'The System'-by WAJsal

[beefporkeaterhindumuslim]

Great post. The same problems plague India too. What our country tries need are mass revolutions on the lines of the French and Russian Revolution. The storming of Parliament's and restoration of the proletariat

 

[Nilgiri]

As long as some miracle happens and Pakistani populace starts questioning, demand rights ........ which they never will.

It may be boring for you to hear it ................. we are living this boredom of watching everyday drama of these saviors of a non existent democracy.



If Pakistani people had that capability I won't be wishing for a ruthless dictator to rid us of these fake democracy loving politicians and volumes and volumes of useless outdated laws.



Live in a confused system and you will know what it means.

I hope it changes bro sometime in the future. It has to right? Something has to click somewhere.

 

[I.R.A]

I hope it changes bro sometime in the future. It has to right? Something has to click somewhere.

History is all about dead people and their way of life who lived on this Earth before us. One day we will be history too good or bad well that we certainly don't know yet. Nature will happen whether we wish or not but it will happen.

 

[I.R.A]

you damn munafiqeen have over run this site

don't come to my funeral.

All aspects of a Muslim's life are governed by Sharia. Sharia law comes from a combination of sources including the Qur'an (the Muslim holy book)

The Holy Quran is Holy Quran for whole of the humanity, Muslims have no rights, no patents for the Holy Quran........ neither the Holy Quran allows them the ownership of itself. So stop claiming ownership of something that is bigger than you.

Now coming to your point ....... Muslim's life is governed by the Holy Quran, yes a true Muslim will find all answers to his questions in Quran, Quran is Sharia (the way of life) for an individual who claims to be a Muslim ........... can countries non living mere names and borders be Muslim? How Sharia applies to a country? Its Muslim and his acceptance of each and every word of the Holy Quran ............... that is all that Sharia is. Individual practicing the Holy Quran.

the Hadith (sayings and conduct of the prophet Muhammad) and fatwas (the rulings of Islamic scholars).

Ahadees .................. well is there any Hadees which we can say was directly written by sources we quote? Like we quote Hazrat Abu Huraira (May ALLAH be pleased with him) in most of the Ahadees but is there any hadees that is proof that it was written by Hazrat Abu Huraira himself and nobody had to quote him saying he is the Rawi of this hadees?

Many people, including Muslims, misunderstand Sharia

Many Muslims including you and me really don't understand Sharia at all.

 

[I.R.A]

oh for the love of
just shut up you munafiq
i told you everything yet you still twist things to suit your desires
let me get this straight for you
Islam is not gonna change just because it makes you uneasy,it is here to stay and if you call yourself muslim then you HAVE to follow every single rule
there is no in-between in Islam as if you do that then that you makes you a munafiq,which you are by the way judging from what you posted

and to the rest of the muslims on pdf
if you call yourself muslim then know that there is no compromise in Islam,you either follow it or you don't
i've already told you what is right and wrong and if you do wrong,then know that you are sinning knowingly and voluntarily and that you will be answerable to Allah on the day of judgement

Well I am not the one who is feeling insecure about Islam.

When your hormones get back to normal just know that there was, is, and will always be difference between a Muslim like you winning and Islam winning. I don't want Muslims to win I want Islam to win.

 

[niaz]

Pakistani democratic leaders are elected by the voters but there the ‘Democracy’ ends. Because majority of the political leaders of the past & present, may it be Nawaz Sharif, Imran, ZA Bhutto, Asif Zardari, Altaf Hussein etc. are not democratic in any sense of the term. One would expect army strongmen to be autocratic, but can anyone dare challenge Imran Khan and remain in PTI or challenge NS and remain in the PML-N? How can democratic leaders disband local councils and not hold local bodies’ election for 8 years?

It is the failure of democracy in the so called champions of democracy such PPP & PML-N that invites the army to takeover. Additionally, political parties have become a ‘Fief’ of a particular family, more like a hereditary kingdom. PPP being the most glaring slap on the face of democracy followed by the ANP. Consequently, merit is thrown to the side and only ‘Yes men’ allowed to prosper.

It is not the question of ‘perfect or imperfect’ democracy, democracy will never be perfect. But our system is essentially an oligarchy, where the power is concentrated in the hands of a few families. Add all of this to the extremists Islamic parties who believe that voting is un-Islamic and would prefer a dark age Islamic Emirate ruled by an Amirul Momineen; disobedience to whom is punishable by death and you get the system that exists in Pakistan of today.

