Daily Times

Much in line with an almost 40 year old tradition, this year to March 23, or Pakistan Day, was kicked off with a 31-gun salute in the federal capital and 21-gun salutes in the provincial capitals. This is accompanied by military drills, acrobatic air shows by fighter planes, patriotic songs and even an Android video game which revolves around the military’s fight against terrorists. Last but not the least is a routine warning to India against whatever destabilisation it might be planning against this beloved country of ours. Like always, there was hardly anything about the raison d’être behind the celebration of this day, which is actually the country’s status as a democracy.

In these pages, I have written in detail about how this day depreciated from the country’s Republic Day to an apparently apolitical event as we see now. Ours is a country that has been ruled for around half of its lifespan by military dictators. When we have had respite from these generals, we have been ruled by politicians who have been pre-occupied by lengthening their own hold on power. Hence, it is no real surprise that the people of this country have forgotten what Pakistan Day was supposed to be about.

“But then what’s the big deal? Aren’t we still celebrating this day? What’s in a name, be it Pakistan Day or Republic Day!” This is what an ordinary educated person in Pakistan will normally counter my whines with. Regretfully though, this is what a depoliticised citizenry is all about. Our fellow Pakistanis are no longer able to differentiate between right and privilege. What if a decade down the road, we start calling our Defence Day, Military Day? Not only will it remove the true context and reference to the 1965 war with India, but will also look out of place — although it will still revolve around paying homage to our armed forces, who had so valiantly repulsed Indian aggression in the 1965 war.

What if one day, we start calling our Defence Day, Military Day? Not only will it remove the true context and reference to the 1965 war with India, but will also look out of place — although it will still revolve around paying homage to our armed forces

Likewise, celebrating March 23 as a politically sanitised ‘Pakistan Day’ doesn’t inculcate and stimulate the supremacy of peoples’ will the way a Republic Day would, which basically serves as our pronounced belief and resolves in nothing short of a democratic Pakistan. In fact, it is so ironic that all our military dictators have exploited national sentiments in the name of this day as Pakistan Day, only to hoodwink the masses to believe that each of the dictators was loyal and committed to the country — when the truth is that they were all power hungry usurpers.

Interestingly, this is also how the first of our military dictators, Ayub Khan instituted this day. Concocted history aside, March 23 was never celebrated as Pakistan Day in the first eight years of Pakistan’s existence. Officially, the day got the status of public holiday in 1956; that too in relation to the inauguration of the first constitution of the country — which not only made Pakistan a fully sovereign country out of the dominion of the British Crown, but also the first Islamic democratic republic in the world. Obviously, these two were exceptional political achievements as a country. From 1956 to 1958, for three years, we celebrated this day as a republic day.

By March 1959, Pakistan had ceased to be a republic. It did not even have any constitution left, owing to the coup d’état in October 1958. Since Pakistan still existed as a territory, the regime conveniently named the event Pakistan Day instead of Republic Day.

The idea was to convince the people to love and celebrate the country regardless of what is actually happening, hence the usurper’s regime continues unabated. The change proved useful for the next military dictators, who appeared on the political scene around every alternate decade of our history. Today, we see a whole generation of people who are hyper-patriotic, yet anti-democratic and apolitical.

Not to say of course, that our political leaders and their governance is flawless, but this generation is disturbingly eager to believe in the futility of the democratic system and exaggerated stories of corrupt politicians. It sincerely, albeit naively, thinks that this country can only be successfully run without politicians and democracy. Consequently, even if this generation’s naiveté and eagerness fails to invite military generals to take over the country even more frequently, this kind of popular belief and opinion provides unnecessary urges in the military leadership to have a myopic sway on key affairs of the state, including foreign policy, national security, and even political and economic preferences.

It is important for the political leadership and state institutions to realise that an apolitical citizenry is counter-productive to the aspirations of a modern democratic state. An insipid ‘Pakistan Day’ won’t help us in cultivating a democratically vibrant people.

The writer is a sociologist with interest in history and politics of Pakistan. He’s accessible at Zulfirao@yahoo.com

Published in Daily Times, March 29^th 2018.