Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq
In 1992, The Herald, Karachi, decided to interview the great intellectual of our time, Edward W. Said. The interviewer posed a question to him, “Why we must continue to turn to the Zias of the world….” In 2008, we are still faced with the challenge of undoing the legacy of the Zias of the world, which can now be called “Musharrafs of the world”. In fact the change in nomenclature has no relevance, as the substance remains the same even after 16 years. Professor Said pointed out in his reply that in a world where might is right, the powerful in the global politics ensure the perpetuation of their control through handpicked cronies and lackeys in different countries.
This explains why it is so difficulty to undo the legacy of dictators in countries like Pakistan, even after the clear mandate of people, through elections. Those possessing power always strive to dispossess the masses of their rights through cronies. Why do the powerful create and support cronies? The answer is simple. They cannot move ahead without their support and wrongdoings. They are bound to protect their cronies in order to protect themselves. This is exactly what happened on March 9, 2007—Black Day in Pakistan’s judicial history—when the Authority who rules the land summoned the Chief Justice of Pakistan and while in military uniform asked him to resign or face a reference. The General and his cronies aspired to continue ruling unchallenged, but the very Chief Justice of Pakistan who amongst other judges of the apex court, had given the General a three-years chance, became a major hurdle in the way. This was sufficient time to consolidate rule of law and pave the way for transfer of power to civilians. However, the cronies surrounding the General soon convinced him that he should stick to both the positions, President of Pakistan as well as Chief of Army Staff.
The mighty in their lust for money and power want to rule the world despotically for which they have to create cronies to fulfill their agenda; the best examples being those of Iraq and Afghanistan where puppet governments are acting against their own peoples. The Bush administration wants its “partners” [in fact cronies] in ‘War against Terrorism’ [it is in fact “war for terrorism”] to do more and more by bombing indiscriminately, taking heavy toll of innocent human lives. Those who chose to become friends of the USA against its proxy war in Afghanistan after the aims and objectives achieved by the master, found themselves in the line of fire. These were the wages of unconditional submission before the despots. It is an historical determinism that power and lust for money can bring a crony in direct conflict with the master, who can tolerate everything but threat to his own authority [killing of General Zia is a classical case study]. So if one remains a crony, survival is possible, but the moment that crony aspires to pose some threat to the master, his days are numbered. There are great lessons for all cronies to learn from history, but they seldom do so for the simple reason that lust for money and power is very hard to overcome.
Historians are bewildered as day-by-day Pakistani society is wrangling with unnecessary political and legal shenanigans and has failed to undo the legacy of the Zia reincarnated in the more brutal form of Musharraf. As a president-elect-in-uniform, he wants to stick to power for another 5 years, even after a clear verdict against him on February 18, 2008. The newly-elected finance minister candidly tells people that price hike of petroleum and gas products is in the best “national interest”, as his predecessor used to say. Amongst other prevailing ills in the society, religious scholars (sic) insist on misguiding the people claiming they have magic wand for curing everything, parliamentarians are keen in getting their benefits enhanced rather than serving the masses and most undesirable customs of karo kari (honour killing), vani and swara (cruel customs where women are given in marriage as a form of compensation) are continuing unabated. Therefore, quest for a true constitutional democracy and rule of law appear a far-fetched idea.
Since the bizarre episode of March 9, 2007, there lurks a continuous struggle between the different organs of State to display their muscles and supremacy. Control of State with the barrel of gun cannot be matched by judicial activism. People’s power alone can counter any extra-constitutional move. Political leadership with the backing of masses can avert action like that taken on November 3, 2007. Courts are meant to interpret law, whereas enforcing the will of people and countering any despotic rule is always a political question that cannot be solved by the courts. Since our leadership has failed to establish rule of law, the entire society is now in the line of fire. All kinds of conflicts are surfacing for want of rule of law and accountability of those who transgress their limits. The main cause of our present day pathetic socio-political and economic situation is existence of inefficient, corrupt, repressive and criminal institutions, which do not give a damn for the welfare of the common people. Successive governments’ policies of self-aggrandizement have reduced Pakistan to a state-in-perpetual-conflict. The worsening economic situation with poor law and order testify to the fact that progress and tranquility cannot be achieved by merely toeing the policies of aggressors and oppressors.
The quote from Aristotle’s The Politics, “when laws do not rule, there is no constitution” fits most aptly to Pakistan’s political evolution and constitutional history. Our military and civilian rulers have always acted in identical manner in violating all established norms of rule of law and the result as predicted by Aristotle is before us. Every ruler has mutilated (a very mild term to describe what really happens with the supreme law of the land) the Constitution to suit his/her needs and to perpetuate dictatorial regime under one pretext or the other. The role of judiciary in endorsing these unconstitutional rules remains the most lamentable chapter of our history.
The issue of ousting of judges cannot be examined in isolation. It shows that even after 61 years of existence, we have miserably failed to abide by democratic norms that preclude abuse of arbitrary powers . The conduct of each government since 1948 has been to waste or plunder public money, forcing the people into debt enslavement and mercilessly flouting all rules and laws. Therefore, if we failed to have true democracy or a responsible Government, it is not surprising at all! The three Constitutions we framed were merely pieces of paper having no sanctity; even the framers of these documents were their worst offenders. The constitution of a country is a living and vibrant document that determines the future direction of the nation, provided there is respect for the document and for rule of law. In a country where a single person is authorised (by self-acclaimed decree or through an authority itself lacking competence under the law) to amend the supreme law of the land, there can neither be democracy nor constitution. Musharraf, In the Line of Fire, portrayed himself a great saviour of the nation, whereas the reality is that under his despotic rule, with the support and connivance of USA and its allies, the poor and helpless people of this country have been deprived of their fundamental rights of access to free health, educational facilities and dispensation of justice. How long will this legacy continue? As Professor Said opined, as long as cronies rule the world, but it can end if people decide to become moral agents and not servants of power.
The understanding of the concept of peoples’ rule of Musharraf is not different from that of the late Gen. Ziaul Haq, who destroyed all public institutions during his 11-year dictatorial rule in the name of his version of democracy and Islam. Every dictator desires to perpetuate his unlawful rule advocating that he is the saviour of the nation, and ultimately goes on to destroy the national cohesion itself. It is extremely unfortunate that due to perpetuation of legacy of Zia, the cronies (including some elected members) are following the agenda of USA and its allies, which is detrimental to the interests of Pakistan and ultimately for the entire Muslim World. Denying the establishment of a true democratic structure and independence of judiciary tantamount strengthening the hands of enemies of State. The so-called advocates of “changing the system” should reconsider their hidden (sic!) ties with the “power” if they want to survive as representatives of people or otherwise they will be adjudged by history in the same category as were those who joined the King’s party under the banner of PML(Q).
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The writers, legal historians, tax advisers, are Visiting Professors at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). They can be reached through their website: www.huzaimaikram.com
Tags: colonialism, control, Pakistan military junta, politics, subjugation
