Correcting the national course
If we had learnt from our past omissions, that would be reassuring
Talat Masood April 23, 2021
The writer is a retired lieutenant general of the Pakistan Army and a former federal secretary. He has also served as chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board
Recently, two very distinct events happened that if viewed in a broader perspective could have long-term implications. One was the demise of the iconic human rights activist and intellectual IA Rehman whose contribution towards promoting democratic and human values remains unmatched. The flood of articles, condolence references, and the respect and appreciation that he received in the country and abroad is a clear manifestation of his enormous contribution in these fields. Above all, it gave hope that not all is lost and the younger generation could look up to leaders that promote the right values and leave behind a strong legacy. Here I am also reminded of Asma Jehangir who clearly was one of our foremost and fearless champions of human rights and a friend of the poor and downtrodden. It was a happy coincidence that Rehman and Asma laid a solid foundation of their organisation to pursue the mission. For democracy without a strong element of human rights remains a mirage.
Looking back at the work of all those who have contributed in their own way towards strengthening Pakistan, we cannot ignore the reality of the current happenings. The violent anti-French protests by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have paralysed several major cities of Pakistan. True, we all Muslims are grievously hurt by the deliberate sacrilegious provocation of certain French groups and the tolerance shown by their government in the garb of freedom of speech. But are violent protests that have taken the lives of several police officers and Rangers personnel, maimed many of them for life, and created deliberate traffic jams risking the lives of critically-ill patients the answer? This behaviour, in fact, takes the focus away from the rationale for the agitation and projects Pakistan internationally in extremely bad light. Responsible for the violence, the TLP has to be forcefully countered and brought under the grip of the law. But the matter should not rest here for we would be treating the symptoms and not the disease which has been our major failing. The TLP has now emerged as a major political force that will not go away by the government merely banning it.
The PTI government seriously mishandled the protests by first taking too much time to react and then mildly criticising the party for committing violence. Then the Prime Minister’s subsequent statement on the incident gave an impression that while he was critical of the TLP’s aggressive conduct he was also justifying its motivation. Subsequently the government took a major step of banning the party.
Ironically, it was a significant departure and a full U-turn from how the establishment was treating this political party in the past. Looking at our past record it is clear the state has been very soft and tolerant while dealing with religious extremist leaders and extremely harsh and intolerant toward secular political parties and movements. Governments and state institutions have been cultivating some of these parties and using them to serve their narrow goals. Memories are still fresh when this very group had staged a prolonged protest on a major highway, blocking traffic, harming people, and destroying property. The official pampering then of the organisation was inexplicable given that it had committed a serious offense against the people as well as the state. The recent protests are a manifestation of how the party has further strengthened its political, street and destructive power in the last two years.
If we had learnt from our past omissions, that would be reassuring. For nations, like individuals, only progress when they learn from past mistakes. Unfortunately, we haven’t been good at that. What is pertinent is the course that the state takes now. Merely banning the party is understandable but would be more of a cosmetic gesture as it would melt away to re-emerge with different names or as an integral force with other parties. The future of these parties and of the society as a whole would depend on what remedial measures and course the state takes now. Besides, it is not sure if the court would uphold the decision.
It is encouraging that the Islamic Ideology Council has categorically criticised the violent protests of the TLP, while justifiably faulting the French government for tolerating and even encouraging those individuals and think tanks that deliberately are disrespectful to Islam and the Prophet (peace be upon him). Their double standards while dealing with the Holocaust are there for everyone to see. It also is a reflection of the influence that Israel and the Jewish community exercise due to its financial power and other attributes that blend with the interest and goals of the Western world.
Another matter of relevance is the quality of madrassa education as it affects the future of millions of students by influencing their thought process and behaviour. Are they receiving education of the level that is compatible with the spiritual, religious and worldly standards? Some may be, but generally a major improvement is necessary. The responsibility of the religious clergy is to ensure its qualitative improvement. The state has been hesitant and generally indifferent at seriously addressing this problem, a fact that has been highlighted time and again. It is also a fact that religious leaders are so possessive and would not entertain the government’s involvement.
