Setting new course


Written by S.G. Jilanee • Cover Stories • October 2010

2-1 There is no dearth of pessimists and Jeremiahs whether in the world at large or in Pakistan. They are those who see doom and gloom at every turn. It is such people at home and abroad who see Pakistan as a failed state or at least teetering at the brink.

Pox on the faces of those prophets of doom for Pakistan is neither a failed state nor anywhere near being one. Of course it has problems. It is riddled with crises, some of which are colossal. Today's crises include social injustice, a weak economy, unprecedented crime rates, burgeoning corruption, Taliban insurgency and heavy displacement of people due to military operations in parts of the country, rounded off by yet another unprecedented catastrophe of the floods.

But U.S. economy is in worse condition. Unlike in America, no bank or financial institution has gone broke in Pakistan. Nor have hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs. Indian army is also locked in violent fighting with the freedom fighters in the Kashmir Valley, as well as Maoist and ULFA insurgents. If such be the yardstick for a failed state, then U.S.A. and India also qualify for the sobriquet.

A few years back the Newsweek called Pakistan the most dangerous nation in the world. But the statement was deliberately misleading for it did not specify who it was most dangerous for. It could be so for Americans, and maybe, for the Brits because of their alliance with the U.S. in their phony war on terror, But, as al Qaeda has no quarrel with anyone except the U.S. and its co-travelers, so Pakistan poses no danger for any other people.

Pakistan was born in a crisis of appalling magnitude. There are people still alive who witnessed the massive tide of Muslim refugees coming from India and their pathetic state. The state was literally without resources as India had refused to give Pakistan its due share in the financial assets.

The sick had to be given medical aid. The hungry needed feeding. The homeless required shelter. State institutions had to be raised from scratch. Salaries had to be paid to employees. And every demand was urgent. Yet Pakistan coped. It did not fail.

Pakistan also coped with U.S. sanctions under Pressler and Symington Amendments, but did not give up its nuclear program. It survived even without East Pakistan though it was the greatest shock ever, and moved on.

Signs of Pakistan's resilience in the midst of the worst odds are evident at every step. A few years ago it suffered a severe earthquake; now it is the floods. In both cases Pakistani people displayed unique fortitude and the capacity to cope. As one journal says, "In makeshift camps that have come up in the middle of roadway medians, at air bases flying impossible rescue missions, at corner shops, and on television, God seems to be on everyone's mind."

Political rivalries do not a failed state make, either. Such rivalries, though sometimes violent, are the stuff democracies are made of in South Asia. And Pakistan as its part is no exception. Yet, the new trend of reconciliation and forgiving the past that President Zardari has introduced in Pakistan's politics, holds the strongest promise to steer the society through the worst dangers.

When his angry supporters from Sindh called for the province to secede from Pakistan as protest against the murder of his wife, former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, he could have played on their passions. He could have become another Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Instead, he shouted them down with the cry of "Pakistan khappey!"

He had taken note of the consequences the country had suffered due to the bitter, no-holds-barred fighting between political parties, particularly the PPP and the PML (N). Back once again on the track after nine years the fledgling democracy needed to be saved and protected. To achieve that purpose it was indispensable to cultivate an atmosphere of cooperation with political parties. The hatchet needed to be buried to move on.

Having thus laid the foundation of a new dawn in the country's politics, Zardari embarked on a fence-mending program. First on his list on this "holy" campaign was therefore the Muttaheda Qaumi Movement since it was still nursing the deep wounds inflicted under Benazir Bhutto. He, therefore, visited MQM's headquarters at Nine Zero. He offered condolences and fateha for the dead. He contritely regretted the past and appealed for both parties to start a new leaf in their mutual relations. It worked. MQM is therefore PPP's staunch partner both in the provincial and federal governments.

Zaedari worked the same pacifist magic on the ANP and JUI (F), winning the hearts and minds of Asfandyar Wali and Maulana Fazlur Rahman. He contained even his arch-rival Nawaz Sharif. Dissent and differences occur. They are normal features of a democratic dispensation. Yet, Sharif no more talks of toppling the PPP government. The days when Benazir denied berth at Karachi port to a ship, the Jonathan, carrying iron scrap for Nawaz Sharif's foundry and had his father arrested, or Sharif retaliating by sending Zardari behind bars, are no more.

This approach has helped calm tensions in the smaller provinces. And the resultant coalition has yielded some big wins for Pakistan's democracy. The near unanimous passage by Parliament of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution is an example, which, by any yardstick was a landmark event because it pruned the president's powers-notably, his right to dissolve Parliament, as well as a national revenue-sharing agreement among the four provinces.

Meanwhile, tolerance for violence is abating. National revulsion at the assassination of Bhutto; the Taliban's overreach in the Swat Valley and the spate of suicide bombings in urban centers has turned the majority of Pakistanis strongly against suicide attacks.

The Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009, the renaming the North-Western Frontier Province as Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa and the "granting" of their rights to the people of Balochistan are other achievements since the return of democracy to Pakistan. The erstwhile Northern Areas has been renamed Gilgit-Baltistan, by creating, among other things, an elected legislative assembly. The renaming of the NWFP has pacified the ANP by conceding its long-standing demand. And, the rights of the Baloch people have been recognized by the federal government after sixty-two years.

Add to these the present role of the army, the judiciary the civil society and the media. Of course it occasionally counsels the rulers when they appear to slip from their course. But it has become professional betraying no lust for power. The media and the civil society, particularly the lawyer fraternity, have played a historic role in restoring the prestige and independence of the judiciary. And the judiciary, for the first time in the country's history, is independent delivering verdicts that promise to firm up Pakistan's image as a country inhabited by law-abiding people.

So, does Pakistan, still look like a failed state? True the tar accumulated for many years cannot be washed away in a day or even a year. But a good beginning has been made. A lot more needs still to be done. But, if the rulers work on it with selfless dedication, they may be able to rebrand Pakistan as peaceful, progressive and strong.