Yearning for dark days

To think that democracy has established its foothold in a mere three and a half years would be to neglect ground realities. In our society, calling on the army to takeover by politically motivated vested interests has become a tradition of sorts. Even the incumbent government (which was established after unanimous agreements between almost all parties, classes and institutions) had been functional for a mere three weeks when disconcerted parties who did not get a share in the power began inviting the army to takeover. Many analysts had taken to their press columns and their TV rostrums to extend the same invitation personally to the COAS.

President Zardari, in particular, was the recipient of pot shots and all the cases against him which couldn’t be proved in any court of law were dug up again and presented as established facts in concerted attempts to oust him from the President House. The presidential immunity racket started and it was contended that Zardari was not entitled to it and that the SC could put him on trial if it so wanted. Some journalists portended that his exit was a done deal. Some TV programmes began countdowns. One sahib went quite overboard in his rage and proclaimed that the president would be escorted out in an ambulance. General Kayani was again called on to checkmate democracy to ‘save the country’.

When those begging Gen Kayani for the deposing of Zardari were disappointed, these dejected people then looked to the SC and pinned their hopes on the CJ and implored it to summon the president in lieu of cases that had yet to be proved in any court and force him to exit the annals of power. But the CJ’s interest was in seeing to the implementation of the constitution, rather than in petty politics. He didn’t want to use his powers to abet political interests.

These elements, after their advances were rejected by the SC, started looking to Gen Kayani again. The man is after all human and humans can’t help but be influenced by their surroundings. The din for ousting Zardari had been cacophonous and Gen Kayani couldn’t ignore it for long; it has come forward in a recent WikiLeak that an American diplomat revealed to his foreign ministry that Gen Kayani had said that if he wanted to takeover the seat of power, he would’ve done so during the long march. This clearly shows that even Gen Kayani, who avowedly doesn’t want to interfere in politics, was influenced to some extent by this antagonist movement and thought amidst all this noise that he could, if he wanted to, take over the reins of power.

Another thing that has come to the fore is that the junior military leadership had pressurised Gen Kayani to protest to the US regarding a clause in the Kerry-Lugar Bill which would allow the US to monitor how much the military was under civilian control? This implies that being subservient to a constitutionally elected government is not acceptable to sections of the military. They are forced to be so due to circumstances. It might be true that Gen Kayani, as per his professionalism and pro-democracy stand, has been listening to the elected civilians but it can also not be denied that not all his associates are down with this.

General Aslam Beg has made some astonishing revelations in a recent write-up. For instance, “MQM quitting the federal and provincial governments created a new situation. Since this exit was sudden and unexpected, it was surmised that there was a conspiracy to ‘change the government’ behind all this. Because the US wasn’t pleased with the military and the government of Pakistan’s performance, keeping in mind Afghanistan’s uncertain situation, a change of government in Pakistan was deemed necessary and an obedient government and a loyal army chief’s services were to be obtained.”

Aslam Beg’s tale gets even more interesting. He adds, “In the meanwhile, intel reports of MQM’s negative activities were despatched to London. This step led to an upheaval in MQM’s ranks and British and American plans of a ‘change in government’ were thwarted. Altaf Hussain, incensed in London, was indignant that his party was being turned into a sacrificial goat. Seeing MQM’s pitiable state, American and British diplomats reached Karachi for peace negotiations due to which the government agreed to re-include MQM in the coalition. The governor was once again back in his seat and the anti-MQM presidential dictates were taken back.”

The story doesn’t end here. General Beg writes further, “Now it remains to be seen what new game foreign hands will cook up after the failure of this conspiracy?” Are Zulfiqar’s Mirza’s blitz of recent activities and his extensive coverage in the media an allusion to the conspiracy that Gen Beg hinted at and that, according to him, was foiled by President Zardari. Maybe a new conspiracy with new players is afoot. But the questions remain: who was part of the unsuccessful conspiracy? If they weren’t caught, can they be expected to stay silent? If they were caught, who were they and where are they? Seeing all this, it can be said that the conditions for democracy are not as favourable as we mistakenly believe.

In our country, the democratic setup can be sent packing at any moment. Since this government was formed, every traditional way which facilitates the army’s inroads into the power structure have been employed. The elements which favour the army’s return have not wasted a day and have ensured, that even today, conditions are conducive for a military takeover. After all, what does the army have to do? Arrest some people from their houses and install military personnel in their place. That’s it; job done. As easy as having egg and toast for breakfast.

Karachi’s situation may be unbearable for its denizens but they are a mere means to an end for the cruel players of power. Human suffering, conflict and corpses are all tools in the hands of political craftsmen. Karachi’s state has these crafties drooling. They don’t want to miss the opportunity to get the military involved. It’s entirely possible that the political parties under fire for the activities of target killers are wholly unaware of them. These killers could very well be agents of those who want to call the army in.

The problem is that the tardiness of institutional process, sluggish official performance and corruption which are kept under wraps in a military dictatorship are by nature in the public eye in a democracy. This then disturbs the public, which is then again ready to welcome the dark days of dictatorship which they got rid of after a struggle of ten, eleven years. A few days of democracy are enough to make us forget decades of dictatorial distress.

The writer is one of Pakistan’s most widely read columnists.