Let’s hail democracy

The farce has ended

Thank God, Tahirul Qadri’s circus has finally ended without any untoward incident and without the postponement of general elections, that some like to call the derailment of democracy, which was the real agenda of Shiekh-ul-Islam.

Tahirul Qadri started with some seemingly innocent and genuine demands regarding reforms in the present electoral system. These appeared to be legal at the first glance. But actually, most of these were unconstitutional which he, using his skills of mob oratory and verbosity, camouflaged like democratic and constitutional requirements that, according to him, the government and opposition (meaning Nawaz Sharif) had planned to violate. This wasn’t the case. But he made people believe it was.

The functional parts in his demands’ list were; reforms before elections, disbanding the Election Commission of Pakistan, screening out the ‘corrupt’ candidates before elections, the inclusion of armed forces and judiciary in the consultation process for the formation of caretaker government and, if needed, giving an extended period to it.

But why did he insist on the inclusion of armed forces and judiciary in the formation of the next caretaker setup? And what could have been achieved through postponement of elections and giving an extended time (some said about two years) to it? Many of the political observers believe that his real agenda was to help the formation of a caretaker setup which would be ready to do the establishment’s bidding during that extended period. This was the real purpose of the hullabaloo which he created on the surface. The ‘extended period’ of the caretakers could have been used to run a vicious character assassination campaign against the politicians, particularly the leadership of PPP and PML-N. Because, if held within the stipulated period, PPP and PML-N can win substantial seat in these elections.

It was also possible that a decisive military action would have been launched against the homegrown as well as foreign terrorists, resultantly bringing peace within the country and the region (but depriving the politicians of any credit). It would have brought not only domestic law and order situation under control but also pacified the US-led international powers, currently involved in Afghanistan. Hence, silence over the virtual takeover of the capital by a mullah of the ‘most dangerous country’ in the world.

To achieve his real objectives, the man from Canada not only wished the constitution trampled but also appeared to have taken control of Islamabad, the moment he landed in the capital. This was such ominous and dreadful a time when he pronounced the demise of parliament and the government of the day. And not only this, he tried to virtually takeover Islamabad by ordering his workers to take the responsibility of protection of the city into their own hands. This made the people shudder. Thankfully, realising his strength the other day, TQ didn’t re-emphasise this obsession of his, and an overall chaos was narrowly averted.

The whole operation was so well-scripted and the planners so confident of its success that Tahirul Qadri started his first formal speech on the morning of January 15, by addressing the international community, outlining the charter of ‘his’ government. He said, ‘Pakistan wanted peace within and peace without’, and that the country wanted to bring an end to the prevailing extremism and terrorism. This was a clear message to the international players about the intentions and resolve of the future rulers and an effort to lure them into this dangerous game of sidelining democracy once again. It was ironical to observe that despite all their commitment to democracy and democratically elected government, they became ‘silent spectators’ and let a mullah try his best to derail the democratic system using religion once more. So much for their adherence to democratic values!

The Maulana, from then on, flew higher and higher, with his stance and demands becoming more and more rigid. Coupled with the Supreme Court’s decision in Rental Power Projects case, the government appeared to be on its last legs and the country seemed entering a political cul-de-sac. Some of the analysts were of the view that three factors could save the country’s democratic dispensation: a) unequivocal and unconditional unity and support of all the political forces and parties across the political spectrum; b) building a strong public opinion against what was going on by the media; and c) the role of the judiciary in supporting the system. Though the SC’s decision helped temporarily aggravating the uncertainty, most of the media outlets came in the open against the dubious Shiekh-ul-Islam and his nefarious agenda.

But the events took a decisive turn when all the major opposition parties’ representatives gathered at Raiwind on Jan 16 and came out with a united stand against any effort to derail the system at a juncture when the people were about to exercise their democratic right and change the government through ballot. By the evening, Imran Khan’s PTI also made a final decision not to participate in TuQ’s long march. This took the wind out of the sails of the long march and its originators and proponents. The Maulana tried to keep his wits, putting up a brave face before his supporters, but desperation was writ large on it.

Now that a so-called Islamabad Long March Declaration has been signed and the Maulana is on his way to the dustbin of history, let’s see briefly what good and bad this episode has given to politics, democracy and the state. Looking at it in retrospect, this long march has the potential to set a new trend of assembling a few thousand people by anyone (even a foreign national), storming the capital of the country and then asking for the moon at gun point. This, surely, will not be healthy. But then, the future governments, learning from it, may also not let it happen.

There are many lessons to be learnt. First, that no one should try in future to fabricate a scenario which is not real, no matter how many resources and manpower one has at his disposal. Second, no political government should try to take democracy, power and support of the people for granted. Third, government and opposition political parties should not let their mutual divide become so unbridgeable that it jeopardises the democratic system itself. Fourth, the future elected governments should try to address the real problems of the populace and let the fruits of democracy trickle down to the grassroots. Fifth, the future government, while keeping the rest of the political parties on board, should assert itself vis-à-vis the military. If history is any guide then trying to appease the generals by compromising on basic democratic principles and surrendering to them the right of decision making in key areas, has delivered nothing either to the government of the day or to the country.

All is well that ends well. It is really pleasant to see the long march participants go back to their homes safe and sound. The long march has really helped us take a step forward in the democratic direction – though it wasn’t its real purpose. And last but not the least, let’s hope it was the last effort of undemocratic forces to once again force their will on the people in the name of corruption, accountability, democracy and religion. Let’s hope that their fate in politics is sealed forever.

The writer is a freelance columnist.