We shall rise
Thursday, August 28, 2008
by Wajid Shamsul Hasan
When I unfurled the Pakistani flag on Independence Day at the Pakistan High Commission in London I was overwhelmed by a strange feeling of happiness that I never had before. Every one of us present on the occasion realised that this time Independence Day was being celebrated at the dawn of real democracy in Pakistan.
It was an occasion for retrospection. We were required to remember that our country is unique among the comity of nations. Unlike other nations who waged long armed struggles to free themselves from foreign masters, Pakistan got its freedom through the ballot under the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. And that perhaps was the singular reason that it was predestined to be a liberal, secular, modern democracy a role model for the rest of the Islamic world. Though he had made it clear that Islam provided a complete code of life, in his Pakistan religion would have nothing to do with the business of the state and its citizens would be equal irrespective of caste or creed. This earned him the wrath of obscurantist forces and the clerics who had opposed the creation of Pakistan. After his death, a sinister conspiracy was gradually unfolded to re-brand Pakistan's liberal and progressive ideology into one based on theocracy.
Our main challenge today is to free the country from the scourge of terrorism and to root out the obscurantist ideology superimposed on Quaid's vision. Indeed, if we would not revert back to Mr Jinnah's vision of liberal and progressive Pakistan our future will be uncertain.
At this juncture, the emergence of Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in politics was a turning point in Pakistan's history. Having found a place for himself on a platform that was not favourable to politicians, Mr Bhutto chartered himself on a course that would give a new sense of direction to the country and a fresh meaning to politics. All this could not be tolerated by the establishment. A coup subverted democracy, the constitution was abrogated and he was thrown into a dungeon by the dictator and then hanged on trumped-up charges.
The dictator did not know that the man he had physically eliminated would continue to rule the hearts and minds of his people from his grave. His daughter Benazir Bhutto picked up the pieces following his execution. Ms Bhutto made death look small before her. Her lasting contribution was to make the people and parliament the sole arbiter of power.
Today we have a democratic government in power but I am sure no student of history or politics can forecast how long defeated forces shall remain in the retreat. No doubt the road to a better and prosperous future is still strewn with thorns and hurdles. More than half of Pakistan's sixty years have been wasted under dictatorship while the rest could not be productive because civilian rule was constantly being undermined by the establishment's machinations*.
No doubt Pakistan is in the eye of the storm.* It faces serious threats from outside and within. The previous government left its economy in shambles, the writ of the state lies in tatters -- yet all is not lost. We are a proud nation and all state institutions including the civil and military working at cross purposes in the past have reunited to take the nation and the country forward.
The motto given to us by the Quaid 'Unity, faith and discipline'* shall remain crucial to our success. We would also do well to remember his words: "Who lives if Pakistan dies and who dies if Pakistan lives*."
PAKISTAN
