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Pakistan is our identity
Amjad Malik Writes specially for on the escalating violence in Pakistan
Pakistan has now come to a crossroad where Pakistani civic society, lawyers, judiciary and media has a key role to play in ensuring the rule of law in the country coupled with civil process with good governance and cheap and quick justice in corruption ridden past. More than a million Pakistani the UK & Europe, realising that the very country gives them ‘recognition’ are eyeing on its progress and prosperity to jump in and invest. However, Pakistan has struggled to establish itself for various reasons, such as the death of its founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah shortly after partition, as well as poor infrastructure and a lack of political and economic stability in its early life. Nearly four of its six decades of life have seen military regimes. Pakistan’s parliament is still struggling with other institutions for its sovereignty, while the judiciary and media are both fighting hard to come out of the strong grip of its rulers both civil and military. Kerry Lugar Bill is a fine example of our parliament’s absent minded approach as it started crying once the body was buried.
In recent history, 9 March in 2007, when Pakistan’s military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, tried to subdue the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, by suspending him from judicial work, incarcerating him and making him incommunicado, along with his family, without counsel. The legal fraternity stood up for him and that single judge conquered the hearts and minds of the Pakistani people. The Chief Justice resorted to the courts and eventually petitioned for justice in his own court. On 20 July, a Supreme Court bench of 13 judges quashed the decision and restored the Chief Justice to his old position. Then came 3rd of November when military man lost sight of all he did in the last 8 years and with a twitch of a hand vetoed his own asset, I leave that to the historians to judge him for either his dictatorial actions or his intended prosperity, but one thing is clear that his advisors took him to a dead end as President Nixon emphasised the importance of the quality of aides when he fell. General suspended constitution and imposed emergency rule on 3 November 2007, and same was the fate of his actions when Supreme Court larger bench scrapped the Iqbal Tikka Khan case judgement and the emergency provisions on 31 July 2009.
Other recent events in Pakistan, including the 12 May massacre in Karachi, military operations at the Red Mosque in Islamabad, and a sharp increase in suicide attacks, prompt serious questions of the ever-growing threat of radicalisation in Pakistani society and the ever-widening gulf between liberals and theologians, trends which can also be seen in the UK. I believe simple democracy with justice can solve half of the problems in Pakistan. In the whole power struggle, the common man is suffering and middle class conservatives are losing ground. The west must play its role to ensure support for deterrence, dialogue and development strategy in Pakistan as with either might or dialogue alone may not solve the problem which has entered our houses now.
Recent attacks in Lahore where suicidal attackers are making a scene on any visible security personnel presence place is a sign of their dying effort to spread terror and fear. Sooner the nuclear-armed Pakistan returns to normality, the better it will be for the rest of the world. Only a truly reflective and representative civilian set-up can absorb these radical ideas, by addressing political issues through dialogue and stopping them from multiplying, whereas die hard are alienated from the mainstream and minority violent radicals are crushed forcefully coupled with a net work of school, colleges and free education and social welfare projects and trade not aid for those millions of victims has a key of salvation.
As a frontline state in the ‘War against terror’, Pakistan is a key country that needs the attention of the west. Putting conditions on its capacity to deliver will harm the ongoing struggle against the outlawed and will weaken the process of tackling the radicals, aiding the civil system in partnership is a key to bring revolution. The western world, along with Pakistani lawyers, judges, civil society and media have a very important role to play to return Pakistan a country akin to a ‘dream come true’ to a real democracy where the rule of law, rather than military rule, holds sway.. War on terror cannot be fought and won by unilateral incursions, it can be fought only by winning the hearts and minds and only by joint international collaboration. Pakistan stands between rock and hard place. Govt is seen in the eyes of Pakistani public giving too much to Americans but to USA administration we are not doing enough. Kerry Lugar only puts extra conditions to ensure our obedience. Pakistani abroad share their brethren in their struggle for rule of law, free & independent judiciary, justice and democracy and above all supremacy of 1973 constitution in Pakistan. Struggle goes on as its an ongoing process to win through paving political will and remaining steadfast on the issue of democracy. We are known because of Pakistan, what we will do without it, God forbid.
Amjad Malik, is a Solicitor-Advocate Supreme Court of England
16 October 2009
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