Many of our major national omissions are a result of a faulty decision-making process which is ad hoc and person-oriented and does not treat the root cause rather focuses on symptoms. It is clearly the result of fragile democratic institutions and practices. For this intellectual and institutional weakness, the nation is paying a huge price. In an environment of mutual distrust when government leaders consider themselves all-knowing and distrust the opposition and the latter is equally disinterested in working within the accepted democratic norms, the challenge is immense.
The point to reflect is how to build a coordinated effort from the parliament, public, intelligentsia and media to correct the national course.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2021.
Reboot or reset
There are a few common refrains of why Pakistan is the way it is
Shahzad Chaudhry April 23, 2021
The writer is a retired air vice marshal and a former ambassador. He tweets @shazchy09 and can be contacted at shhzdchdhry@yahoo.com
The last few weeks have been instructive, once again. We are never short of days when the same lessons aren’t learnt over and over again. Something is not right (I deliberately avoid using ‘rotten’) in this state of Pakistan. For too long it hasn’t been right at all. We stumble badly over the same hurdles and never learn. Perhaps there isn’t another option under this order. It throws up just one recourse which only makes us sicker. Why are we a fractious society? Why are we helpless before the challenges which face the state and the society? What keeps us from searching for relevant remedies to our ailments? Why are we scared to think anew what might work for us? Why are we fearful of accepting that maybe, maybe the solution that we pursue is misplaced?
There are a few common refrains of why Pakistan is the way it is. The first and the most popular is the heavy handedness of the military which allegedly has never let truer democracy take root through its machinations. This is drilled into our political discourse as the prime reason for not being what we could have. Like all finite conclusions this one needs a larger than fair qualification but it surely did slow the institution of purer political values. Next is the polar opposite when politics is stated as an incompetent, self-serving and a corrupt disposition unable to throw up honest leadership betraying the trust placed in it when it had its turn. As an aside it was politics and its manifest failure and excesses which enabled the context of military takeover(s) and their popular acceptability. The coups always brought a sense of instant relief in the prevailing environment. Third of course is how the economy has crumbled under its distortions which is on the verge of crashing. And how such distortions have exacerbated and redefined societal divisions deepening the chasms and the fissures.
We are a broken society and a system in need of repair. Period. Our parliament doesn’t work, our governance is inadequate and overwhelmed, our markets are easily manipulable and unregulated, and our justice system is broken and for sale to the highest bidder, or to the most influential. We must accept these as our collective ailments as the first step to seek a remedy and rebuild the nation to save its statehood. Kicking the can down the road is no more an option.
The 1956 constitution was framed under a sense of dominant fear. A nation that was in the throes of putting itself together, had a bloodied birth, was a consequence of a fractious political canvas, where half its composite parts were either politically manipulated to agree to a new federation or were forced to acquiesce through referendums and coercive measures could have only been fearful of its sustenance and its future. The threat of India or its enmity may have been a handy ploy that imposed the need for togetherness in the initial days but that too soon ran its course. The constitution was thus federal in nature assuring measured autonomy to its constituent states. Too fearful of fissiparous dissolution it had to integrate a semblance of independence to the provinces. The 1973 Constitution picked up from where the 1956 draft had left with additional modifications to appease a growing religious sentiment. What came in between was the One-Unit which had to be dismantled when it forced the break-up of the country.
If the 1956 constitution was founded on fear, the 1973 was only a convenient throwback to an earlier solution without reference to the context that existed in 1973. By this time the country had seen three wars with India and had stood the test of time. It could have been bolder in asserting the developmental context of both the state and the society for the future. So while laws remained assiduously federal the conduct of the leadership was mostly autocratic per the flavour of the time. ZAB was patently autocratic. This only got changed in 2010 when the 18th Amendment restricted central assertiveness through statutes emboldening the provinces to the verge of a confederation. Whether it will strengthen the federation remains to be seen but the wholesale allocation of powers to the provinces has come without them assuming the responsibility that comes with power. And this disconnect has lain the entire structure fragile. The provinces far more independent in their matters have failed to restructure their administrative system to generate indigenous revenues and remain fixed to the handouts awarded under the National Finance Commission (NFC).
