Whether we like it or not, the majority of today's politicians are provincial leaders and not national statesmen. On the contrary, the army, which happens to be the only permanent political party in Pakistan, has its loyalty with the state and not with a sect, ethnic group or regional faction. Before we criticize this institution, we must also remember that it does not assume power after democratic intervals by virtue of its merit. Rather, it is the demerits of our politicians that disqualify them from running affairs of the state and the army has to step in. It is because of the ineptness of our politicians and their blind greed for power that the people of Pakistan have never managed to complete the lesson of democracy. Each time, when they start with the ABCs of democracy, they are barricaded by the GHQ and never reach the XYZ.
It was during the regime of Z.A. Bhutto that a democratic government succeeded for the first time ever in achieving consensus of all political parties. This did not go well with the vested interests because all they apparently wanted was a dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties and not an actual agreement. Air Marshal Asghar Khan took the unconstitutional step of inviting army intervention through a letter to the then Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Zia ul Haq. In the name of protection, all political leaders were duly arrested and martial law was imposed, which further led to the ouster and “judicial murder” of Bhutto.
It is not that just our democratic leaders have flaws - they have merits too. Irrespective of our likes or dislikes, our biases and prejudices, a good example is that of late Benazir Bhutto and her PPP. This political party deserves credit for being the only liberal and national representative of Pakistan in the true sense. Another example is that of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which has never given election tickets to people who have not been a part of the struggle and evolution process that led to MQM's formation and growth. As a result, most of their winning candidates are unknown people and the votes they receive are actually cast in the party's name. This reflects the people's belief in MQM's manifesto and not in individuals. This also shows that the party, as an institution, stands above its members, no matter how high their stature. This empowers every representative to follow the stated party line and demonstrates that the party is not subservient to individual schools of thought. All said and done, 62 years is a long time - long enough for us to stop criticizing or commending, mourning or celebrating and long enough for us to gather the lessons learnt from past ruins and build upon the foundations laid by the founder.
The question is often asked as to whether our current regime is really a successful and sustainable democracy?
It must be understood that democracy is not a readymade, branded product that can be imported for local consumption or picked off the shelf. We cannot simply transplant the British, French, American or other foreign democracy model in Pakistan. These may be ideal democracy packages in their respective countries but it is obvious that they do not work in Pakistan. Democracy has to be a locally grown and nourished fruit, where local inputs such as “soil”, “climate” and the “farmer” make the real difference.
Our ground realities are quite different than those of the West; therefore the fruit of our democracy would also look and taste differently. In our context, we would have to meticulously determine which parts of the fruit need to be peeled off and thrown away and which should be preserved and utilized. For some, democracy is not a generalized commotion, but a customized notion. It is time for Pakistan to find its own definition of democracy and not feed like a parasite on borrowed ideologies.
Looking at it from a positioning perspective, Pakistan is a brand and every brand has its lifecycle. Pakistan's positioning in the minds of Pakistanis as well as the global fraternity is losing its selling value. Before it erodes any further and the very existence of the brand is threatened, it is essential to redefine the key attributes, utility, packaging and positioning of brand Pakistan.
We need to make a paradigm shift to save our country. To achieve this objective, we need to implement the following key policy decisions:
1. Achieve higher education and lower population.
• On the educational front, 100% penetration of free basic educational services should be ensured. In homes where children are found to be unschooled, parents should be severely penalized.
• To address the lack of means, food banks should be set up in localities that are run with full support from the government and affluent residents in the area. Their administration can be entrusted to organisations like the Edhi Foundation or Alamgir Trust, which have successfully run such models.
• Simultaneously, beggary should be totally banned, and anyone found indulging in it should be arrested.
• On the population front, only two children should be allowed per family. The law should come into force after one year of its announcement. Those who do not abide by the law, should be liable to compound taxation, based on the number of children they have.
2. Eradicate provincialism and enliven nationalism.
• The four provinces should be dissolved and the existing administrative divisions given the status of autonomous states, each with its own state government and elected assembly.
• Foreign affairs, currency and defence should be governed by the Federal government, while all other matters should be administered by the respective state governments. This will not only help overcome the issues of cultural animosity, mother-tongue and racial discrimination, but would also be in the greater interest of the Punjab as it would remove the long-standing accusation against it of being responsible for the 1971 cessation of East Pakistan and for consuming the country's major resources since 1947.
3. Redefine our identity.
• If we are uncertain of what it should be, we should go by the old Chinese proverb, “If you don't know where to go further, go back to where you came from.” To recognize our identity, we need to revert to our origin and recognize the ideology whereupon Pakistan was formed.
• In his address to the Constituent Assembly as the first Governor General of Pakistan on August 11, 1947, M.A. Jinnah said, “You are free to go to your temples; you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the State.” He also added, “You will find that in the course of time, Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state.”
• As rightly envisioned by Jinnah over half a century ago, religion should be a personal matter to every practitioner of any faith, and not a subject regulated by the government. Naturally, when the state has no religion, so does the government or politics. Accordingly, it should be declared that social and economic programs should be drawn on the basis of a political party's manifesto and all religious parties should be given a week's notice to decide once and for all if they are religious factions or political parties. Thereafter, Pakistan should neither be called a secular state, nor an Islamic one. Rather, it should be a welfare state, dedicated to the welfare of all its nationals alike, and known as “United Pakistan”.
• How ironic that despite Pakistan currently being a religious state, its people have never voted the country's largest religious party into power. The fact that this party had only three MNAs in the National Assembly during Z.A. Bhutto's regime is a clear sign of the moderate mindset of the Pakistani people, and a living testimony to Jinnah's apt vision.
• One must not forget that it were these very religious politicians who termed Jinnah Kafir-e-Azam and vehemently opposed the formation of Pakistan. Later, they were the first ones to hijack the nation's ideology and impose their schools of thought on our moderate way of life.
• The current concept of minority vs. majority representation should be done away with by removing the white band on our flag and giving it a solid green background. The single star on the national flag should be replaced by 20 stars, each representing a state and the crescent should be proportionally enlarged as a symbol denoting the Federation.
To some, my thoughts may sound very revolutionary and to some, flamboyant. But to me, they sound “Pakistani”, for what I feel is in the greater interest of my country. If I can dare to envision this, I am sure that the power of moderate minds - in their unity - can dare to do it too.
The writer is Founding Chairman of Moderates - a private sector Think Tank, strengthening tolerance, interfaith harmony & democracy.
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