Foreign Media on Mush

Why Boycott is not an Option?

In the outrage post emergency, I was confused about whether the opposition should boycott the elections or not? For instance, soon after emergency, when a Lahore based journalist (and one for whom I have high regard for), currently in Karachi, was emotionally advocating oppositions' boycott of the polls, my only response was, I am not sure whether boycott is a good option or not. As the outrage is giving way to rational, I am getting more and more convinced that boycott is not the best option.

Before I build my case, let me clarify one thing. Just when I believe that boycott of 1985 elections by MRD was not the right decision; I am not ready to buy the argument that had MRD contested those elections, under Zia and his apparatus, it would have won them. However, what contesting would have done then was, make life a lot more miserable for Zia and let democratic forces have more bargaining power against Zia. And I don't expect miracles happening in 2008 either. Then why am I advocating opposition contesting elections?

My first argument, what is so different between 2002 and 2008? Here we have a bias set-up holding elections. Country is run by PCO and is under martial law. Musharaf has got himself elected as president using unfair means. He has appointed a handpicked Supreme Court. Election commission is part ineffective, part-biased in favor of his supporters. In 2002, we had a bias set up holding elections. Elections were held under PCO and martial law. Musharaf got himself elected president through a gimmick called referendum. Courts were Musharaf's handpicked. Election commission was headed by bezamir Irshad Hassan Khan. Popular leadership was in exile. Country was in large parts without independent electronic media (news channels were running their test transmissions and were not the news source or opinion makers as they became in 2007 before Martial Law hit them). Popular leadership was in exile. And surprise surprise. Musharaf was Head of State, Head of Executive and Head of "Army". If contesting elections in 2008 is giving Musharaf legitimacy, it was same back in 2002. Looking at all these facts, people who advocate boycott now, in principle, should have done it in 2002 too. If 2002 elections were contested under protest, so can 2008 be. They got elected. Many of them gifted nation with what we now know as 17th amendment. Others made a lot of noise about rubber-stamp parliament while staying in the same parliament till the very end (yes I am referring to Mr. Imran Khan - if opposition did not want to resign and he thought it was useless to be in parliament - principle demands he should have been out of it as two Baloch nationalist MPs did - hypocrisy).

Second argument is that boycotting elections will deny elections the credibility. To be honest, it does not make any difference to Establishment how credible the elections are for people in Pakistan. Supporters of the regime, if any, are going to hail them for rigging and will try justifying it in the name of stability anyways - so much for the tradition of rule of law of educated Pakistanis. Had it not been the case, we would not have what we had since first provincial elections in Pakistan back in early 50s - Ayub's election, Zia's referendum, 88s, 90s, 97s, Musharaf's referendum, 02, local bodies and list goes on and on and on. And as far as they West goes, did not the same man get away with something as shameless and fraudulent as referendum (about which Dawn apart from these glamorous pictures of handful men in black and women in red voting, was full of stories of ballot stuffing, bogus voting, fraud and rigging). It cannot be worse than that in the coming elections.

I agree that Musharaf will be desperate to have his henchmen in to get indemnity for his coup of November 3rd. He will go to any length to get the elections rigged. His best option is to have opposition parties boycott the polls to give his prodigies a walkover. Imran Khan and Qazi who have been known for being the helping hands of establishment in the past, is up for it once more. The hope of Musharaf in Nawaz's returns might be the same. I hope Nawaz Sharif has learnt his lesson and will not side with usurpers this time. However, my apprehension is that he will pressurize PPP and others to boycott elections (allowing Musharaf a free ride to 2/3rd) and if that fails he will lead a pro-establishment alliance in the elections (how establishment balances it out between Musharaf and him is to be seen) to check PPP.

I do not expect opposition to do wonders at elections. However, I do believe that with main stream parties contesting led by their leadership, and a higher degree of interest of international media as a result of main stream leaders contesting elections (the only noise that can force the western governments to act), life will be a lot more miserable for him than it was on any of the elections he conducted. It is not a time to boycott but a time to muster all the forces to check forces of establishment to rig elections as much as we can. Give elections a try for a peaceful victory over establishment. Our founding fathers contested election under British rule too. It did not mean accepting colonization. And in the end, street always remains an option. Boycott can only be an option, if it is absolutely clear that it will discredit elections in the eyes of powers who hold tap to aid that waters the plantation of commercial interests of Pakistan Army and will make them act.

In the end, someone said a few months ago that uniform is my skin and no one can make me shed it. Uniform is going today, skin - I have my fingers crossed. This is no small gain for us the people of Pakistan. A lot still needs to be done.