In this case an undeveloped society is being run under laws suiting the genius of a developed society. Provincial governments politically opposed to the federal government are loathe to work in harmony with the latter and are repeatedly defiant of whatever developmental initiative emerges from the Centre. The gradual evisceration of the common interest list means the federal government cannot venture into provincial domain and vice versa even if a coordinated input is needed in planning and financing. Some areas like health, education, law and order and economy remain central to the growth of a society like ours but can remain unattended because of such bifurcation. The recent wheat and sugar scandals which have hit people across the country through contrived shortages — some deliberately induced to make the federal government look weak — is a case in point. That could be the case for any federal government.
An underdeveloped society needs a focused attention to its central needs of education and social responsibility and respect for rule of law to bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots to avoid pushing them into the awaiting traps of extremist ethnic, religious and nationalist denominations. Pakistan today stands fractured for exactly these reasons and for the lack of concerted efforts at building its society. Structural barriers in its statutes restrict effective allocation and attention even when there is a will. Events of the last few weeks indicate these gaps in our social make-up and a society’s inability to come up with rational recourse. Our riposte of burning Pakistan down will not change attitudes in Paris or in Amsterdam. What is needed is an intellectual response to such offensive caricatures in a strategy which sensitises international sentiment to the offensive nature of such playfulness. The best recourse is to ignore such instigations but that is a far cry where emotion rules over reason.
If indeed we must graduate from a medieval society to a more informed and deliberated one it shall need a concerted effort nationwide. The Constitution and its statutes must provide the vehicles for an integrated national effort to reshape the society say over the next three decades. If it involves revisiting the Constitution to forge more responsive structures it must be done. The politics of the country will need to come to a consensus on where a central responsibility exercises a planning and a coordination function and the provinces act as its implementation arms. Short of a presidential form of a government this could be our only way out. We could later revert to more progressive governance models.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2021.
Every Pakistani feels pain confronting the problems we have created ourselves for us and we are suffering daily.
What should we do to get out of these? Please share your views and line of actions for the nation.
If we had learnt from our past omissions, that would be reassuring
Talat Masood April 23, 2021
The writer is a retired lieutenant general of the Pakistan Army and a former federal secretary. He has also served as chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board
Recently, two very distinct events happened that if viewed in a broader perspective could have long-term implications. One was the demise of the iconic human rights activist and intellectual IA Rehman whose contribution towards promoting democratic and human values remains unmatched. The flood of articles, condolence references, and the respect and appreciation that he received in the country and abroad is a clear manifestation of his enormous contribution in these fields. Above all, it gave hope that not all is lost and the younger generation could look up to leaders that promote the right values and leave behind a strong legacy. Here I am also reminded of Asma Jehangir who clearly was one of our foremost and fearless champions of human rights and a friend of the poor and downtrodden. It was a happy coincidence that Rehman and Asma laid a solid foundation of their organisation to pursue the mission. For democracy without a strong element of human rights remains a mirage.
Looking back at the work of all those who have contributed in their own way towards strengthening Pakistan, we cannot ignore the reality of the current happenings. The violent anti-French protests by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have paralysed several major cities of Pakistan. True, we all Muslims are grievously hurt by the deliberate sacrilegious provocation of certain French groups and the tolerance shown by their government in the garb of freedom of speech. But are violent protests that have taken the lives of several police officers and Rangers personnel, maimed many of them for life, and created deliberate traffic jams risking the lives of critically-ill patients the answer? This behaviour, in fact, takes the focus away from the rationale for the agitation and projects Pakistan internationally in extremely bad light. Responsible for the violence, the TLP has to be forcefully countered and brought under the grip of the law. But the matter should not rest here for we would be treating the symptoms and not the disease which has been our major failing. The TLP has now emerged as a major political force that will not go away by the government merely banning it.
The PTI government seriously mishandled the protests by first taking too much time to react and then mildly criticising the party for committing violence. Then the Prime Minister’s subsequent statement on the incident gave an impression that while he was critical of the TLP’s aggressive conduct he was also justifying its motivation. Subsequently the government took a major step of banning the party.