Even the Oxford educated Imran Khan has turned out to be an autocratic megalomaniac. People like justice Wajihuddin, who challenged his autocratic whims have been thrown out like dead fly from the milk.

Choices open to people on pan- provincial terms as of today are:

A) Keep choosing PML-N and PPP for alternate terms.

B) Choose Imran & PTI instead.

C) Bring in the Army.

In either case the system will not change and result would be rule by an individual or a family and power limited to a few selected individuals favoured by the leader.

In my opinion, only way forward is thru devolution of power to the local councils and thru educating the masses. Else we would continue as it is till the kingdom come.

 

[Levina]

Thanks for the tag @WAJsal
This is a very thought provoking article and am glad that you, someone I consider as next gen of Pak, have come up with this.
Its heartening to see that you're a strong and vocal supporter of democracy in Pakistan.
I'm very new to the politics of Pakistan, so my views might sound out of sync with what rest have posted here. I would also like to remind you that what you're about to read is an outsider's view of your country and its political landscape.
Be prepared to take my views and observations with a pinch of salt.

• Army as the architect of democracy? Definitely not. Army's role in a country is limited to only protecting it from foreign attacks. For the same reason i was a bit flummoxed when Gen. Raheel Sharif made a comment on Panama leaks. Why does an army general feel the need to speak on a political issue? Let the people in the country decide on the ruling government. The constant interference of army in the functioning of a democratically elected government is definitely a red flag.
• Lack of political will in the elite: Unlike India, which has a huge and opinionated middle class, Pakistan's middle class is relatively small and plays lesser role in country's functioning or so it seems to an outsider like me. The rich and affluent in a society can influence the smooth functioning of government by their contribution to the society or the lack of it. Corruption drops its roots when the stinking rich decide to manipulate govt.
  
• Good leaders: I dont think Pakistan could ever come to terms with the demise of its leader-Jinnah. The vacuum created after his death was never filled. Without the right person to lead Pakistanis felt lost and its in such a state of delusion that your populace accepted martial law with open arms. This happened not once but repeatedly. Imran Khan might be a crowd puller but i dont think he will make a good PM, the utter disorderliness of his personal life is a proof. Dont ask me how i relate the two, but let me tell you that I do have a theory. Nawaz has the qualities of a leader but his corrupt image waters down his efforts to lead the country. Now that hes not in best of his health, I wonder who would take over as the next PM of Pak?
  
• "Aam admi" of Pakistan: While the opposition tries to wrest power from the ruling govt in your parliament, the *innocent "aam admi" of Pakistan gets manipulated by the so called religious leaders. What i would like to remind is "people of a country get the government they deserve". Its you who voted for a corrupt govt, its you who gave a free rein to religious extremists, its you who are responsible for your future. Take charge! At this point i would also like to add that it is surprising that despite all odds. people of Pakistan have not given up their hope in democracy. Where there's a will there's a way!!! All the best.

*Innocent- as in not street smart. I find my country men street smart, not fooled as easily as your's.

• 
  

@Side-Winder , could you please look to share it on social media, give it more audience. Would be appreciated.

I'm not sure if you know that @Side-Winder writes articles for Pakistani newspapers, and that he pens down some excellent stuff. I wonder why he doesn't post his opinion more often on the forum?
Once upon a time when he was the sole administrator of PDF's FB handle, this website was frequented by sane posters.

Out of all the opinions that i read on this thread I was quite impressed by @saiyan0321 's post. Hes been consistent in his views on different threads. Rest towed their usual lines of not being too undiplomatic, fear of earning brick bats i guess.


Has @Kaptaan visited this thread yet?

 

[Side-Winder]

I'm not sure if you know that @Side-Winder writes articles for Pakistani newspapers, and that he pens down some excellent stuff. I wonder why he doesn't post his opinion more often on the forum?
Once upon a time when he was the sole administrator of PDF's FB handle, this website was frequented by sane posters.