Tail Piece: Khabrain, known to be ISI paper, has published a message (without any proof) attributed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary urging parties to boycott the polls. This shows how desperate regime is to force opposition to boycott the polls.

Great Divide of Pakistan

I have been known to be a PPP sympathizer and I have never shied away from admitting it. In my case, I never needed to base my support on loyalty, obsession, admiration or emotion. In the political roller-coaster called Pakistan, whatever opinions I had on any major issue, PPP was the one upholding them. For instance, back in our F.C. College days (what notoriety has fell on the name of our alma in last few years), my friends were all for a militant struggle in Kashmir, logistically and physically backed by elements in Pakistan. Those were the days of Crush India. In my naïve opinion, it was a disaster for Pakistan, Kashmiris and the moral high ground they had in the world on the issue, apart from potential backlash of these militants outfits on our homeland. My position was a hard sell back then in the educated upper and middle classes of Pakistan, and yet PPP had the courage to take this position. For some very odd reason, despite all my naivety, I was of the view that the solution to energy crisis is a deregulated energy sector heavily focused on bio-fuels as is in rest of the world. Yet, IPPs have been the hardest sell to the educated middle and upper classes of Pakistan. Needless to say, time has vindicated us on both issues and many more.

I am not writing this article to boast my credentials as a political genius. I probably am as naïve in politics as Wasi Zafar is in mannerism. But there are certain things that I anticipated/predicted, and they were proven right and more importantly, at the cost of alienating the middle and upper classes of Pakistan, a political party stood by them and was vindicated by history, if not the educated countrymen.

The history tells us that not only is there inherently something wrong with the judgment of educated upper and middle class Pakistanis, in certain cases their interests, their choices and their ideology is directly clashed with the poor of this country – who constitute majority in Pakistan. And my fear is that this great divide of Pakistan will keep haunting us the most unless it is bridged.

Poor of Pakistan have shown it time and again that whenever they will be given a fair chance, they will choose forces of moderation and federation, and will send PPP to power. We, the educated middle and upper classes, blame it on feudal system. In the process, we ignore that unfamiliar first-timers have crushed the stalwart feudals like Pir Pagara, Mustafa Jatoi or Mustafa Khar in modestly fair elections. We blame it on illiteracy of lower classes, ignoring that in any rational analysis of outcome of our decisions vs. their decisions, their decisions have passed the test of time - be it their backing for a secular polity or their backing of the forces of moderation. Historically, the politics of ethnicity and sectarianism has had its roots, not in the rural Punjab or Sindh or ghettos of urban Pakistan, but in the middle and upper class localities of educated, urban Pakistan. Unlike India, no Mayawati or Jayalalitha or Malayam Singh Yadav has risen on the shoulders of poor and minorities. Rather the same poor and minorities (be it ethnic, religious or sectarian – with the only exception of the most educated ethnic minority) have backed forces upholding federation, democracy and constitutionalism.

Because of the post-communism conflict between democracy and capitalism, the divide between upper and middle classes and the lower strata of the society is present in every political system in the world. But we the Pakistanis, all of us who love this country, do not deserve to be the fodder of this conflict. We will need to find a way to coexist. Like PPP or not, it is a force to reckon with unless we wipe out the poor from Pakistan or its political system. What is stopping us, the educated middle and upper class youth of Pakistan, are the anti-PPP and anti-Benazir clichés that we have developed. I don’t want you to fall for PPP blindly for I say so or for poor of Pakistan want it (though latter might be a compelling reason for a unified Pakistan). All I demand is a fair hearing and objective assessment.

An objective assessment of US$ 1.5Billion corruption charges in a country with total GDP of US $65Billion growing at 4.5% (anyone with a little knowledge of international finance or economics can see claims to be ridiculous[1]). An objective assessment of how media treated Nawaz Sharif on his deal in 2000 and his confession in 2007, and how it is up in arms against Benazir for a deal – that was not for one person only. An objective assessment of the fact that no charge has been proven in 11 years (add 3 years of GIK to make it 14). An objective assessment of the fact that a man spent 11.5 years in prison without any charge being proven in a country where maximum punishment for corruption is 8 years. An objective assessment of the fact that because of the NRO NAB would not be in a position to make any new Patriot in the coming parliament. An objective assessment of the fact, that PPP governments have been the only governments to have privatized national assets without laying a single employee and having it most transparent of all governments post 1988. An objective assessment of the fact, that had it not been for IPPs, current energy crisis would have been much worse. The list goes on and on.