Ironically, it was a significant departure and a full U-turn from how the establishment was treating this political party in the past. Looking at our past record it is clear the state has been very soft and tolerant while dealing with religious extremist leaders and extremely harsh and intolerant toward secular political parties and movements. Governments and state institutions have been cultivating some of these parties and using them to serve their narrow goals. Memories are still fresh when this very group had staged a prolonged protest on a major highway, blocking traffic, harming people, and destroying property. The official pampering then of the organisation was inexplicable given that it had committed a serious offense against the people as well as the state. The recent protests are a manifestation of how the party has further strengthened its political, street and destructive power in the last two years.
If we had learnt from our past omissions, that would be reassuring. For nations, like individuals, only progress when they learn from past mistakes. Unfortunately, we haven’t been good at that. What is pertinent is the course that the state takes now. Merely banning the party is understandable but would be more of a cosmetic gesture as it would melt away to re-emerge with different names or as an integral force with other parties. The future of these parties and of the society as a whole would depend on what remedial measures and course the state takes now. Besides, it is not sure if the court would uphold the decision.
It is encouraging that the Islamic Ideology Council has categorically criticised the violent protests of the TLP, while justifiably faulting the French government for tolerating and even encouraging those individuals and think tanks that deliberately are disrespectful to Islam and the Prophet (peace be upon him). Their double standards while dealing with the Holocaust are there for everyone to see. It also is a reflection of the influence that Israel and the Jewish community exercise due to its financial power and other attributes that blend with the interest and goals of the Western world.
Another matter of relevance is the quality of madrassa education as it affects the future of millions of students by influencing their thought process and behaviour. Are they receiving education of the level that is compatible with the spiritual, religious and worldly standards? Some may be, but generally a major improvement is necessary. The responsibility of the religious clergy is to ensure its qualitative improvement. The state has been hesitant and generally indifferent at seriously addressing this problem, a fact that has been highlighted time and again. It is also a fact that religious leaders are so possessive and would not entertain the government’s involvement.
Many of our major national omissions are a result of a faulty decision-making process which is ad hoc and person-oriented and does not treat the root cause rather focuses on symptoms. It is clearly the result of fragile democratic institutions and practices. For this intellectual and institutional weakness, the nation is paying a huge price. In an environment of mutual distrust when government leaders consider themselves all-knowing and distrust the opposition and the latter is equally disinterested in working within the accepted democratic norms, the challenge is immense.
The point to reflect is how to build a coordinated effort from the parliament, public, intelligentsia and media to correct the national course.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2021.
Reboot or reset
There are a few common refrains of why Pakistan is the way it is
Shahzad Chaudhry April 23, 2021
The writer is a retired air vice marshal and a former ambassador. He tweets @shazchy09 and can be contacted at shhzdchdhry@yahoo.com
The last few weeks have been instructive, once again. We are never short of days when the same lessons aren’t learnt over and over again. Something is not right (I deliberately avoid using ‘rotten’) in this state of Pakistan. For too long it hasn’t been right at all. We stumble badly over the same hurdles and never learn. Perhaps there isn’t another option under this order. It throws up just one recourse which only makes us sicker. Why are we a fractious society? Why are we helpless before the challenges which face the state and the society? What keeps us from searching for relevant remedies to our ailments? Why are we scared to think anew what might work for us? Why are we fearful of accepting that maybe, maybe the solution that we pursue is misplaced?
There are a few common refrains of why Pakistan is the way it is. The first and the most popular is the heavy handedness of the military which allegedly has never let truer democracy take root through its machinations. This is drilled into our political discourse as the prime reason for not being what we could have. Like all finite conclusions this one needs a larger than fair qualification but it surely did slow the institution of purer political values. Next is the polar opposite when politics is stated as an incompetent, self-serving and a corrupt disposition unable to throw up honest leadership betraying the trust placed in it when it had its turn. As an aside it was politics and its manifest failure and excesses which enabled the context of military takeover(s) and their popular acceptability. The coups always brought a sense of instant relief in the prevailing environment. Third of course is how the economy has crumbled under its distortions which is on the verge of crashing. And how such distortions have exacerbated and redefined societal divisions deepening the chasms and the fissures.
