Daily Times

Happy 2018. May this year bring to our country the prosperity and peace that is the desire of every citizen, no matter what his or her religion or ethnicity or language. There are dark clouds and several challenges looming on the horizon and one can only hope that those who have in their hands the destiny of 200 million people of this country are alive to these challenges.

Politics is about power. So one does not hold grudges against politicians for attempting to either hold on to or grab power. Seen from this lens the actions of all our politicians, including Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Asif Ali Zardari are justifiable. It seems simple enough. The opposition wants the present government ousted before the March Senate elections. The government wants to stay in office long enough so that it can secure the Senate and in the event that PMLN loses the elections, it can remain relevant during the next term. Nawaz Sharif himself wants to stay relevant and the surest way to do that is to throw the challenge to judiciary and the hidden hand.

Now this scenario opens up several vistas where any mistake by these politicians can jeopardise the hard work done to sustain democracy into a second complete transition in the last 10 years as well as the supreme sacrifice that Shaheed Benazir Bhutto gave for the right of the people to choose their elected representatives. It also threatens the legitimacy and independence of judiciary that was achieved through a hard fought struggle in form of the Lawyer’s Movement. For many around the world, it would be seen as business as usual in a dysfunctional state oscillating between authoritarianism and democracy. As I have pointed out in several articles, we don’t have many friends in the world and certainly not friends in places that matter. In short the world does not trust us and sees us as an unstable pariah state with nukes, only slightly better than North Korea, which might fall into the hands of extremists at any time. Those of us who live in Pakistan know better but our reputation nevertheless is well deserved. The world has not forgiven us for the fact that Osama Bin Laden was found a stone’s throw away from our military academy. The US is especially unhappy for our apparent unwillingness to make a clean break with our so-called assets, including the Haqqani Network. Nothing will make our prospects bleaker if there is any kind of interruption in the democratic set up. Democracy therefore is a matter of life and death for Pakistan.

We cannot have true democracy until groups that foment extremism and fanaticism continue to remain free

However it cannot be a democracy that foments extremism or fanaticism. The growth of majoritarian Barelvi extremism, a new phenomenon in our history since 2011 which happened under the present democratic transition, certainly is cause for grave concern. All major parties, PMLN, PTI and PPP, have made their own efforts in courting the Barelvis especially after the Dharna in Faizabad. Most disappointingly, the PTI, which once promised a pluralistic and egalitarian albeit Islamic Welfare State in its manifesto, now sees the growth of elements like the PAT, TLYR and the so-called Milli Muslim League as a way of weaning away Barelvi voters of PMLN. PMLN itself, after having attempted, very nobly, to fix the national narrative in recent years and give it a progressive slant, is now fighting on the same ground as PTI, PAT, TYRL and the MML. Captain Safdar’s shrill attacks on the Ahmadis, the most persecuted community in Pakistan, is an example of the dangerous game they are playing. The center left PPP’s decision to join Barelvi leader Tahir-ul-Qadri on the issue of Model Town, which is purely a legal issue, is another example. Even the ANP, which has in the past claimed to be secular, is raising the religiously charged issue of Khatam-e-Nabuwat in KP. The last thing we need is a doctrinal and theological issue becoming part of the election rhetoric. The elections must be contested on the issues of development, transparency and economic growth and not on theological issues. Pakistan has since the 1980s a specific court for these religious disputes called the Federal Shariat Court. Why then should emotionally charged theological issues become part of the political debate given that there is a constitutionally mandated recourse to settle such issues?

Any kind of chaos whether political or religious on the streets may lead to an outright confrontation between the ruling PMLN and those it fears the most at this point: the Army and the Judiciary. Pakistan Army for its part has made it clear that it will back the democratic process at all costs. That has not stopped certain leading politicians from PMLN from attacking it. Given our patchy history one obviously understands why civilian politicians might mistrust the military. However Army stands to gain nothing from any direct intervention because it knows very well that it would only weaken the country. The Judiciary also sees itself as the guardian of the constitution and is not likely to rock the boat. Nevertheless one would want both these institutions to stand firmly with the elected government in face of any attempts to create chaos in the country, no matter what the provocation from certain sections within the PMLN.

Sadly the opposition feels that chaos is the only way it can dislodge PMLN. Yet they should understand that elections are not won by dharnas and protests. Instead they should focus on organisation and on taking their message door to door in Pakistan. They must also realise that Pakistan faces grave external challenges and cannot afford any kind of disruption. As patriots they must place country over party. They must vigorously campaign during this year but must not in any way be party to the premature exit of what is after all a constitutional government. Nor should they in their zeal to grab power make any compromises with those forces that want to drag Pakistan backwards into medieval times. Same goes for the ruling PMLN. In their effort to hang on to power, they must not make any false moves that would come to haunt this country. This has been the bane of not just Pakistan but the entire subcontinent. Every popular political party in this subcontinent has on some occasion or the other made these unconscionable compromises, which have retarded progress in all countries of this subcontinent. Pakistan at least cannot afford business as usual in 2018.

The writer is a practising lawyer. He blogs at http://globallegalforum.blogspot.com and his twitter handle is @therealylh

Published in Daily Times, January 1^st 2018.