I do not suggest that PPP is perfect – I never did. There is a lot of crap in there that needs to be cut. All I say is it is the moment of truth for us the educated, patriotic Pakistanis to be part of the largest political party and shape it from with in. Poor in Pakistan being the majority, have the power to send their choice in corridors of power. We, the urban middle class, have what it takes to destabilize a government. Why be mere spoilers? Any party that has the numbers to win elections will be more than willing to embrace us. Think out of clichés for a united Pakistan as without it democracy, constitution, free media and free judiciary, all will be short lived and farfetched.

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[1] Concept of Mr. Husain Haqqani

2 Now when I am out of Pakistan for last 4 months, I don't want to be out of sync with ground realities, so I will appreciate if you educate me on your perspective of ground realities. I will be grateful for any such information.

A Letter Written to MA Senator

Feel free to copy it, put your name at the end and send to any forum.

Sir,

I am a Pakistani Citizen currently living in Boston and enrolled in MBA Program at Boston University. Just while being a citizen of Pakistan, I wish best for Pakistan. At the same time, being a benefactor of the systems developed by the great nation of Americans and the great country named United States of America, I also have a stake in a safe, secure and happy United States. Fortunately enough, the best interests of Pakistan and United States of America could not have been converged more than they are now. For a better Pakistan and for a secure US and the world, we need end of extremism and upholding of universal principles of human rights and democracy all across the world.

In such circumstances, I see the imposition of Martial Law by General Musharaf (Sir, you will agree with me that in emergency you do not suspend constitution and it is not imposed by Chief of Army Staff and that is what the order reads), is a great threat to the common interests of Pakistani and American people.

He is trying to sell it to the West and United States as a necessary step to carry out War on Terror. As you have been familiar with his double games on War on Terror in the past, he is lying once more. This emergency was not against any hampering caused by courts for War on Terror but for Supreme Courts efforts to restore the rule of law in Pakistan.

He cites Supreme Court's sue motto action in case of missing persons as court's attempt to provide relief to terrorists. Again a lie. In case of missing persons, the majority comprised the political workers belonging to provincial rights' movements and pro-democracy movements from Sindh and Balochistan provinces and not the religious radical extremists and it was in this context that Supreme Court took notice of this issue.

Secondly, the courts were holding government officials accountable not for fighting war on terror but for torture on rallies of journalists, lawyers and pro democracy activists. On his part, he has refused to seek international help for probe into the bombing of welcoming rally of Ms Bhutto because it is alleged that the probe will expose links between his administration and terrorists.

Lastly, having a close look at his actions post imposition of emergency, one can realize that this is a coup not against extremism but against liberalism.

1. He has banned the transmission of private media in the country.

2. Both print and electronic media have been put under strict censorship and restrictions.

3. Lawyers and activists of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan have been detained across the length and breadth of the country along with political activists of moderate political parties.

4. Courts' functioning has been halted.

5. The process of transfer of power to civilian rule has been halted for one man to prolong his tyranny and dictatorship. In case of transfer of power to civilians, the only two likely candidates were Bhutto and Nawaz, both have repeatedly urged their commitment to War on Terror. In my honest assessment, their combating of War on Terror will not be half hearted and cheeky as has been with Musharaf.

Sir, what disturbs me the most is that this action of Musharaf will further destablize Pakistan (something that suits none but terrorists). The action has created a vacuum of legitimacy and has increased the frustration among the masses. This frustration can be exploited by the terrorists for recruitment. It will brew more extremism and terrorism in the long run.

For this, I strongly request you and people like you to make every effort to weaken the tyrant. I have been an admirer of your record on freedoms, democracy and human rights. I request you to use your influence and office to take stern measures (including suspension of US aid for Pakistan and tying it to restoration of constitution and democracy in Pakistan, and urging US government to act swiftly through its good offices to ensure a smooth and swift transition to a post Musharaf civilian rule in Pakistan). Longer this situation persists, more in danger the world will be in. This offers an opportunity for US government to win hearts and minds of Pakistani people by taking their side in this struggle.

We Pakistanis will be grateful for your support in this regard. But even more so, we the citizens of the world need a statesman like you to act to save us from a threat that endangers us all. I have a strong hope that a champion of freedoms like you will stand with us and will provide us, the citizens of Pakistan and world, the much needed and valuable support.

In case of any further queries or information, I will be privileged to respond.

Sincerely,

Atta Ali Malik

http://demopak.blogspot.com