We are a broken society and a system in need of repair. Period. Our parliament doesn’t work, our governance is inadequate and overwhelmed, our markets are easily manipulable and unregulated, and our justice system is broken and for sale to the highest bidder, or to the most influential. We must accept these as our collective ailments as the first step to seek a remedy and rebuild the nation to save its statehood. Kicking the can down the road is no more an option.
The 1956 constitution was framed under a sense of dominant fear. A nation that was in the throes of putting itself together, had a bloodied birth, was a consequence of a fractious political canvas, where half its composite parts were either politically manipulated to agree to a new federation or were forced to acquiesce through referendums and coercive measures could have only been fearful of its sustenance and its future. The threat of India or its enmity may have been a handy ploy that imposed the need for togetherness in the initial days but that too soon ran its course. The constitution was thus federal in nature assuring measured autonomy to its constituent states. Too fearful of fissiparous dissolution it had to integrate a semblance of independence to the provinces. The 1973 Constitution picked up from where the 1956 draft had left with additional modifications to appease a growing religious sentiment. What came in between was the One-Unit which had to be dismantled when it forced the break-up of the country.
If the 1956 constitution was founded on fear, the 1973 was only a convenient throwback to an earlier solution without reference to the context that existed in 1973. By this time the country had seen three wars with India and had stood the test of time. It could have been bolder in asserting the developmental context of both the state and the society for the future. So while laws remained assiduously federal the conduct of the leadership was mostly autocratic per the flavour of the time. ZAB was patently autocratic. This only got changed in 2010 when the 18th Amendment restricted central assertiveness through statutes emboldening the provinces to the verge of a confederation. Whether it will strengthen the federation remains to be seen but the wholesale allocation of powers to the provinces has come without them assuming the responsibility that comes with power. And this disconnect has lain the entire structure fragile. The provinces far more independent in their matters have failed to restructure their administrative system to generate indigenous revenues and remain fixed to the handouts awarded under the National Finance Commission (NFC).
In this case an undeveloped society is being run under laws suiting the genius of a developed society. Provincial governments politically opposed to the federal government are loathe to work in harmony with the latter and are repeatedly defiant of whatever developmental initiative emerges from the Centre. The gradual evisceration of the common interest list means the federal government cannot venture into provincial domain and vice versa even if a coordinated input is needed in planning and financing. Some areas like health, education, law and order and economy remain central to the growth of a society like ours but can remain unattended because of such bifurcation. The recent wheat and sugar scandals which have hit people across the country through contrived shortages — some deliberately induced to make the federal government look weak — is a case in point. That could be the case for any federal government.
An underdeveloped society needs a focused attention to its central needs of education and social responsibility and respect for rule of law to bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots to avoid pushing them into the awaiting traps of extremist ethnic, religious and nationalist denominations. Pakistan today stands fractured for exactly these reasons and for the lack of concerted efforts at building its society. Structural barriers in its statutes restrict effective allocation and attention even when there is a will. Events of the last few weeks indicate these gaps in our social make-up and a society’s inability to come up with rational recourse. Our riposte of burning Pakistan down will not change attitudes in Paris or in Amsterdam. What is needed is an intellectual response to such offensive caricatures in a strategy which sensitises international sentiment to the offensive nature of such playfulness. The best recourse is to ignore such instigations but that is a far cry where emotion rules over reason.
If indeed we must graduate from a medieval society to a more informed and deliberated one it shall need a concerted effort nationwide. The Constitution and its statutes must provide the vehicles for an integrated national effort to reshape the society say over the next three decades. If it involves revisiting the Constitution to forge more responsive structures it must be done. The politics of the country will need to come to a consensus on where a central responsibility exercises a planning and a coordination function and the provinces act as its implementation arms. Short of a presidential form of a government this could be our only way out. We could later revert to more progressive governance models.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2021.
Every Pakistani feels pain confronting the problems we have created ourselves for us and we are suffering daily.
What should we do to get out of these? Please share your views and line of actions for the nation.
