Each and every individual Pakistani must pledge to carry out his or her responsibility, diligently and conscientiously so that the nation as a whole becomes fully conscious of its covenant with Allah to turn Pakistan into an ideal Islamic State.]

An ideal Islamic State. Such as, Saudi Arabia? Afghanistan? Or, would it be the one run by the Second Caliph? Or the Fourth Caliph?

And the guy who wrote this crap is a professor in a university? In what? Quranic Studies?

AnNy: Thanks for the link. It is pretty good. I consider such precise information, a great reward, a sign of respect and appreciation, a time well spent in writing a post and interacting with fellow chowkwallahs. Thanks again.

Eklavya: Very well said. I personally feel that without Sikhism and Sikh activism, Punjabi would have survived as an accent of Hindi, Hindustani or Urdu-like in Haryana.

dost-mittar: Only thanks!

Stuka: I have seen that movie 3-4 times. Try watching Shaheed-e-Mohabbat and Shaheed Udham Singh also. They are really good movies. Just Juhi Chawla`s dance in Udham Singh is worth watching repeatedly. The song is a Pakistani Punjabi song sung again by Narula, just beautiful.

Dost-Mittar,

Sat Sri Akal!

Honestly, I have always been a bit ashamed of the behavior of Punjabi Hindus in identifying with Hindi more than with Punjabi. May be it is just my optimism but I have noticed an increasing willingness to accord Punjabi its rightful place, both among Punjabi Hindus and other Indians.

Semi,

My last post addressed to you should have read, ``I couldn`t help...``

Pray for me, if you can. I must be losing my mind with so much going on in my life :(

Why it is difficult for some people to understand where I stand on religion, religious fundamentalism and military becoming the most powerful institution in Pakistan? During my 2+ years of interaction at chowk, I have been sharply critical of the self-serving role of military as the defender of the an out-dated ideology and continous destabilization of Political institutions of Pakistan.

My opposition to Islamic fundamentalism is due to their obscurantism, craze for a medieval lifestyle and value system, delusions of grandeur, no respect for law and non-conformists to their ideology and disregard for ethnic and national boundries in favor of ummah. I can not believe in any theistic religion because I do not believe in the existence of god. Like all other creations of human beings there are good as well as bad sides to all their creations including science, god and religions. For this very reason and not having a bloody history, I have, on more than ocassion, written for my likeness of a non-theistic religion, Buddhism over fiercely theistic Islam or Christianity. For religious people, god exists everywhere and in the skies; for mw it only exists within human mind.

Now military: Warlord does not have a strict definition. It means a person or leader who leads hip people against others using ethnic, political or religious differences in order to gain power. In the history, warlords have become political leadrs and political leader have turned to warlordism. A warlord can be a tribal chief or supported by the rubber stamp representative of the elders. Some of the highly regarded religious figures could easily be branded as warlord before achieving their objectives.

Core commanders represent the power of military in Pakistan. Every institution in the world divides their region of influence into cores, zones, commands, regions, districts etc for effective management. The difference between Pakistani military and other institutions is that it consumes a very substantial amount of tax-payers money every year and does the quite opposite of what rest of institutions do for their funding agencies or share-holders. The return on your own investment (taxes by citizenry) is by running over the institutions that feed them and then deciding unilaterally the amount of money they will need in the next budget. There are already news about a possible rise in the defense spending next year in the wake of changing situation in the region. This loop is extremely self-serving. With roughly 30 percent of the budget going to military in return for providing livelihood for less than 5 percent of the work force is not exactly an example of efficiency. Federal and provincial bureaucracy support more than double (10 percent) of the work force with less money than military budget. Money spent on military is an insurance towards defending the nation in time of necessity. By the very definition, military is a war machine. The leaders of military are warriors and war leaders.

The core commanders of the leader of a war machine in their region. When there is no war, they are the highest authority od military in their sphere of influence-core. Everytime military has moved in to overthrow civilian government in Pakistan, they have always justified it as defending the country from corruption, destabilization, political infighting or economic collapse. It is a war according to their own definition of defending the country. In wartime, the leader of the zones or cores are leader of the war. Isn`t it make them warlords? Except for Musharraf`s overthrow, all other coups in Pakistan were followed by elevation core commanders of Quetta, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar to become martial law administrators or governors. All the coups were against the written law of the land. Isn`t Rashid Dostam want to become governor of Uzbek region of Afghanistan? Fuzair has provided one first hand example of the power and spoils of core commander, after winning the war (coup, defending ideological boundries), becoming governor. There are plenty of examples from the history of Pakistan. What else is warlordism? Although Romair used to vehemently oppose to my suggestion of ISI or military involvement in sectarian killing and a surge in sectarian killing leading to NS ouster. Now more and more articles are appearing about the role and complicity of ISI, Taliban, jehadis and sectarian violence as pieces of the same puzzle. Why on earth a DG ISI will deal with Umer Shaikh? In defending the country? Did not former DG ISI Hameed Gul orchestrated the victory of NS in the first election and DG ISI Javed Nasir doing the same thing seconf time around? What war they were fighting. They always call it defending the country, strategic depth etc. That makes them warlords. period.

