An abortive coup
TURKEY may have entered a turbulent and uncertain phase in its history, but until the events of this weekend there had appeared to be at least one certainty: the military had been returned to the barracks and the threat of a coup permanently eroded. The chaotic events of Friday evening, however, suggest that there are sizeable elements inside Turkey’s military that still do not accept the constitutional authority of a legitimately elected government and that continue to believe it is their duty to protect the state from the people’s elected representatives. If that threatened to create further instability in a country and region already convulsed by wars, terrorist violence and frightening sectarian rivalries, the response of the Turkish people, the full spectrum of its political class and the civilian apparatus of the state has been nothing short of historic. It was remarkable to witness a nation and polity divided come together immediately in defence of its democratic process — the need to defend the representative system being of more fundamental importance than any partisan view of a particular government.
The Turkish people and their political leaders have acted in a manner inspirational for many countries struggling with their own anti-democratic forces, but is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan willing to show the necessary humility and flexibility to protect the democracy that he is chief custodian of? A purge within the military may be inevitable and necessary, but there is more than a whiff of political machinations in the Turkish president’s accusations against former ally and moderate cleric, Fethullah Gulen. Mr Erdogan has a reputation for seeing enemies everywhere and his authoritarian approach to ruling seems to only exacerbate his problems. Clearly, the people of Turkey want Mr Erdogan as their leader; surely there’s no reason for him to constantly alienate and antagonise his colleagues and create unnecessary problems for the country. Moreover, the Turkish president often uses the very democratic process that has conferred on him popular legitimacy for undemocratic ends. In fact, Mr Erdogan’s net contribution to democratic institution-building frequently appears to be in the negative.
Here in Pakistan, the failed coup in Turkey has some important lessons for the military leadership. With some sections of the public, media and the political class criticising the elected government, its governance record and some of its policy choices, there may be a temptation to justify decreasing the political and governance space of the incumbent PML-N — or even to contemplate the unthinkable and return Pakistan to the dark days of military rule. But such short-term thinking is precisely what contributes to long-term governance malaise. Pakistan is a constitutional democracy for a reason: it is the only path towards finding sustainable and lasting improvements in the quality of governance. First principles must never be compromised in the quest for ill-conceived fixes.
Qandeel’s murder
THE shocking ‘honour’ killing of popular social media celebrity, Qandeel Baloch, must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
In her brief moment in the spotlight, she breezily pushed the boundaries of what in Pakistan is considered ‘acceptable’ behaviour by women, and her death highlights the perils that such a path entails.
Outspoken and fearless, she chose to live life on her own terms — as a woman whose antics unnerved her many moralistic critics, most of whom were both enthralled and repelled by her.
That in itself was an act of courage. In fact, in a sense it was the very exaggerated nature of her persona — that many saw as controversial and that she flaunted in her risqué videos — which got the message across: women have a right to be themselves even if they offend conventional sensibilities.
And the state’s response must unequivocally demonstrate that they do not deserve to be murdered for it. For this reason too, her murder must be immediately investigated and the perpetrators — allegedly her brothers — apprehended and punished.
It is regrettable though that the state has a weak record when it comes to prosecutions because quite often the murderers of women go scot-free.
They are forgiven and even supported by regressive patriarchies after killing ‘disobedient’ female family members increasing the impunity factor — this is reason enough for removing punishment waivers and compoundability provisions from the law.
And although filmmakers, activists and legislators have lobbied for revised laws, there has been zero headway.
Why the lethargy?
When will parliament be jolted out of its stupor to pass the anti-honour killing bill?
Now that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is back, he must deliver on his pledge to amend the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2004, by removing the clauses that make such murder a private offence instead of a crime against state and society.
Furthermore, when a citizen asks for protection it must be provided by the state. In this case, the interior ministry was gravely at fault to have ignored the young celebrity’s request for security.
The death of Qandeel Baloch conveys an insidious message: that women will be kept back at all cost; murdered, if they dare nurture ambitions to break the glass ceiling.
Her murder, therefore, must serve as an impetus for legislators to renew demands for legislation to protect women who are threatened under false notions of ‘honour’.
Azad Kashmir polls
THE national parties of the country have taken their usual electoral shenanigans to Azad Kashmir ahead of the polls there later this month. In fact, it is an action replay of the normal Pakistani tendency to push people’s issues to one side in order to allow opportunistic politics to take centre stage. There has been violence including deaths and injuries. There have been firebrand speeches, often delivered and reacted to away from Kashmir in some perennially interested quarters in Islamabad, Lahore and elsewhere. Those who report from Kashmir describe as ‘thinking people’ the group that is aghast at the antics on display during the poll campaign. This thinking lot, it seems, does not include politicians.
There is definitely a trophy at stake and there are many claimants. The tone has been primarily set by old rivals PPP and PML-N. The former thinks it has a traditional and emotional link with Azad Kashmir which should help it retain power in Muzaffarabad. But instead of highlighting an achievement or two of its latest term in Kashmir, the PPP has been turning to anti-India slogans to woo voters. These chants ring hollow when the party’s latest commander, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, does not follow up on them, and does not suggest measures that could bring peace to India-held Kashmir. Short of that, the anti-Modi refrain appears little more than an emotional ploy to secure a poll victory. On the other hand, the PML-N, too, has not been overly interested in showcasing any Kashmir-specific initiatives since it came to power at the centre in 2013. At best, it promises the expansion of its familiar, road-centric model to Azad Kashmir; its poll campaign speakers have so far betrayed little interest in taking up the bigger, more crucial issue of real autonomy. There are other important players such as the PTI and Muslim Conference; unfortunately, while they may be contributing to some basic ideal of pluralism, they are not participating in a meaningful debate about Kashmir’s issues and their resolution.
Source: Editorials
Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2016