Trump is finally out. Four years of comedy have finally ended. How do we look back at Trump presidency? Of course we will miss him because he was the most entertaining head of state in history. That some of his policies helped the Economy cannot be denied. However United States of America, that great experiment in world history, needed a dignified president true to the values of the US constitution and that was not what Trump was. Of course at this time we are not clear whether Trump will throw another hissy fit and refuse to leave the White House. That would be another first. Ultimately when Joe Biden takes office on January 20 2021, Trump might have to be dragged out of the White House by the Secret Service.
The incoming Biden/Harris team has already made history. Kamala Harris of Indian and African descent has made history by becoming the first woman, the first Indian-American, the first South-Asian American and the first Asian American to be elected the Vice President of USA. Her election is the fulfillment of the great promise that US Constitution has held out to the world for the last 230 years. Along the way USA made terrible mistakes i.e. such as not abolishing slavery at the outset. The founders of the country were not perfect men. Other than Hamilton and Adams, the rest of them were slave owners. Nevertheless they managed to draft a constitution that is a beacon of light for the world. It is this Constitution that has survived Trump’s onslaught on decency and the very fabric of the values of liberty, justice, fair play and freedom of the pressupon which the country was founded.
The election of the President of the US is significant not just for that country but the entire world. A US government, which is ready to put its foot down, is what the world needs
It also means a great victory for the immigrants to the US. The country will once again realize that it is the immigrants that get the job done and that US is a country of immigrants. The core values of the US are best expressed in those glorious words on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” This is what makes the day especially special. There will be no more the talk of walls andMuslim bans and Executive Orders against immigration. US will return to its original ideals once again. This is why the Biden/Harris presidency is an even more significant moment than Barak Obama’s historic election as the first African President of the country in 2008. This is an escape from tyranny.
This is also a great day for women in the US not just because a woman has been elected vice president. This marks the end of the regime of a pervert president who has on more than one occasion made sexist comments boasting about his sexual harassment. He also did irreparable damage by making a rapist a Supreme Court justice. All of this is now in the past hopefully.
So what will the new Biden/Harris administration look like for South Asia? First of the deep state in Pakistan is likely to be really worried. The Democrats have a long history of standing for human rights and civilian governments instead of allying themselves with hybrid theocracies such as our Islamic Republic. For those of us who want a modern, progressive and truly democratic Pakistan, this is good news. Trump was ready to turn a blind eye to Pakistan’s failures, especially because he had a personal equation with Imran Khan. The two men are identical not just in their populist message against established norms of decency but the gaffes and faux pas, which the two routinely make. Biden/Harris presidency is not likely to turn a blind eye to neither the excess of Pakistan nor India. India’s brutal suppression of Kashmir as well the rising Hindutva politics will not be ignore. Pakistan’s human right abuses vis a vis Ahmadis, Christians and Hindus etc will come into focus. Instead of the transactional relationship on Afghanistan, US-Pakistan partnership will become dependent on progress in human rights. Similarly there will no longer be Howdy Modi type rallies in the US, despite the Indian heritage of Vice President elect Harris. Thus majoritarian elements in both India and Pakistan lose and this is good news for all of South Asia.
The election of the President of the US is significant not just for that country but the entire world. A US government, which is ready to put its foot down, is what the world needs. Let us hope one is right about this in coming regime, while one hopes that it would not resort to outright military action around the world but will use its considerable economic power to ensure that it plays a positive, not imperialistic, role in the world. Meanwhile one also hopes that the Republican Party, the Party of Abraham Lincoln, will now do some introspection and see where they went wrong. All in all a historic week for the world’s greatest democracy!
The writer is an Advocate of the High Courts of Pakistan