Relevance of Munir Report on 1953 Riots For Today’s Pakistan

[Meesna]

A study by Javaid Aslam. Hardly needs any explanation. Apart form first point, most will agree with the rest, I think.

Relevance of Munir Report on 1953 Riots For Today’s Pakistan

http://www.civilservice.org.pk/DMGArticles/65_MunirRptRelevance.pdf

Recommendations of the study;

• We should seriously move away from considering Islam as the basis of our nationhood. In the last 59 years we have achieved much as a nation. We are a nuclear power. We have won Olympic 60 gold medals in hockey and have been World Champions in squash and cricket. One of our citizens has won the Nobel prize. Such events are the basis of creating fierce national pride and even as a new nation we now have enough motivation to have nationalism as our ideological basis. The message in this connection needs to be explicitly and implicitly built into our curriculum. Our independent media, specially the new T.V channels are already discussing this issue. Our state controlled media should also systematically work on this aspect. Patriotism instead of religiosity needs to be stressed further. Attention should however be on stressing our positives without raising jingoistic feelings that may compromise our peaceful existence.
  
• The popularity of religious parties is over-***ed. Without crutches of the establishment they tend to flounder. Petty interests in supporting these parties should end and our next elections should be completely free and fair in order to promote the mainstream parties.
  
• Our salvation is in true democracy. Cure for bad democracy is more democracy and not greater control of undemocratic forces. Efforts at creating controlled democracy should end. Under the present scenario there is no likelihood of a popular movement that could unsettle the establishment. This public attitude has more to do with a total disenchantment with affairs of the state, than any 61 political consideration. Such disenchantment, however, eventually compromises all feelings of nationalism. The Army as a strong national institution has to rise above petty interests and has to recognize the importance of building civilian institutions. True democracy is possible only if it is actively allowed to continue as such by the army as an institution. The powerful in this case has thus to recognize its patriotic duty. As a beginning, a sense of responsibility in this connection needs to be built up in the armed forces. The true import of the oath taken by all members of the armed forces needs to be stressed in all military training institutes at all levels. Greater civilian control over military training institutions would help in this context.
  
• Media should be allowed to be completely free. Monthly envelopes for journalists should end. State advertisements through press should be discontinued and they may be made through internet. Joy rides for journalists on foreign tours should also end, as all these interventions are mere euphemisms for bribing the media. A free media shall ensure the necessary external check for keeping democratic governments on track.
  
• Judiciary should be completely free. Mode of selection of judges should be changed and a US style selection system may be adopted. This would provide backbone to the judiciary to withstand illegal demands of un-representative governments and 62 would transform them into truly bi-partisan defenders of the Constitution.
  
• Bureaucracy should be given protection to play its due role in a Whitehall style relationship with political masters. Service organizations may be encouraged and they should become the watch guards for maintenance of standards within the service groups. Whistle blowing may be encouraged as this would in itself promote a system of checks and balances within civilian governments. The start in this connection would be through completely free elections as validly elected governments would themselves realize the benefits of such arrangements for ensuring strengthening of civilian institutions.
  
• As there is little likelihood of any further war and we already have nuclear deterrence, the size of army and defense outlays may be reduced. Provision of higher funding for social sector development would in itself ensure development of enlightened institutions in the longer run. We should learn the futility of large military machines in the absence of equitable social development by observing the fate of the Soviet Union.
  
• Provinces should be provided maximum autonomy and the control of federation may be minimized. Larger resource transfer for provinces may be ensured through amending NFC mechanism. A regular NFC secretariat, that works around the 63 year to finalize resource allocation proposals should be set up. Stronger Provinces would entail a stronger Federation. This would also reduce inter-provincial frictions.