Which law stipulated them to wage a war against corruption and lawfully but stupid decision of NS to replace COAS. Yes, they were the core commanders of Rawalpindi and Karachi who waged a war and in the process became warlords-leading to a coup on behalf of a dismissed person who was not even on ground in Pakistan.

To sum up, a war (according to their own definition) waged by the warriors themselves, without considering the law of the land, makes their leaders warlords and often they end up benefitting from it in civilian capacity.

Thanks Fuzair and sac. Sac, I do not come from military family and do not have close relatives serving in the military. Distant relatives? who knows? Having many sisters marrying in different families......

I apologise for a belated response.

re: sameerjb # 239

``an identity that is neither against India nor Pakistan.``

``National identity should be based on a compromise ...``

All of us stand at the meeting points of many many, dynamically changing, shifting, growing, diminishing circles of consciousness and interactions, both over time and in space. Each one of us, completely and totally, is a product of that continual compromise. When we deny compromise, we deny the fact that we are human beings.

It is only cults that cut off those circles. When they succeed, as David Koresh did, they lead people to ``heaven`` through mass suicide, or mass murder, depending upon how much power they are able to grab, when others, more decent people, dont resist them while they still can.

Sammerjb, thank you for pointing all that out so well using examples we can all understand. I consider both Edward Said and Hannan Ashrawi as glittering examples of that necessary marriage of cultures that is the only fount of all civilizational life.

Sameersaab you might be intersted in

www.matteela.com.

It focuses on punjabi music, literature and films and is making big waves in Karachi circles.

Sadna,

Have you read anything about the Taliban and bin laden building a network/underworld in some of the mountains in Afghanistan? Supposedly this underground is being financed by bin laden and other rich, evil, James Bond villain types, and it sounds a bit farfetched to me, but a friend said he read it in a local surburban paper. Whats your take on this?

re: definition of progressive; will answer it Sunday. Perhaps Dost Mittar, Sameer, Upman, and other self confessed left leaning wonks will chime in. Providing we have taken our weekly showers...

cheers!

Change of Topic:

Has anyone seen a Punjabi movie called ``Mahol Theek Hai`` by Jaspal Bhatti. I would totally recommend it. Its hilarious, and deals with Punjab Police. Lot of ironical takes on KPS Gill and his butt-grabbing incident with Rupam Deol, an IAS officer, as well as Punjab Police techniques of interrogation and interaction with common people.

A must see.

dost-mittar #238: Punjabi press in Pakistan is so insignificant that such literature is hardly read or effect the spoken Punjabi of people of Pakistan. The sentence you quoted is as Punjabi as Pakistani national anthem is in Urdu. There are plenty of places in Punjab where such books and literature must end up-they are called gutters or garbage cans. No impact on Punjabi literature, none whatso ever.

Having said that, it is not unexpected of many Punjabis to downplay their own heritage in the name of Islam or Pakistan, leading them to produce their work looking as Persian and Arabic as possibly can. However, Punjabi is here to stay and survive, thanks to Sikhism in the same way Arabic benefitted from Islam. I seriously doubt that Punjabi language and pride in Punjabi heritage would have survived if not for sikhism and sikhs. Just like Edward Said and others, being Christians as well as Arabs speak respectively of Islam, Punjabis whether Muslims and Hindus, must respect and credit Sikhism for firmly planting the roots of Punjabiat among Punjabis. Although I am not even one percent as intellectual as Edward Said is but I feel for Sikhism in the same way as he feels for Islam.