I don't write anymore. Gotta get done with the degree first. plus, i have alot to learn, every year i grow up and realize how stupid i was the year before

No, actually i used to be too candid in my approach. posting official news pieces. that was all. Now ever since we expanded, our page became more offensive, had to do it to counter offensives from across the border

we just improved the PDF ranking by around 2,000 globally, and 200 locally in last 2 3 months. ,

 

[The Accountant]

That, is @Joe Shearer specialty. However, what he has said, and I strongly agree here, is the thought behind the write up is what one must really understand, the essence.

Exquisite. I have no other words here @WAJsal

@WAJsal


Please delete the posts which are derailing a perfectly good thread. Let us have a quality post thread here.

Thanks



Would you not attribute the decline of Pakistan to the failure of a new born nation to strengthen it's civil institutions which form the core of governance in any nation, singularly attributable to the usurping of the democratic system with which the nation was born?

What, in your opinion, would have been the effect if these nascent institutions/offices were allowed to consolidate and strengthen under a democratic and civil control, as opposed to what occurred, a military government which was trying to consolidate it's own position and legitimacy after usurping a civilian power structure and democracy, and who would have the maximum benefit from weakness of civil institutions?

Indeed, what appears to me, is that the civil governance model was dealt a fatal blow in it's infancy, when it was the most susceptible to any such acts.



What you allude to is a simile to a mismanaged industrial unit/organisation. How can you certify that a particular person is fit/unfit to lead an organisation/industrial unit and, as an extension, a nation?

It is the "The System" which is created to introduce a regime of checks and balances to cater to this very peculiarity of leadership traits or lack thereof.

When the industrial unit/organisation can be run on the principle of a "going concern" and necessary checks and balances exist in any such unit, do you think that the nation is an entity otherwise?

The alternative, is a person who has no idea, and is allowed to continue for decades. What do you think will be an impact then?

What is inherent to any nation, and what should be inherent, is a consistency of policies on a broader front. The 'nuts and bolts' can differ, but the national objectives and aims should be clearly defined and laid out in front of the public. The national political discourse should focus primarily and secondarily on these objectives/aims, common to the nation as whole, only. In tertiary, you can have the usual irrelevant points which each political outfit has.

What insures a democracy, is the consistency of the national aims. What marks it as being a sound and vibrant system, is the clarity of the national objectives. That is where, the voter needs to be educated, by his/her own self.





Totally agreed. And that someone has to be the common citizen of Pakistan!

Sir nice aeguments however i think i was unable to clarify my arguments in detail .. First of all the core issue is we are looking at things on it surface and not studying the poltics and the thought process at the depth of ocean ... Specially the case with indian members as they are influenced by indian media who is presenting pakistani army take over as the core of all issues ...

My one question to you ... What difference do you find on broader policy level between Musharaf erra and subsequent civilian gov ? There are some surface level differences but deep inside they are same ... Both wanted to use all the government machinery to achieve personal goals ... Mushraf imposed emergency and remove judiciary ... Back in 90s nawaz sharifs ghundas attacked judiciary ... Whereas zardari was not willing to restore judiciary ... In destroying pakistan military and politicians are two faces of same coin ... However earlier track record is good in reference to general public as middle and lower middle class grows at faster pace in military era ...

Lets go back to history ... Back in 60s Pakisan was progressing leaps and bounds ... What we achieved in first 2 decades is not even close to we done in later 45 years ... Some of the remarkable achievements of that time are ..

1) setting up industrial base . areas allocated to Pakistan were mainly of agriculture base and there were no industrial base at all . in first two decades we setup a base for industrial growth which includes banking industry textile industry fmcg products small scale industry and many more.

2 we setup one of the largest dams of Pakistan hence we secured energy and water.

3 we strengthen our railway network specially in southern west Pakistan as Karachi was the major trade hub.

4 we were diplomatically far ahead of india ...

Pakistan was known to be asian tiger . that was great achievement for a nation which had no administrative infrastructure and who lost her leadership at the very begining ...

Now the questuon is if first two decades were that shinning then what happened sbsequently ???

You mentioned in your post that consistency of broader policies are necessary for progress of countries ... So thats where we made disaster ...

With Bhutto taking over in70s took following actions

1: change in economic model from market economy to controlled economy ...

2: nationalization of all major industries.

