Daily Times

On August 14 — our Independence Day — many commentators spelled out the failings the nation had to endure because of the malice and incompetence of those who were entrusted with managing its affairs. The inadequacies were located for the most part in the areas of politics and governance. But life includes many other interests and concerns, and noteworthy accomplishments were made in them. Before we recount the blessings, a few reservations may be noted.

The successive governments between 1947 and 1958, headed by seven prime ministers in turn, might not have merited high marks for effectiveness but none of them was accused of corruption. Higher ranking civil servants during this period were also relatively honest. Corruption surfaced in a big way during the second half of General Ayub Khan’s rule. It declined considerably during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s governance but went up sky high during the 11 years of General Ziaul Haq’s regime. It remained high between 1988 and 1999, when Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif took turns as prime minister. It may have subsided a bit when General Musharraf ruled the country, but since the elections of February 2008, following which the PPP formed the government at the Centre, it has been widespread and blatant.

Let us now turn to the good things that have happened. Following the reinstatement of Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry as the Chief Justice of Pakistan in March 2009, the Supreme Court emerged as the most highly regarded guardian of the constitution and a court of last resort with impeccable integrity and wisdom. It is likely that its high standard of performance has filtered down to the provincial high courts to some degree. A related development should be mentioned. Lawyers as a community have surfaced as a powerful ally of the judiciary in resisting improper pressures on judges that may emanate from the executive.

The term ‘civil society’ was not in common usage 50 years ago. It denotes a combination of various professional organisations, interest groups, and lobbies. It may be seen as a collectivity whose approval of public policies has a vital influence on their general acceptability. The print and electronic media are its most powerful organs. Folks in towns and villages who are not literate enough to read newspapers can now listen to the radio and watch television news and talk shows. As a result they are politically much more aware than their fathers and grandfathers ever were. They can evaluate the performance of politicians whom they had elected in the preceding elections and whom they may or may not return to office next time. This is a major contribution that the media has made to the enrichment of our political culture. It is possible that some of its organs are receptive to the existing government’s inducements for the purpose of influencing its reports and interpretations. But there are still quite a few newsmen and commentators who are honest and fearless enough to tell us what they know and think.

During the first decade of the present century the government denationalised the educational institutions that Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had placed in the public sector. These included some of the more distinguished colleges such as the Forman Christian College in Lahore, Gordon College in Rawalpindi, and Murray College in Sialkot. Their standards declined after they had come under the provincial government’s management and control. After denationalisation they were returned to the Christian missions in the US who had previously funded and operated them. They are once again free to regulate admissions, hire and fire their teachers and fix their salaries and other perquisites. They have regained their previous standing and prestige.

Higher education has become a thriving industry. Public schools and colleges are in a bad state and, as a result, hundreds of privately funded and managed institutions have come up. They charge high fees and not all of them give the students their money’s worth in terms of the quality of education they provide and the standards they maintain. But some of them, especially in business management and related fields, are internationally known for their excellence. Notable among them are the Lahore School of Economics (LSE), Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi.

Pakistani society is admittedly male dominated. The vast majority of women live as housewives: they cook, wash, and clean, make babies and raise them. They have always worked as teachers in schools and colleges for girls and as nurses. But an amazing number of them are now doing other things. We see them as judges, lawyers, journalists, entrepreneurs, bankers, artists, engineers, architects, policewomen, pilots and military officers. They dominate the news and talk shows presented by the electronic media. They serve as diplomats, politicians and legislators. One of them, the late Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, twice served as the prime minister of Pakistan, and several of them now head various ministries, including the Foreign Office.

Pakistan can be proud of the accomplishments that its people have made in creative arts: fiction, poetry, painting and music. Besides the celebrities, some of whom are still around, a great many young people, men and women, can now be heard performing classical and contemporary music.

Democracy in Pakistan is not without some imperfections. It is heartening to see that it is digging roots in the nation’s political culture. We do hear individuals grieving that it has not solved their problems: it has not removed the shortages that afflict them, and that it has not eradicated corruption. But opinion makers are telling them also that democracy is still the best of all the available systems of governance. Even more important is the growing feeling among the people that they are entitled to determine how they will be governed and what they want their governments to do for them. The sovereignty of the people may become a ground reality in Pakistan in the foreseeable future.

The writer, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, is a visiting professor at the Lahore School of Economics. He can be reached at anwarsyed@cox.net