In this way, I disagree with Dawn article because it does not consider the changes that are slowly seeping among Punjabis about Punjabiat on a non-religious track. The music, art, poetry, diaspora Punjabis and relatively successful in India, Pakistan, Britain, US and Canada in addition to a Punjabi religion is fomenting slowly an identity that is neither against India nor Pakistan. Unfortunately the repeated military intervention in the political affairs of Pakistan hurt flowering of ethnic cultures due to their insistance of a self-serving nationalism that does do nothing to fortify a national identity. National identity of Pakistan should be based on a compromise, a give and take, among the distict ethnic groups living in Pakistan instead of the unity of Muslims of sub-continent that failed with the creation of Bangladesh. Islamic fundamentalism and Indira Gandhi`s handling of Punjab hurt Punjabiat but the reaction to both events created/ and creating a more stronger Punjabi and ouwardly visible identity.

Well, I can keep on writing on this topic but let me spend some time in responding to my comments about warlords and core commanders. Interstingly that post of mine also dealt primarily with making a distinction of Pakistani identity from that of Afghan and central Asian cultures but, not surprisingly, some can not take any unfavorable mention of the holy cows in Pakistan.

semi,

You couldn`t help grinning last week when Ayeda had India singing, top 1 to 10, - Mujh Ko Bhi Tau Lift Kara Dey!

In the remote possibility that someone hasn`t heard that song, enjoy -

http://www.netguruindia.com/entertain/audiomusic/audiohindi/songs1/LiftKaradey.ram

From the Friday times

TOP TEN NEW PROFESSIONS FOR TONY BLAIR

10. Cheerleader

9. Court jester

8. Shoe-shine boy

7. Messenger boy (with his own bike)

6. Chief gardener, White House

5. Head of janitorial staff, Pentagon

4. Voluntary foreign-substance taster, American Centre for Poison Control

3. Royal physician for White House pets

2. Chief supplier of White House toilet paper

1. Official pedicurist for Barbara Bush (maan ki dua, janat ki hawa)

Pakistan’s Leaders Are to Blame for Problems

Copyright: http://www.iviews.com

Published Friday October 05, 2001

By Siraj Islam Mufti



Pakistan came into being by virtue of the struggles by Muslims of the Indian subcontinent to maintain and strengthen their distinct Islamic identity. Muslims ruled India for nearly one thousand years and then lost their leadership position but were at the forefront of opposition and resistance against the British colonial rule that lasted for approximately 200 years. Their persistent confrontations with the colonial rulers resulted in the shift of power balance in favor of the Hindu majority. This made them realize that if they remained even after achieving political independence, they would remain deprived of their ideological goals.

The Pakistan movement was based not on color or race, but on Islamic faith. This was clearly stated by the leader of the independence movement, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Quaid-e-Azam (the Great Leader) in several addresses. As for example, at the world- famous Muslim University, Aligarh on March 8, 1944 he announced:

_______

But Pakistan’s ideological foundations were endangered by secularists who...promoted their self-interest and looted the resources of the country to fill their coffers and benefit their cronies.

________



``Tawheed (i.e., the Principle of Unity of Allah) – neither country nor race – is the basis of Muslims’ nationality. When the first native of India became a Muslim, he no longer remained a member of the nation he belonged to but became a member of another distinct nation. Have you noted what was the motivation behind the demand for Pakistan? Neither Hindus’ narrow-mindedness nor the British scheme – it was a basic demand of Islam.``

Despite secularists claims to the contrary, the above-noted assertions constitute irrefutable facts of history. An independent Muslim state was finally realized on the 27th day of Ramadan, 1947.

But Pakistan’s ideological foundations were endangered by secularists who had no role in the Pakistan movement but soon came to hold its reins of power. They promoted their self-interest and looted the resources of the country to fill their coffers and benefit their cronies. These persons now have the audacity to assert that Iqbal and Jinnah wanted to establish a secular state, and it is the religious extremists who wish to turn Pakistan into a theocratic state and take it back to ``medieval times``.

But the 54-year old history of Pakistan is a witness to the fact that it is the secular leadership that has most harmed the country. It was, and continues to be the cause for its weaknesses and failures. These secular groups have imposed themselves on the country in the form of politicians, in the guise of bureaucrats and in the garb of military rulers. On the other hand, it is the genuine religious leaders who have reined them in and struggled for the rights of the people. It is the Islamists who worked for protection of basic human rights and freedoms, strengthening of national security and restoration of democracy.

Secularism by itself has no vision for the individual, society or humanity for a better world. Today, secularism serves as a tool for establishing global domination by the West. Globalization as advanced by the West has not only its economic-exploitative and political-hegemony goals but also their ideological agenda. In the Muslim world, it also undermines state institutions in the guise of non-government organizations (NGOs). The promotion of secularism in Muslim lands is meant to divide the people and cause conflicts among them, because even through much word play and trickery, it cannot replace Islam, which is deeply ingrained in the Muslim psyche. Indeed, advocates of secularism, consciously or unconsciously, play the role of agents of Western colonialism in the Muslim world.