3: moving more than 350 senior technical beaurecrates which were running the show to foreign diplomat roles and appointing new persons of his own choice in every dept to maintain his control

4 changes in rule of business. Before bhutto erra govt. Institutions were independent upto certain extent and minister did not had executive powers but they had policy making powers ... Bhutto took all executive powers from beaurcrates and gave the ultimate authorities to ministers ...

There are many more blunders ... But can you explain which country in the world do this within a span of a year .. Bhutto although civilian but was bigger dictator then generals ...

Most interesting part is Pakistan did not keep on moving at controlled economy and subsequently shifts back to free economy slowly and gradually again mainly during civilian rule of Nawaz Sharif as his favourite mantra is privatisation ...

Thats the core of the problem which tried to explain and believe me its not about civilian military .... It is about distance between intellectuals, think tanks and the show runners ...

Just let me give u my example ... I am member of one of the most reputed non.gov professional organization of Pakistan (not a trade association) ... We are considered as elite business intellectuals ... Before every budget we collect budget recommendations from all our members (most of our members are show runners in Pakistan's businesses and truly professionals) we submit those to government without any response from them ... In any sane country gov would have gone to such think tanks and should have request them to recommend a member to be part of budget committee ... But unfortunately they dont bother to even consider our recomendation untill and unless its political ...

• Now lets move this discussion to second phase what should be done ?

We have popular statements ... Like change through vote ... We have to make change by ourself ... Civilian gov will auto correct themselve by the passage of time ... Bull shit ... I am sorry things dont work like that in real life ... There is no auto correct version of any inefficient system ... Can you imagine a machine with faulty parts ... Will get fixed automatically?

So here are my take on specific action points to be worked upon :

1: there has to be a dedicated team of intellectuals who set thier life on the path of making things right...

2 Pakistan is an ideoligical nation .. We came into being in the name of religion Islam ... There is no common factor between all ethinicies of Pakistan ... So we should infer all our laws and regultions as per Islam as to make a nation out of us ... And please indulge into shia sunni debate as its iran and saudi version of islam ... In real islam quran is the divine law and if intent is there all factions can be incorporated and live life as per islamic law ..

3 after these generic steps specific steps should be taken is development of institutes ...

Our institutes are rotten from inside ... Just because of the mistake of bhutto all executive power are in the hand of minister which has no knowledge of business and who are there for max period of 5 years ...

4 in 70s all beaurcreats were technocrats and experts in their field .. Cabinet were the policy maker and execution were to be made by those technocrats .. This was self check and balance system due to segregation of authority between executionists and and policy makers ...

5 we have to implement similar system in which parliment government and beaurcracy must all be independent of each others whereas parliment is for law making and selection of governemnt but once selected theyy must work independent of their parties and parliment whereas beaurcrcy must be technocrats and must follow a natural path of growth and merit and must have power to take operational and tactical level decisions under the law formed byy parliment and policies made by gov whereas gov will itself ensure check and balance are there and technocrat is discharging its duties in best interest of nation ...

Good read @WAJsal you put a lot of time and effort into it. Much appreciated.

I first was reminded by your title of one of my favourite books ever "My system", a great work about chess by the great Aron Nimzowitsch. @Chauvinist

We seem to be coming full circle even in the developed world with the political "gangs" permeating and ruining the edifices of democracy.

A statesman like Ike would be turning in his grave at what the US has been turning into over the last couple decades for example.

But the relatively nascent democracies of the world owe to themselves to hit their stride and peak down the road, like the US did in the middle of the 20th century...so that we may weather the inevitable declines and troughs.

I feel that this will need equal measures of overall education, socio-economic churning and time.

Each person at the end of their journey must ask, "Am I leaving "the system" in better shape than I found it?", and introspect the answer and share it with those around him/her. It is the only way we can learn and improve that which we are surrounded by. The valuable lessons cannot just be read from books and the media, they must come from those around us that we care and love so much.....so that somewhere down the road, someone in our extended network that we influenced or were influenced by can find themselves in a real position to do something. With the butterfly effect in play, sometimes all it takes is a few good men and good luck. I wish that upon all countries of the world.

 

[Joe Shearer]

Great post. The same problems plague India too. What our country tries need are mass revolutions on the lines of the French and Russian Revolution. The storming of Parliament's and restoration of the proletariat

LOL.

And, ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together: he's back! Giving you

THE COMINTERN!

