There is a lot of hue and cry regarding drone attacks damaging the sovereignty of our nation. What this argument does not recognise is that these drone attacks are combating terrorists who are also damaging the sovereignty of the government.
Legal and constitutional arrangements create various institutions to take care of the functions of the sovereignty of a country. In our case, the parliament, provincial assemblies, the courts, the election commission, auditor general, the armed forces, etc., are brought to life but to serve the same purpose. These institutions derive their existence and mandate from the legal and constitutional arrangement, the sole objective of which is to help create such an environment where individual citizens are free to live as they wish and where their life, property and rights/freedoms are safe from encroachers like Taliban.
As against this, the nationalist clatter of sovereignty is just hollow. They do not see the writ of government being challenged and damage being done to the sovereignty of the country by these internal invaders and their mentors inside and outside the government. Is not challenging the writ of the government a serious crime? Is not taking up arms against the state a capital offense?
Aren’t the Taliban waging an open and declared war against the state of Pakistan? In other words, against the sovereign individuals of Pakistan! Aren’t they inflicting unbearable losses to the life, property and rights/freedoms of the citizens of Pakistan? Isn’t sovereignty of Pakistan at stake at the hands of these insider invaders?
This hollow nationalism directly amounts to supporting the Taliban, a declared enemy of the legal and constitutional sovereignty of its sovereign individuals. These nationalists never raise any voice in favor of the sovereignty of Pakistan’s individual citizens. They never show any concern about the internal sovereignty of this country. Because not only is their campaign part of their misleading politics but they are the potential invaders of the sovereign individuals as well as the legal and constitutional sovereignty of this country.
DR KHALIL AHMAD
Lahore
