The 1973 constitution advocates civil supremacy over military establishment. Unfortunately, Pakistan has been under military rule for more than half its duration and existence. Military takeover of government is based purely on intimidation and show of brute force, because there is no law which legitimises it, except law of necessity, which is what validates a military occupation of another country that it has defeated.
Martial law is always devoid of any moral high ground or constitutional authority. Military dictators are not answerable for their excesses, nor is there any system of checks and balances either through judicial intervention or through force of public opinion. This explains why nepotism and rampant corruption is associated with majority of military takeovers in the world. In the case of Pakistan, this country has either been involved in military adventures with our neighbours, or obsessed with their concocted and outdated concept of strategic depth and subjective view of national security, which has always been in conflict with majority public opinion and only made this country more insecure.
From the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971 to Zia-ul-Haq’s legacy of religious fanaticism, coupled with sectarian and ethnic violence to Musharraf’s capitulation to a phone call by a Bush subordinate staffer, it is proof if any is required that military rule has always harmed and weakened a nation.
We are witness to the economic havoc wrecked on Turkey by a powerful military which had ruled it with an iron hand for decades and even managed to acquire this role by amending constitution. Yet we have seen that in the past few years, an elected government led by highly qualified men of integrity, establish civilian supremacy with the power of massive public support. Had the Erdogan government been involved in financial scams, they could never have managed to assert civilian supremacy.
Unfortunately in Pakistan, our elected civilian governments who have briefly ruled this country, including the present elected civil government, have failed to assert their civil supremacy because of moral bankruptcy, being tainted with corruption, abuse of power, poor governance record, financial mismanagement, and loss of public support. An elected government derives power from the constitution and other than their moral and legal authority through rule of law, delivering justice etc, they will always be culpable to blackmail, if they are involved in every scam such as recent shameful drug scam involving Ephedrine, fleecing poor Hajis, patronising target killers and responsible for destruction of Railways, PIA, Steel Mills, OGDC etc.
MALIK T ALI
Lahore