Therefore, the secular class must desist from trying to make controversial what is already agreed upon as consensus of the Pakistani nation. Pursuing such a divisive course would create confusion among people at a time when what is needed is to organize and galvanize masses for the positive constructive purposes.

Consider as a prime example, the constitution that has been worked out over a long period of time and enjoys national consensus. But it has never been acted upon. Although successive governments took the oath to uphold it, yet each time they adopted a variety of evasive, hypocritical tactics to become disloyal to it.

The constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan is based on three major foundations. Islam is its fountainhead and its basic foundation is laid down in its Objectives Resolution and the Islamic provisions. The Objectives Resolution is not only a preamble to the constitution but also its operative clause. Articles 2 and 2A of the constitution determine the powers of the state and its ideological boundaries. Article 227 gives the principles and limits of law making. The articles pertaining to Council of Islamic Ideology and Federal Sharia Court establish a system of checks and balances. The chapter of guiding principles for policy provides guidance for governance in the light of Islam. The constitution sets separation of powers and independence of judiciary. It instructs that the entire legal system be brought into conformity with the Shariah, a destination that is not in sight even after 28 years of its provision. Articles 62 and 63 delineating the standards for leadership and oaths are like covenants with the Pakistani nation.

All this is part of the constitution and the Council of Islamic Ideology has provided instructions for every facet of life in more than 40 reports. If there has been a failure and obviously there is, it is because the political leadership - parliament, political parties and their leaders have ignored these provisions of the constitution.

As its second foundation, the constitution provides a system of parliamentary democracy and delineates the distribution of powers and the role and obligation of each and every institution. But neither the elections are held according to it nor the parliament plays its duly assigned role.

The constitution has as its third foundation - the federalism, with distribution of powers between the center and the provinces. Yet, neither the process of distribution of powers has taken place nor institutions established for strengthening its federalist provisions. Pakistani leadership is afflicted with a disease; concentration of powers at the top, and this has not only deprived the constituents of their due rights but also engendered and pro,moted separa,tist tendencies in the provinces. In the interest of progress and development of the country, it is imperative that these three essential foundations of the constitution are respected and enacted without any further delay.

The tragedy of Pakistan is that during its 54 years of existence it has been hijacked by its military rather than run by the representatives of its people. And even when civilian politicians got themselves elected, they imposed their personal decisions rather than working in consultation with the people. The real tragedy of the Muslim world is that persons at the helm consider themselves as embodying the ultimate wisdom, instead of depending on the people to run their country’s affairs and safeguard their national interests. Thus, these leaders have adopted the path of dictatorship with abrogation of people’s rights. The result is the nonexistence of any viable democratic and Islamic institution in the Muslim countries. To break this vicious cycle in Pakistan, it is imperative that a completely autonomous election commission constituted in the framework of articles 62 and 63 is instituted and fully empowered to carry out free and fair elections on scheduled time.

Pakistan’s economic woes are not due to any lack of resources but the wrong economic policies, subservience to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which are both rife with corruption, misplaced priorities and economic mismanagement. The shortsighted, short-term strategy of borrowing and giving false assurances to the nation (and the current Musharraf regime is no exception) while going further down the debt burden must be abandoned. It needs to be substituted by farsighted, long-term radically new initiatives, which to start with must involve the often-promised cessation of loans, revamping the policy and setting nation-oriented realistic goals and include building self-confidence and self-dependence measures. National priorities should be set up with such vital areas as education and social development topping the list.

The urgent need of Pakistan is to transfer power through free and fair elections to a new, honest and capable leadership that is fully accountable to its people. This leadership should be made to abide by and work according to the demands of constitution. The need of the hour is to mobilize the Pakistani nation so that it is placed in charge of its own destiny and plays its due role in building the country according to its aspirations. Each and every individual Pakistani must pledge to carry out his or her responsibility, diligently and conscientiously so that the nation as a whole becomes fully conscious of its covenant with Allah to turn Pakistan into an ideal Islamic State.

_______________________________________

Dr. Siraj Mufti currently serves as an Islamic consultant for the Correctional Corporation of America in Arizona. Previously he worked as a research professor at the University of Arizona and a chaplain with the U.S. Department of Justice.