 

[Joe Shearer]

Good read @WAJsal you put a lot of time and effort into it. Much appreciated.

I first was reminded by your title of one of my favourite books ever "My system", a great work about chess by the great Aron Nimzowitsch. @Chauvinist

We seem to be coming full circle even in the developed world with the political "gangs" permeating and ruining the edifices of democracy.

A statesman like Ike would be turning in his grave at what the US has been turning into over the last couple decades for example.

But the relatively nascent democracies of the world owe to themselves to hit their stride and peak down the road, like the US did in the middle of the 20th century...so that we may weather the inevitable declines and troughs.

I feel that this will need equal measures of overall education, socio-economic churning and time.

Each person at the end of their journey must ask, "Am I leaving "the system" in better shape than I found it?", and introspect the answer and share it with those around him/her. It is the only way we can learn and improve that which we are surrounded by. The valuable lessons cannot just be read from books and the media, they must come from those around us that we care and love so much.....so that somewhere down the road, someone in our extended network that we influenced or were influenced by can find themselves in a real position to do something. With the butterfly effect in play, sometimes all it takes is a few good men and good luck. I wish that upon all countries of the world.

No wonder you irritate the hell out of me - bloody side-opening wallah. No Queen's side loyalist will ever understand, or try to understand your shenanigans.

Much has become clear to me now. And what do you think dear Tartakower would have to say about your forays into minefields?

 

[-xXx-]

One thing the general public is quite wrong to do is to confuse democracy with the politicians who are associated with the system.

Why so?

Politicians are product of "people mining" process called democracy. A democracy is as good as its people and politicians represent collective quality of its people.

I find it very dishonest when somehow people start seeking separation from politicians which are in fact broadly same. Passing the buck is a norm. Democracy is not an individual phenomenon, once it make call, its public call, individuals don't count in isolation.

Though politicians are not quality indicator of the system but the indicator of user of the system. Democracy, for me, is not tailor made for all kind of societies.

Overall a good write up, in good intent with a noble call.

 

[RAMPAGE]

Sir nice aeguments however i think i was unable to clarify my arguments in detail .. First of all the core issue is we are looking at things on it surface and not studying the poltics and the thought process at the depth of ocean ... Specially the case with indian members as they are influenced by indian media who is presenting pakistani army take over as the core of all issues ...

My one question to you ... What difference do you find on broader policy level between Musharaf erra and subsequent civilian gov ? There are some surface level differences but deep inside they are same ... Both wanted to use all the government machinery to achieve personal goals ... Mushraf imposed emergency and remove judiciary ... Back in 90s nawaz sharifs ghundas attacked judiciary ... Whereas zardari was not willing to restore judiciary ... In destroying pakistan military and politicians are two faces of same coin ... However earlier track record is good in reference to general public as middle and lower middle class grows at faster pace in military era ...

Lets go back to history ... Back in 60s Pakisan was progressing leaps and bounds ... What we achieved in first 2 decades is not even close to we done in later 45 years ... Some of the remarkable achievements of that time are ..

1) setting up industrial base . areas allocated to Pakistan were mainly of agriculture base and there were no industrial base at all . in first two decades we setup a base for industrial growth which includes banking industry textile industry fmcg products small scale industry and many more.

2 we setup one of the largest dams of Pakistan hence we secured energy and water.

3 we strengthen our railway network specially in southern west Pakistan as Karachi was the major trade hub.

4 we were diplomatically far ahead of india ...

Pakistan was known to be asian tiger . that was great achievement for a nation which had no administrative infrastructure and who lost her leadership at the very begining ...

Now the questuon is if first two decades were that shinning then what happened sbsequently ???

You mentioned in your post that consistency of broader policies are necessary for progress of countries ... So thats where we made disaster ...

With Bhutto taking over in70s took following actions

1: change in economic model from market economy to controlled economy ...

2: nationalization of all major industries.

3: moving more than 350 senior technical beaurecrates which were running the show to foreign diplomat roles and appointing new persons of his own choice in every dept to maintain his control

4 changes in rule of business. Before bhutto erra govt. Institutions were independent upto certain extent and minister did not had executive powers but they had policy making powers ... Bhutto took all executive powers from beaurcrates and gave the ultimate authorities to ministers ...

