Sohni Dharti Allah Rakkhey
By Akhtar Mahmud Faruqui
Would October 10, 2002 mark a watershed in the checkered history of Pakistan?
Would the teeming masses forming the country’s electorate, who went to
the polls with renewed enthusiasm last Thursday, witness a wholesome change
on the political front? Would they see a partial, if not the full, fulfillment
of their long cherished dreams? Would a fresh exercise in running a democratic
dispensation be crowned with success or furnish fresh proof of adventurous experimentation?
Would schools, hospitals, IT centers and R & D institutions dot the Pakistan
landscape in the coming five years? These questions come to mind as one ponders
the results of the October 10 elections.
Hope sustains life and provides momentum to all human strivings. Therefore,
hope must form the basis of any predictions which lovers of Pakistan may like
to make for the future.
Let us view the outcome of the October 10 elections on an optimistic note.
First, General Musharraf’s reforms have ensured the emergence of new faces
and eliminated a number of politicians who had engaged in plunder and loot by
turn. One remembers the days when the routine response to charges of corruption
was to try and prove that the predecessor had been guilty of even greater corruption!
A case in point is Mr. Nawaz Sharif who cried himself hoarse accusing Benazir
of corruption during his 1997 election campaign, spent millions of dollars of
the poor country’s revenues in gathering incriminating evidence against
her when he won that election, and then refused to contest the October 10, 2002
elections on the basis of sympathy for her! The message he is sending out is
that it is okay to plunder and loot the country as long as you can persuade
simple and politically blind hero-worshippers to vote for you. You scratch my
back, I’ll scratch yours!
It is also gratifying that the foreign observer groups monitoring the elections
have testified that they were fair and free with no evidence of shady interference
on the part of the administration. This gives the lie to charges of pre-poll
rigging which some arm-chair politicians had wasted their energies upon, instead
of working hard, putting together attractive manifestoes, and storming the country
- something which Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto had done in 1970. Even an ex-sportsman
like Imran Khan had started crying ‘foul’ before the match had started!
What is more, some of the political stalwarts who supported Muharraf’s
reforms have been routed at the polls. This is convincing evidence of the exercise
of fair play at the polls, as was the disqualification of Gohar Ayub, a member
of the so-called ‘King’s Party’, a name coined to describe
anyone who saw the wisdom of Musharraf’s reforms.
The most outstanding and surprising feature of the elections is the emergence
of the MMA - a conglomerate of the religious parties - that bagged an impressive
number of seats - 45, to be precise. Kazi Hussain Ahmad’s enunciation
of his group’s views in chaste, flawless English seems to hint at the
forward-looking stance of Pakistan’s religious groups that banded together
to form the MMA coalition. It was gratifying to note that he would introduce
legislation for land reforms and the abolition of big jaagirdaris. This would
be a step in the right direction. The abolition of feudalism, the root cause
of all evil in Pakistan and perhaps the main reason for the country lagging
behind India on the democratic path, has been long overdue.
Given the fact that Islam is a progressive religion - conservative Europe
shied away from it when it made its debut in the seventh century - it is sanguinely
hoped that Kazi Sahib et al. would present the peaceful face of Islam while
presenting their perspective on various issues in the assembly, and that their
views would be different from the fundamentalist, biased harangue of the type
of Falwell and Robertson. Islam and the West have a lot in common and both are
on a coalition rather than a collision course. If Muslims venerate Jesus Christ
(Peace Be Upon Him) and Moses (Peace Be Upon Him) as prophets of God - Allah
- there is little reason to pass disparagement on Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be
Upon Him). One expects the MMA to act responsibly and support wholeheartedly
General Musharraf’s efforts of making the madrassas seats of learning
of all sciences as they were in the pristine periods of Muslims. The madrassas
should offer courses in physical sciences, biosciences, English literature,
and mathematics besides imparting religious education. Muslims must nurture
the creative impulse as they did in the earlier centuries. George Sarton’s
History of Sciences chronicles the achievements of the world’s leading
innovators and Muslim names adorn the first few pages of the monumental work.
Let us make a new beginning in the exciting field of Research and Development.
Let Kazi Sahib and his colleagues furnish fresh evidence of our innate propensity
to nurture the creative impulse.
With no single party commanding a clear majority, indications are that the
hung Parliament would see the formation of coalition groups at the helm to run
the country. The situation may not appear an ideal one but it would surely ensure
that a single party enjoying absolute majority would not ride roughshod over
accepted norms of good governance. The workable arrangement that is likely to
emerge could lead to a consensus in the house on major issues blighting the
country. One also hopes that the PML-Q, PPPP and PML-N would demonstrate a greater
degree of responsibility in airing party views on national issues. It is also
expected that the MQM, ANP and other prominent groups would act likewise. One
thing is for sure: as long as Pervez Musharraf, who led a team of ministers
and governors with transparently clean hands for three years remains at the
helm, he would not let the wanton ‘plunder and loot by turn’ adventurism
to continue. However, the General must try to obtain parliamentary consensus
on his recent constitutional amendments that created quite a few ripples.
Pakistan today is at the crossroads. How the newly elected parliamentarians
acquit themselves of their responsibility would decide the future of the country.
An ocean and a continent away one could only wish and pray:
Sohni dharti Allah rakkhey qadam, qadam abad
Date/Time Last Modified: 10/24/2002 9:22:48 AM
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