Lies, damn lies and statistics
Harris Khalique

I think it was Voltaire who said that there are three types of lies – lies, damn lies and statistics. One sees all kinds being hurled and tossed around at the time of writing these lines. A terribly abstract, confused and all-over-the-place agenda for reforming the political system is being propounded by Dr Tahirul Qadri at a rally in Blue Area, Islamabad, where his long march from Lahore culminates. But some of us see that this apparently general and confused agenda has some clear and definite objectives. Let me come to that later and first start with the lies, damn lies and statistics.
We were told by Qadri through a section of the media when he was in Lahore that all roads to Islamabad are blocked and measures are being taken to stop the march from entering into Islamabad. At the same time, a large stage for Qadri’s speech was being set up in the heart of Islamabad. The marchers not only entered Islamabad without any hitch or hindrance, their supporters welcomed them on the site of the sit-in and the final rally.
Qadri had also said that trenches in and around Islamabad had been filled by gunpowder, arms and ammunition. No one knows where these trenches are. He also said that there were tankers filled with acid parked in Islamabad, perhaps to be thrown on the long-marchers. No one living here has seen these tankers anywhere as yet.
Let us now come to the speech he made. Remembering Imam Hussain and drawing an analogy with the battle of Karbala while sitting in a bulletproof container mounted on a truck is simply astounding. Mind you, he speaks to audiences while sitting. He spoke about establishing peace within the country and outside, curbing and discouraging terrorism and bringing an end to corruption of all sorts. Who could contest the rightfulness of his assertions?
However, he forgot that both the MQM and the PML-Q he has been flirting with have been in power for a decade and hold an equal share in creating the rot that Qadri wants to clear. Besides, it seems that like the liberals of Pakistan, he thinks that terrorism only in the name of religion has to be condemned. And that terrorism in the name of ethnicity or political association has to be conveniently ignored. Unfortunately, the PPP has been overlooking this terrorism as well. But the PPP is not claiming to bring about a revolution while Qadri is clamouring, yelling and agitating for a revolutionary change which includes an end to terrorism.
Dr Tahirul Qadri is vociferous about upholding the constitution of the republic. At the same time, he wants the military, the superior judiciary and the people outside parliament to be involved in forming the interim government – a purely unconstitutional demand. Why do we continually forget that the military, the judiciary and the civilian bureaucracy are appointed public servants? Moreover, after seeing the crowd in Blue Area and perhaps learning about what happened in Quetta, he became a little too excited and asked for the dissolution of the National and provincial assemblies right away.
This was not the demand he had made before in Lahore or Karachi. Asking for the government to resign is completely different from demanding the dissolution of the assemblies. He will be disappointed to know that if the Senate continues, for it will, even if the assemblies are dissolved, the PPP will remain the single largest party. Qadri is eager to appease the military leadership and the superior judiciary. At the same time he calls himself the champion of true democracy. In effect, he is asking for military intervention and even more heightened judicial activism. Has this ever been good for a nascent democratic order?
Qadri also wants the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to be dissolved. Why? The chief election commissioner is nominated by the opposition in parliament and appointed with consensus, a man of impeccable character. And, for the first time an EC is also aided by four election commissioners representing each of the four federating units.
Meeting this demand essentially means postponement of elections. Whose purpose does that serve? What kind of precedence for chaos and anarchy is he trying to set? Out of a population of 180 million, we gather much less than one hundred thousand people and march to parliament and ask them to do anything we wish to see done in the country.
This brings me to the statistics. Qadri and his cronies are constantly saying that hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in Islamabad. We all know that politicians all over the world tend to exaggerate facts and figures to their benefit. Pakistani politicians do it a little more than others. But Qadri calls himself a reformer, a pious and truthful man, a Sheikh-ul-Islam. How could he tell us that a crowd which is definitely under one hundred thousand people, most likely fifty to sixty thousand, constitutes a gathering of one million? He started off with the figure of four million, if we recall correctly.
Dr Qadri also said that he is not against an individual or a political party but the current system of governance and the rules set for the upcoming elections. At the same time when the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the incumbent prime minister while he was still speaking to the rally, he cheered and rejoiced. He asked the people to say special thanksgiving prayers with their regular midday prayers.
Here one sees the clarity of objectives hidden behind an apparently all-over-the-place agenda. The objective is not just to finish off the remaining eight weeks of the present government quickly. It is more important that the interim setup is technocratic in nature and comes in to stay for a while. There will be old wine in new bottle, as they say.
The interim government composed of pious technocrats and altruistic servants of the people of Pakistan will stay in power until the time the political rot is completely cleared, the electoral system is totally reformed for the next cycle and, last but not the least, some settlement is reached in Afghanistan after the Nato-Isaf forces have largely pulled out.
There is a purely internal agenda as well which is only concerned with undermining the role of an elected political representative permanently. Qadri’s march contributes to that agenda. Pakistan has a tragedy which very few other countries have in common with it. All our institutions want to enjoy political control and overstep their limits. Every head of a state institution wants to enjoy the same powers as the prime minister. They crave for the same level of authority and executive power. Some who can’t even win a union council election or have bagged a single national or provincial assembly seat in the past want to become heads of government.
The problem with these self-righteous messiahs is not merely their aspirations. They actually believe that they can put the house in order once they acquire political power. Their ignorance may well be bliss for them but it is only a cause of misery for the country.
Tailpiece: When the state fails to provide decent education to its young, lets madressahs and seminaries of different sects flourish that enrol young people in hundreds of thousands, it should expect a maverick to rise anytime and take it on. He could be instigated by some other power or could be simply led by his own ambition.
The writer is a poet and author based in Islamabad.
Email: harris.khalique@gmail.com