There are many more blunders ... But can you explain which country in the world do this within a span of a year .. Bhutto although civilian but was bigger dictator then generals ...

Most interesting part is Pakistan did not keep on moving at controlled economy and subsequently shifts back to free economy slowly and gradually again mainly during civilian rule of Nawaz Sharif as his favourite mantra is privatisation ...

Thats the core of the problem which tried to explain and believe me its not about civilian military .... It is about distance between intellectuals, think tanks and the show runners ...

Just let me give u my example ... I am member of one of the most reputed non.gov professional organization of Pakistan (not a trade association) ... We are considered as elite business intellectuals ... Before every budget we collect budget recommendations from all our members (most of our members are show runners in Pakistan's businesses and truly professionals) we submit those to government without any response from them ... In any sane country gov would have gone to such think tanks and should have request them to recommend a member to be part of budget committee ... But unfortunately they dont bother to even consider our recomendation untill and unless its political ...

• Now lets move this discussion to second phase what should be done ?

We have popular statements ... Like change through vote ... We have to make change by ourself ... Civilian gov will auto correct themselve by the passage of time ... Bull shit ... I am sorry things dont work like that in real life ... There is no auto correct version of any inefficient system ... Can you imagine a machine with faulty parts ... Will get fixed automatically?

So here are my take on specific action points to be worked upon :

1: there has to be a dedicated team of intellectuals who set thier life on the path of making things right...

2 Pakistan is an ideoligical nation .. We came into being in the name of religion Islam ... There is no common factor between all ethinicies of Pakistan ... So we should infer all our laws and regultions as per Islam as to make a nation out of us ... And please indulge into shia sunni debate as its iran and saudi version of islam ... In real islam quran is the divine law and if intent is there all factions can be incorporated and live life as per islamic law ..

3 after these generic steps specific steps should be taken is development of institutes ...

Our institutes are rotten from inside ... Just because of the mistake of bhutto all executive power are in the hand of minister which has no knowledge of business and who are there for max period of 5 years ...

4 in 70s all beaurcreats were technocrats and experts in their field .. Cabinet were the policy maker and execution were to be made by those technocrats .. This was self check and balance system due to segregation of authority between executionists and and policy makers ...

5 we have to implement similar system in which parliment government and beaurcracy must all be independent of each others whereas parliment is for law making and selection of governemnt but once selected theyy must work independent of their parties and parliment whereas beaurcrcy must be technocrats and must follow a natural path of growth and merit and must have power to take operational and tactical level decisions under the law formed byy parliment and policies made by gov whereas gov will itself ensure check and balance are there and technocrat is discharging its duties in best interest of nation ...

Astute observations but the highlighted part left a bad taste in my mouth.

If it were up to me, Molvis would damn ZAB and ZuH in every Friday sermon. (pun intended)

 

[WAJsal]

Brilliant responses, thank you all for the kind words. Appreciate it and means a lot.

Before i get to the responses one thing to add: I cannot accept that, 'there is no light at the end of the tunnel'. That this lot is going to destroy this country and etc, etc. If common people stop voting for corrupt people, best part is people know who is corrupt and who's not. I would still blame the general public who knowingly vote for the corrupt for personal benefits. The change is to be brought by the people and people only.

I think all the dictators whether politicians or millitary can put their contribution together.
One thing we should keep in mind that when one player is playing bad and other player has to take the responsibility then things appear which definitely harm the fabrication of a very understood alliance. IMO, the more the situations like after-the -surgical-strike are going to develop the more the above-mentioned things are going to appear. Your enemy knows you well and he is playing with your weaknesses. he is exploiting your mistrust.

The people have to bring a change, change basic things, fix basic things. Start from disposing off trash properly. Literacy has to do a lot with the process. An intellect once mentioned on PDF was that the ruling elite do not want to educate the masses, figure?

What Musharraf has spoken today reflects the traditional disrespect for a democratic set up by the Military that is perennial since Pakistan’s journey as an independent nation-state. This is not the first time when the sense of a superiority of governance led or supported by Military over a Civilian led constitutional democracy has been expressed. Pakistani members must not have missed that, General Iskander Mirza said the same thing to Sir Alexander Symon, the British High-commissioner that Democracy is unsuited for a country like Pakistan way back in 1958. “If any undesirable elements” dominate the post electoral government, Mirza expressed desire an imminent intervention.

