SAVE US FROM OUR SAVIOURS
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Lawyers and ordinary concerned citizens are being beaten up and arrested while one of the allegedly most corrupt, and now most opportunistic politicians, struts free salivating at the full coffers of the country's reserves and ready to sell her soul to erase her past misdeeds and gain access once again to the state. The judges of the Supreme Court who have stood tall to defend the Constitution and have held the bureaucracy to account are literally locked behind their gates as the people's basic rights are now abused with impunity by the same officials who resented being held to account for these actions earlier -- probably for the first time in the country's history.
As for the truth, it has been lost amid the media blackout and the plethora of unbelievable statements including the bizarre denial by the newly-appointed functionaries of the Supreme Court judgement on the PCO by a bench of the Supreme Court. This, despite the fact that the judgement has been printed in the newspapers and was sent to all the provincial high courts as well. In such an environment, the rumour mills are having a field day as an air of uncertainty and gloom haunts the nation. Certainly, how can any citizen with a passionate commitment to this country, to its beauteous diversity, to its intensely emotive people, to its achievements in adversity, to its institutions, do anything other than shed tears at this sorry state of affairs?
It is an irony that, despite the increasing tide of terrorism confronting the nation and the political machinations, despite the interventions and attempted meddlings of external actors, despite the dialectic between so-called liberalism and so-called conservatism, there was a vibrancy and hope that pervaded the nation. This was the result of the resurgence of the judiciary and what one saw as a climate of healthy tolerance for "the other" as reflected in the innumerable media debates and discussions. Certainly the independent media erred often times as did the state, and certainly there was a growing debate on exactly where we were headed in the US-led war on terror. But there was a feeling that systems and institutions could finally come to take precedence over ad hocism and individualism.
Then in one swoop, that vibrancy and hope have been lost. The dent to the democratic process, however flawed it may have been, has been a major blow for this nation as has been the violence and arrest of activists, leaders, lawyers, judges, journalists, students and simply ordinary citizens with a commitment to their vision of this great nation. A civil society living under fear and constant threat leads to a weak nation -- something our enemies have been seeking for a long time.
Whatever the intent of the 'emergency' (effectively martial law) -- and apart from the official rationalisations many other reasons are also being hotly debated -- the loser at the end of the day is the nation as a whole. However, more ominously, what is being threatened most immediately is the security of the country -- at two critical levels. One is the more immediately visible level of detracting the security forces from dealing with the terrorist threat. With huge deployments in cities to counter the political and civil dissent, to sustain a growing level of house arrests and so on, and with a finite number of personnel, the loss will be felt in other areas of operations. So, in many ways, the terrorists will gain more space amongst the extremists far beyond the tribal belt.
However, it is the second more long-term negative impact that should be a cause for national concern. This is the impact that events have already been having on the institution of the military. The Pakistan military is a highly cohesive and professional organisation -- one that has a central role in protecting and enhancing our strategic assets. That is why external actors like the US, who seek weak and compliant Muslim states, know that at the end of the day they will need to undermine the institution of the military even as they attempt to sow discontent within civil society -- not only amongst each other but also in terms of the civil-military equation. After all, even at times of intense alliance, Pakistan as a state has managed to stand firm on its national interests.
This was the case when we developed our nuclear capability; when we refused to go along with the US invasion of Iraq and our continuing refusal to play ball with the US on Iran. On the US-led war on terrorism, for a while Pakistan chose to adopt a more holistic approach than the military-centric US approach with its massive collateral damage in terms of civilian losses. We did realise that such losses cannot be sustained by our military in the war on terror because the targets are our own people.
Also, a prolonged operation against our own people would be stressful for the rank and file of the security forces and this is what seems to be happening. Large-scale kidnappings of security personnel are extremely damaging to the security institutions. Equally damaging is the long-term political intervention of the military in national affairs. The rumours doing the rounds on Monday last regarding a counter coup and so on do no good to the health of the military institution. Yet it is critical for Pakistan to maintain the professional vibrancy of its military.
It is interesting to note that in terms of Pakistan the US has always praised its leaders with whom it evolved beneficial equations rather than the nation as a whole. Saddam was seen as a dangerous "tyrant" but it is Pakistan as a whole that is seen as "dangerous" or being overwhelmed by extremists. Interestingly, the US Centcom chief visited Pakistan a day before the declaration of 'emergency' and a few days earlier the Jordanian king had also visited. Was support for US policy on Iran an issue for discussion?
The point is that the US stands to benefit tremendously right now because it may demand costly quid pro quos for toning down their criticism of the 'emergency'. That is why Ms Bhutto is increasingly being viewed as part of the US deal-making -- hence her rather guarded protest against the 'emergency'. Will the US now have a freer military hand in the tribal belt? Will Pakistan move closer to US policy on Iran? So many questions and suspicions naturally come to mind given the past record of the US vis-a-vis my beloved country. I am what I am because of Pakistan and I am nothing without Pakistan.
So, at the end of the day, it is not an issue of "transitionists" versus "confrontationists" or "revolutionaries", within the Pakistani context -- there being no authentic revolutionaries within our midst. It is an issue of national perspectives versus external perspectives and national institutions being strengthened rather than individuals. Our temporal salvation lies in strong institutions and stable systems, not in individual "saviours".
(The writer is director general of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad. Email: smnews80@hotmail.com)
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