The national and independence days are celebrated to rejoice at the achievements of the nation and to renew pledges to keep marching on the course chartered by the founding fathers to fulfil the objectives of attaining independence. They provide the nations with an opportunity to introspect and reflect on their mistakes and the detours taken from their cherished goals with a view to take corrective measures and reiterating their commitment to tread the path envisioned by the architect of the independence. They offer them the chance to make an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses as well as to ask themselves the questions such as, do they really have something to celebrate?
To carry out the appraisal of our achievements and failures, we the Pakistani nation must have a look at the vision of the Quaid about Pakistan. He envisioned Pakistan as a democratic entity taking inspiration from the lofty principles of Islam with greater emphasis on social justice. Quaid-i-Azam, giving his presidential address to the constituent assembly on 11th August 1947, said, “If we want to make this great state of Pakistan happy and prosperous , we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people and especially of the masses and the poor.” Addressing the armed forces on 14th August 1947, he reminded them of their role in the state of Pakistan in these words, “Do not forget that the armed forces are the servants of the people and you do not make national policy. It is we, the civilians, who decide these issues and it is your duty to carry out the tasks with which you are entrusted.”
The Pakistan resolution while indicating the areas to constitute Pakistan and reiterating provincial autonomy pledged protection and grant of equal rights to the minorities in these words, “Adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided in the constitution in these units and regions for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them.”
As is evident, he wanted governments to focus their attention on promoting well being of the masses and the poor instead of serving the vested interests of the ruling and privileged classes. He also wanted ascendancy of the civilian and elected representative in determining national polices, with army playing the role of servant of the state and obeying orders of the elected government. Viewed from this perspective, can we honestly say that we have traversed our course as envisioned by the Quaid. The answer certainly is no.
Pakistan has become a militarised state. Half the country has been lost due to the senseless civil war in former East Pakistan under the stewardship of a former general. Military dictators have destroyed the foundations of all political institutions of the country. The Constitution has been repeatedly subverted and decimated. Fundamental rights of the people have been trampled with impunity. Hundred of citizens have gone missing. It is a national shame that after 67 years of our independence, the people are queuing for a bag of flour and are in a perpetual hunt for necessities of life. Power shortages have made their lives miserable. The Industry is in tatters and so is the snow-balling unemployment. Law and order situation is worst ever. We are faced with an existentialist threat. Our rulers are roaming around with a beggars bowl casting off their national pride and self-respect. We have neither social justice nor ascendancy of the civilian rule, the goals much cherished by the Quaid.
Do the poor have anything to celebrate? The answer is emphatic no. The only people who have much to celebrate are the military and political leaders who have filched billions of rupees through corruption and misuse of their authority, the bureaucracy which shared the booty and the elitist class of industrialists and feudal lords who have amassed incalculable amounts of money at the cost of the poor masses. I am basically an optimist and do not believe in spreading despondency. But at the same time I also believe that not acknowledging and accepting the ground realities, descends into the realm of intellectual dishonesty. Until and unless one accepts the existence of the maladies honestly, one cannot think of eradicating and rectifying them.
The Constitution of Pakistan empowers the people to exercise their will through their chosen representatives to establish an order in conformity with the principles of democracy, freedom, equality and social justice as enunciated by Islam. But the reality is that they have been only used by the politicians as a ladder to the corridors of power and their access to the coffers of the state. Both the military and civilian rulers have invariably disregarded public opinion on crucial national issues and perpetuated the anti-people colonial administrative system in the country, which has promoted and strengthened a culture of graft and entitlement.
The shenanigans of the military and the so-called elected rulers have hamstrung the country’s march towards real democracy, peace and progress but the pity is that they are still not prepared to learn from the history and the set-backs that the nation had to suffer because of their indiscretions and criminal apathy to get rid of the colonial legacies and giving the people a system of governance which makes them the masters of their destiny and delivers basic services to them.
The generals, despite the failure of their policies and strategies, remain adamant to relinquish the civilian territory and continue with their arm-twisting antics to keep the elected governments under pressure or the threat of deposition. The elected representatives on their part also have not shown the willingness and the capability to reform the system and keep the generals at bay on the basis of their performance. They are prepared to tolerate the dictators but not their elected counter parts. They have been conspiring against each other and concentrated more on bringing the rival governments down rather than working together to strengthen democracy and delivering to the masses. The minorities continue to be at the receiving end at the hands of religious zealots and their rights are trampled with impunity which has brought a bad name to the country.
It is a matter of national shame that our politicians do not even respect the sanctity of the Independence Day. Instead of allowing the nation to celebrate the Independence Day with the traditional fervour and enthusiasm and promoting national unity at a time when the country is waging a war against an existentialist threat, they are hell bent on destroying the national unity and the gains of the nascent democracy. They lack the political vision and are not focusing on the real issues confronting the country. They are not worried about the growing isolation that Pakistan faces at the global level. Their only objective seems to clinch political power by all means whether through legitimate or illegitimate means. There seems no end to this madness and the people – the real architects and the custodians of Pakistan – even after 67 years of independence are not independent in the true sense. They are trapped in the vicious circle of poverty.
According to a door-to-door survey conducted under the BISP programme by the previous regime, 80 million people (45.7%) lived below the poverty line and 64 million out of them lived in chronic poverty. The fundamental rights of the people continue to be infringed upon and trampled by the state institutions, elite and privileged classes. Looking towards the heavens the people ask themselves, what is there for them to celebrate on this Independence Day?