The state of affairs in the Republic
Pakistan has completed 66 years of its nominally independent existence. The occasion calls for a bit of stocktaking. There are, in the first place, many an anomaly inherent to our governing structure. The good news, however, is that we have gone through a reasonably satisfactory democratic, albeit short as has remained of the change which the younger generation, that constitutes a majority of population, had anticipated.
What we find instead is the return of the same tried and tested faces that apparently have refused to learn any lessons from their own political follies and foibles. Nevertheless, the latest round of elections would hopefully lay the foundations of a durable democratic process.
I have employed the term independence with reservation and for good measure. True independence cannot come until the colonial and imperial structures and conduct of our institutions are not made subject to rule of law and actual equality of all citizens, females and males, rich and poor, living in towns and cities and in the rural areas.
Take this very name of the country, for instance: the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. That in itself is a contradiction in terms. Republicanism has no provision for any discrimination between free and equal citizens on the basis of their belief systems.
Let’s then take a closer look at our institutions. Can anybody in their right mind claim that this lame democracy of ours can stand up to the classical standard of government of the people, by the people, for the people? It is more of a rule of the privileged, by the privileged, for the privileged.
Keeping the present situation in mind, it is heart rending to recall how way back in 1970 all the four National Assembly seats allocated for the Rawalpindi district and the federal capital area of Islamabad were won by respectable professionals belonging to the middle class and with impeccable credentials.
All of them belonged to the nascent Pakistan Peoples Party. Three of them, including my late father, may Allah bless his soul, Malik Muhammad Jafar, were senior and highly successful and respected lawyers. The other two lawyers were the late Khursheed Hassan Mir, representing Rawalpindi city and cantonment, and the late Raja from Gujar Khan. The fourth was the late Col. (Retd.) Habib from Kahuta.
Begging the pardon of our hyper sensitive members of the judiciary in anticipation, I would take the risk of reminding them that perceptions are always more important than reality.
As for the babus of the bureaucracy, one just needs to take a look at most of the senior officers, both serving and retired, opulent life styles and the question cannot escape the mind as to how on earth they could have accumulated so much wealth and property living within fair means.
The chief minister had some time back led a strong delegation of some 12 members that included some of his ministers, senior journalists and members of both houses of the Indian parliament.
It was a rare treat to be present at the Institute of Strategic Studies here in Islamabad when he gave a public talk followed by a question and answer session. The long and short of his captivating discourse was that he, during the last six years of rule in Bihar, had completely changed the situation in the state (as the provinces are called in India).
Bihar was earlier know as a den of crime and corruption. He had ensured just one thing to bring about the metamorphosis: the rule of law. All the lavish bungalows of corrupt civil and police officers, judges and the rest were confiscated and turned into schools, colleges, libraries and hospitals.
Consequently, he claimed, and none in his delegation questioned the statement, whereas people would earlier be afraid of the criminals and their gangs, they now were fearful of committing any crime and be caught by the police.
I can not see why this cannot be replicated all over Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. He had another exciting experience to share with the audience. To encourage young girls in Patna and the rest of Bihar to go to school, his government had provided free bicycles to them and that one enterprising step had brought about a very large increase in the number of school-going girls.
Finally, the military services and paramilitary forces: I cannot recall the last time I had seen any soldier or officer on the walking on the streets of the capital or shopping in the markets or even inside a restaurant, except for their movement with armed security.
That is eerie.