A hoax called accountability

‘This is the land which ye shall divide by lot’

Would that I were a reed trodden under foot

For that were better than to be a lyre of silvery strings

In a house whose lord has no fingers

And whose children are deaf

–Kahlil Gibran

(The Garden of the Prophet)

Delay in securing and communicating the eligibility status of the candidates intending to participate in the forthcoming general elections to the concerned personnel is the name of the new hoax being enacted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in connivance with other state institutions including the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

For three long years, the ECP did not make a move in the matter of the fake-degree holders. It required an injunction from the Supreme Court (SC) for it to take some fledgling steps to indict the liars. But, lo and behold, our flawed judicial system has stepped in to the rescue of the culprits as some of them have already been bailed out who may also be allowed to participate in the elections.

At the same time, not a single candidate has been barred from contesting the elections on the basis of tax-evasion, living standards that may be disproportionate with their declared earnings, involvement in mega scams, looting of the national exchequer or association with other serious transgressions. It is like the ECP has a long line of saints to deal with. While there has been little to no eagerness shown to catch the real criminals, most of the attention has been directed at debarring the prospective candidates from contesting on the basis of their perceived lack of conformity with the benchmarks as laid down in articles 62 and 63 of the constitution and as interpreted by the Returning Officers (ROs). It is like measuring the credibility and competence of an individual based solely on his ability to recite from the Quran or remembering a few surahs or ayats. He may be a murderer, a plunderer, a tax-evader or involved in other heinous crimes – that appears to have nothing to do with the business of the ROs. It is tantamount to making a mockery of justice.

It is also uncanny that the nomination papers of Musharraf were rejected in three constituencies but accepted in one and those of Chaudhry Nisar rejected in one and accepted in the other. Is it that we have different standards of justice for different constituencies? Or is it that different ROs interpret the same standards of justice differently depending on their personal articles of faith or likes and dislikes? These wayward, often offensive interpretations have created a host of issues for the judiciary to tackle which may also have in its ranks many such tunnel-vision people who may insist on their personalised interpretation of the laws as contained in the statute book.

But, much more important is the failure of the combined political leadership to tackle the issues contained in articles 62 and 63 of the constitution. One understands that the matter was debated extensively when representatives of all political parties were deliberating the 18th amendment. One also understands that, in the end, expediency had the better of both valour and good judgement as all members of the committee decided not to touch supposedly contentious religious issues that may arouse public sentiment. So, the two articles were spared unscathed and we were left at the mercy of the jaundiced interpretation by the ROs as also by the judiciary.

But there is one good that has emanated from this mess: some serious issues have been highlighted which are likely to initiate a productive debate. These issues include the questions about the ‘ideology of Pakistan’ and about the advisability of words like ‘sadiq’ and ‘ameen’ to remain in the statute book. It would be immensely difficult to curb this debate as, indeed, it should not be. This debate must rage in full force till such time all such clauses introduced in the constitution by that demonic dictator Zia ul Haq in debilitating violation of the content and the spirit of Quaid-e-Azam’s speech that he delivered to the first Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947. In that speech, he had clearly enunciated the ideals and guidelines that any future constitution of the country should have incorporated. It may be late, but these guidelines should be debated now. We need to do this urgently if we are to come to peace with the conflict that has raged in our minds propelling us into a haemorrhaging orbit, but never quite daring to tackle the causes of the immense pain that generation after generation has suffered from.

There is no escaping the truth. It is because of embracing ideals that were not in consonance with the ethos of Pakistan’s creation that we find ourselves enslaved in a cycle of regression. Pakistan has to come out of this. Pakistan’s constitution has to come out of this. The religious cloak that the state has been forced to wear has to be taken off and people allowed the liberty and freedom to embrace its founding ideals. Instead of fantasizing to locate people who come up to the ideals of ‘sadiq’ and ‘ameen’, we have to start living in the real world where interpreters of such clauses should first prove their own incorruptibility. We are but fallible human beings. Let’s not set standards for others that we cannot live up to ourselves. Let’s not create a utopia that we’ll never be able to access.

Let’s traverse a more realistic path. Let’s catch the thieves, the marauders, the tax-evaders, the corrupt and those who have lied under oath. Let’s debar them from contesting the elections as they deserve to be. Those involved in mega scams are being allowed to go free, while those who may not have remembered a certain ayat, or may not have been able to recite a surah properly are being debarred. This will further perpetuate the hold of the criminal political mafias which shall then claim the price of their conquest:

This is the land which ye shall divide by lot T. S. Eliot (Ash Wednesday)

The writer is a political analyst. He can be reached at [email protected]