In the consequent years that passed only witnessed further degradation of democratic values, both by the Military and surprisingly by the civilian polity also. Behind the scene manipulation of political process (most prominently during Major General Sher Ali Khan as Information & National Affairs) became a standard practice by the army and the intelligence service. Civilian politicians continued to look up to the Military Institutions for staying in power. Incidents of overthrow of democratically elected governments became cyclic whenever the Military regime intended to.

What has been more disappointing is the autocratic nature of democratically elected governments. Sr.Bhutto was the first civilian government after almost two decades, and he had little patience with parliamentary niceties. Ironically his end came through the hand of another autocrat who repeatedly promised the nation for a free and fair election which remained an illusion during his life time. The movement for restoration of democracy (MRD) was brutally suppressed in the Southern province. Successive governments, be it Md.Khan Junejo, Mrs.Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif were dismissed whenever the Military institution wished. When Benazir Bhutto government was dismissed in 1996, the president told her the Army wanted her out and the COAS warned her that the president is about to dismiss her government.

All these events suggest one thing, that the nation builders of Pakistan had not given much thought on what system of governance is suitable for Pakistan and how to implement that system. Democracy in the beginning was seen as a Colonial luxury and unsuitable for a ethno-religiously diverse country like Pakistan. The autocratic system in the immediate Soviet Union was a stunning success where Stalin thought Singularity of National Philosophy was inevitable and indispensable for a country like Soviet Union. The threat of a bigger neighbour that was not only more resourceful but was also an essentially Hindu majority strengthened the apprehension gave rise to a political system that was perennially subservient to the mighty Military Institution. It also slowly gave birth to a notion that civilian politicians are essentially corrupt and inefficient and it is the duty of the Men in Uniform who are supposedly clean in intention and of superior morality would rescue the Pakistani Society whenever the exigency arises.

The outstanding efforts of previous army chiefs like Asif Nawaz or Abdul Waheed to limit the army’s role in parliamentary democracy had gone in vein. Pakistani members forgive me if I am wrong both in factually and in my interpretation, the sense of supra-constitutionality, institutionalizing the Military as the sole, invincible guardian of Pakistani national life and moral superiority over the civilian polity must diminish and slowly replaced with more and more emphasis on secular democratic institutions such as an efficient electoral system led by efficient Civil Servants, the judiciary and the press. Fortunately or unfortunately, the magic wand to transform the ‘System’ still lies in the hand of the Army.

I would personally rate your posts higher in quality than my article-not kidding. Very well written, brilliantly summed up.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the magic wand to transform the ‘System’ still lies in the hand of the Army.

I personally believe things have changed. If we continue on like this it's a matter of time before things improve. The wand lies with the people now. People are educated enough.

"Zara Num Ho To Yeh Mitti Bari Zar'khaiz Hai Saqi"

Beautifully quoted, well done.

instituions are not playing its part..

Well spotted. I have made this clear too. We are not lacking a lot in terms of constitutional gaps and institutes, a 'will' is lacking. Every other person in Pakistan is corrupt in one way or another, in one shape or another and we expect these people to not be corrupt? Hy, they are Pakistanis too. People need to change first.

Democracy in Pakistan has been great (not for common Pakistanis), it has so many achievements to its credit that we Pakistanis can cherish and be proud of (not) ................ one of those is it produced a Zardari who claims he is a Bhutto too and a hordes of people believe him. After all isn't democracy all about how to win the elections only.

Where else it could have happened that a Molana who is known for diesel business, has his links with the worst of terrorists but gets to sit on the government benches no matter which party is in rule................ or a confused Khan who concludes the protest by declaring his second marriage.

I wish these billionaire democrats of Pakistan the best of luck ......... they have been successful all this time to limit their fear to one and only threat................ their politics ensured no real threat or competition from common Pakistanis. And based on their past trend and politics I think they can still try and make CPEC another Kalabagh …… or if not that then may be they can amend some documents pass some resolutions and change the name of CPEC to something like CKBSPGBEC ....... that would be a great achievement before next elections to be held in 2018. After all Pakistani democracy is about winning the elections only.

I wonder who had the vision and will for a city like Islamabad and a project like Tarbela ……. was it some FA pass General or some Fake degree holder politician?

