Lessons for Pakistan
This is a heroic mass struggle. People’s revolution has turned successful in Turkey on 15 July. Democracy has been saved. Despotic forces have been crushed. Turkey could not plunge into a total chaos. It is also Turkish prosperity that refused to surrender to the military to the fifth time. This is the real “Islamic Spring” – a model for others in the Islamic bloc to follow.
The Turkish failed coup d’état wrote new lessons that how feeble democracies could maintain their control over the strong armed forces and to live up under civil control. Pakistan could learn great deal of lessons from failed military takeover in Turkey.
Civilian constitutional control over the armed forces should be strengthened the way it was strengthened in Japan and India and now also in Turkey. Pakistan did not learn from Japan and again from India for obvious reasons. Time has come that Pakistan should learn at least from Turkey.
The experience in Egypt was a failed too. With American support, Morsi Government was taken over by the military. The Government faced serious prosecutions. Egyptian experience dispirited democracy. People support in Turkey and their firm resolve against the military saved the democracy.
Turkey had remained under the long-military rule for four times in its history. The military dictatorship was imposed in 1960, 1971, 1980, and 1997. The Sharif Government often faces turmoil as opposition leaders often gave sermons for military takeover.
Like Turkey, Pakistan also experienced four military dictatorships that also failed to bring about a transparent and good governance and meritocracy. In Pakistan case, military is not “habitual” to live by the Constitution – the basic document to run the State. The 1956 Constitution was abrogated. So was the 1973 Constitution that was suspended twice by the military generals. In 1962 military framed its own Constitution, which did not reflect people’s aspirations.
It is only eight years that the Constitution has been functioning but repeatedly threatened by opposition and now by the so-called Move On that staged country-wide posters to invite the army to overthrow and takeover the elected Government.
These tendencies are needed to be met out by masses democratic support, which should not allow these civilian dictatorship tendencies to grow out of proportion. The Tehreer square and Dharna type of sit-ins are staged to create room for invitation to military dictatorship. The stage is warming up again next month.
If the army is fighting against terrorism in Fata and criminal mafia in Karachi, it does not mean that they overthrow the elected Parliament and Government to clean up the mess. Turkish military is also fighting against terrorism. Military is suppose to help the civil government but “guards cannot become owners”. It is as simple.
Democratic government comes in place after heavy sacrifices and political processes. This must be respected. The struggle of the All-India Muslim League was spanned over 41 years. This was a political process, which was even not hindered by colonial masters. The brown rulers also respect this process and do not conspire to damage this process as this would only bring about the so-called Arab Spring type of chaos and anarchy and plunge the whole country into Afghan type of unending crises after crises.
The Turkish failed military attempt is a good lesson for opposition leaders in Pakistan who want to grab the power through Dharnas and rallies in the name of Panama, mega corruption, or whatever points they have in their minds. They need to firmly stand by democratic credentials and do not try to overthrow the elected Government using the undemocratic means. Democracy has a proper procedure to change a Government. Personal emotions cannot work. Military dictatorship is the worst form of governance.
The Turkish failed coup d’état has offered great lessons for the superior judiciary as after the success of the so-called coup d’état it seeks/begs for judicial support to become legitimized their political takeover ambitions. Pakistani judiciary is well known for its “nazaria zaroorat”. Elected leaders Adnan Ertikin Menderes and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto lost their lives to military dictatorships. Bhutto tried to save the life of Menderes and Turkey tried to save the life of Bhutto but all in vain. This was too much a military dictator could do to end the life an elected leader.
The dismissal of over 2745 judges in Turkey indicated the burial of nazria zaroorat. Most of these judges were in contact with the exiled religious leader Fethullah Gulen in Pennsylvania. Many coup leaders are pro-Gulen. His role is not out of context. Both Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan c and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım implicated Gulen in this failed coup d’état. Turkey demanded his extradition.
The violence killed 290 people and injured 1400. Over 6000 people have been detained including 100 generals. Some of them flew to Greece. American and European media negatively attempted on Erdoğan’s policies. One can see stories of The New York Times and the Guardian.
There are advocates of dictatorship in the judiciary. There is a community of lawyers supporting the dictatorship of Ayub, Yehya, Zia, and Musharaf. The debate over the civil-military relation has been the talk of the town since 1947. How come the role of military has not been decided? Why it has been open in a political debate? It is a matter of urgency and should have settled at the time of independence. It is a source of political instability in Pakistan since 1950s.
In all military coup d’état in Pakistan there was a direct American connection. We must understand that there is neither Tehreer square in Islamabad nor is the story of Istanbul as some are ambitious to have it. They are saddened by events in Istanbul.
They should at least grow up to learn that who will rule Islamabad, who in all four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir, will not be decided by canon but ballot. Hope the events of Istanbul will not be repeated in D-Chowk in Islamabad against the wishes of foreign-retuned/foreign-trained/GHQ-trained politicians as some politicians are staging the rallies again. It is high time to consolidate democracy in Pakistan. The society should work and gear up.
America should refrain in installing the fifth military dictatorship in Turkey or Pakistan to handle the ISIS etc project. Mercenary politics should come to an end in Pakistan. We lost over 50,000 live at least and incurred a loss of over US$ 110 billion or even more.
The country with nuclear arsenals was made politically and economically instable. Enough is enough. Let’s not repeat the siren of American fears. Let America to face for its own foreign policy implications. We are tired of that support as we have no say over American foreign policy behavior since the 1950s.
Those political figures who invite army in politics should be taken to the task. So are bureaucrats, intellectuals, think tank leaders, columnists, journalists, and businessmen etc. People are irresponsible and undemocratic for posting such comments on social media. They are polluting the minds of people against democracy.
They should be forced to read up on the Constitution and the Pakistan Movement, not the “Move On” movement. “Kudhara Ab To Ajao” is not a coup d’état? Where is our political leadership? Where is lawyer’s community? Where is our judiciary? And where are our Constitutionalists? It is matter of shame for all of us! We should learn from the Turkish model of democracy if not from the British model, at least.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was the first leader who condemned military coup d’état and showed solidarity with Turkish people. Turkish people have given a new boost to people in the Islamic world to up hold the credentials of democracy and not to bend to the so-called undemocratic strong military dictators. No matter how corrupt is democracy, it is the final resort. We have to live with democracy.