The bitter truth remains Pakistan still needs four to five years of a ruthless authoritative dictator (doesn't matter if he is wearing a uniform as long as he does what needs to be done) who can wipe Pakistan's politics of these corrupt dynasties, Makhdooms, Wadairas, Sardars, sellouts and Chuadhries. And he delivers simple, clear, understandable and enforceable laws.

In nutshell ...... in my opinion based on very shallow knowledge (rather selfish desires) Pakistan needs four to five years of an honest ruthless dictator for some real future democracy to happen in Pakistan. Otherwise the sad reality remains that Pakistan had NS (The ameer ul momineen) as PM when I was 12 years old and it has still the same PM when I have started growing grey hair ………..

Forgot to mention the biggest culprit: General public. Which elects these people to these posts. And in time welcomes dictators with open hands too.

Wrong statement to make. South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee is the architect of the country enormous economic and industrial growth.

Also, where do you put the first four Caliphs under? They were dictators, one man show.

There is no right or wrong answer to this as to which system is better, it all depends on who is leader.

Just a food for thought, an alternate view, in worst form of dictatorship, you got one man stealing nations wealth, in worst form of democracy, however, you got an army of democrats looting the nation with both hands, like we see in Pakistan.

How many such examples can you quote?
I have clearly mentioned that, 'any system requires the right people.' If dictators in some cases are capable they can surely deliver. You need capable people.
As far as speaking about the caliphs, arey bhai we are not living in such simpler times. Those great people were literally students of our prophet, their lives were a perfection. Those standards cannot be matched and it's best to to even put them on any scale. Simply take them as an example. Not many 'shareef' and 'naik' people these days...

Thanks for the tag @WAJsal
This is a very thought provoking article and am glad that you, someone I consider as next gen of Pak, have come up with this.

Thank you for the nice words.

Lack of political will in the elite: Unlike India, which has a huge and opinionated middle class, Pakistan's middle class is relatively small and plays lesser role in country's functioning or so it seems to an outsider like me. The rich and affluent in a society can influence the smooth functioning of government by their contribution to the society or the lack of it. Corruption drops its roots when the stinking rich decide to manipulate govt.

"Aam admi" of Pakistan: While the opposition tries to wrest power from the ruling govt in your parliament, the *innocent "aam admi" of Pakistan gets manipulated by the so called religious leaders. What i would like to remind is "people of a country get the government they deserve". Its you who voted for a corrupt govt, its you who gave a free rein to religious extremists, its you who are responsible for your future. Take charge! At this point i would also like to add that it is surprising that despite all odds. people of Pakistan have not given up their hope in democracy. Where there's a will there's a way!!! All the best.

Very good points. You probably might not know this but the middle class in Pakistan is quite large. This class doesn't want to get into the political system. They will hardly use their right to vote. More on this subject....


One last thing @Shah01 , i cannot accept that we cannot fix the 'system'. When we have completed the biggest hardle, when we have laid the foundation by getting this country, i wonder how we can't build a strong wall. The foundations are surely weekend by this time, not really completely disintegrated. We should have more faith.

Again all thank you for the response, made my day.

 

[The Accountant]

Astute observations but the highlighted part left a bad taste in my mouth.

If it were up to me, Molvis would damn ZAB and ZuH in every Friday sermon. (pun intended)

Sir i agree i hate molana fazlu rehman and jamat.e.islami ad all such pathetic brokers of islam ... But who said that molvis are owner of islam ?

Sir these molvis are one of the main reasons behind bad face of islam ... Look at history of islam ... When did we had that molvis ? We never had that ... In a true islamic state head of the state have to lead the prayers ... In our history the most honest respectable and pious ma had to lead the prayers of the rea ... We have to go back that culture ... Sir honestly speaking from where does the ideology of modern democracy gets initiated ? It was muslims ... The basic ideology of democracy is gov for the people by the people .. Same was implemented by our Khulfa.e.Rashideen ...

Due to these molvis we have lost on the faith best law ... But just tel me the principles of equality in society justice ... Can you have any better example then those displayed by khulfa.e.rashideen ?

Anyways thats off topic so we can debate some other day ...

But my point is there is no point of keeping Pakistan a secular as we are not a nation otherwise ...