Pakistan: Thou art mortal

Mir Adnan Aziz
The Frontier Post
March 15,2008

Impressive in its splendor and symbolic character, the ceremony of triumph was a congenital part of Roman culture. The people were presented with a huge parade celebrating the glory of the returning conquering general. The hero rode on a gilded chariot with a slave standing behind him holding a golden crown over his head. He was also supposed to continuously whisper a warning in the general's ear: 'Memento Mori.' - 'Remember thou art mortal'. A literal Latin rendering of the phrase is translated as 'Thus passes glory' or 'All fame is fleeting.'

Paradoxically what we had in Pakistan was a complete lack of hope that the previous government, with all its pomp and glory, could be reformed. Maybe this, as a mindset and culture, bred by years of dictatorial government - a sense of the government being an omnipotent but incompetent figure, not to be challenged or circumvented. A lack of democratic traditions or drastic class stratification - our society was a cauldron of people completely lacking hope. A nation comprising of two classes: the air conditioned 'elite' and the teeming millions - the over heated masses.

The lawyer's heroic struggle, a first in recorded history, precipitated by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chowdry's act of defiance, proved to be a turning point in creating public awareness. The media too played a valiant role refusing to be subdued. The African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass said: If there is no struggle, there is no progress..... Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."

In 1955 Montgomery Alabama, a diminutive Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a 'white'. This single act of defiance altered the course of US history. Today we have Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice billed as the most powerful woman on earth whereas Barack Obama is a front runner in the American presidential nomination race.

Unfortunately, in spite of the electorates clear and absolute rejection, we have here a President in a total state of denial. He is also acting as an all vanquishing conqueror, this despite the fact that the 57 percent mandate was a self created mirage. To continue the charade we still have those from far off shores who whisper incessantly in his receptive ear, 'thou art immortal'.

President Musharraf has found another ally in the form of Gen.Yasar Buyukanit, military chief of our President's childhood Turkey. At an international Defense Conference in Ankara, he reportedly proclaimed that sans President Musharraf, 'political turmoil and violence caused by extremists could pave the way for Taliban to seize the country and it's nuclear weapons'.

Gen Yasar could do well in doing his 'anointed' job, that of defending secularism in what was once the citadel of the Ottoman Empire. The direction mandated by him and his predecessors, is to join a European Union dithering on this issue for years. The EU, time and again, has asked them 'to do more' to merit a niche in that 'hallowed union'. We also never heard him advising the Vatican on the papal 'edict' - Europe being for Europeans only.

Do his words then, with the ever increasing forays of the Kurds and a spate of deadly bombings, not hold true for his own country too? The Kurds up in arms for years have been clamoring for an independent homeland. Do we then expect a free Kurdistan in times to come? Turkey too, as do many countries in the world, has its share of Mehmet Ali Hagcas and Abdullah Ocalans. All Gen. Yasar's induced 'oracle' has done is to fortify an already established impression of an increasingly beleaguered 'conqueror' and an equally restless 'investor'.

In a recent interview we have also been forewarned by President Musharraf about a war between the Presidency and Parliament as being 'catastrophic'. In a state of denial and still thinking of being armed with a 58(2)(B) howitzer, his vision of a looming catastrophe may well prove to be a damp squib. That if the Army remains neutral and those elected united on principles of good governance.

In this same interview he takes pride in his many 'achievements' enumerating three priorities for his 'next' term: political stability, 'continuation' of economic development and success in the 'War on Terror'. Eight years is a life time to see any dream come true. If one fails and looks forward to another five - this may well be the ultimate state of denial. As the adage goes, five years is too short a term for a good President, an eternity for one otherwise.

The recently held elections are being termed as a fulfillment of yet another promise by President Musharraf and his aides. What time proved is that being a COAS/President he gave us a totally dubious referendum he himself admits was a farce. In 2002 the Kings Party was 'delivered'. This as Maj.Gen.Ehtesham's 'Zameer' coaxed him to admit, was manipulated by him as head of ISI's 'C' Directorate.

He, though, justified the same as execution of an order. (Admiral Fallon thought otherwise and resigned). That he executed the aspirations of millions for these long years is too steep a price for that. Another former Minister gifted with Nostradamic visions retorted thus to a TV anchor asking him if he would resign following a fatal train crash: 'It was the engine driver not me who was driving the train'. Amongst numerous executions in these last years, the art of passing the buck too was executed to perfection.

The credit for a fair and reflective election goes to none other but Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani. A thorough professional and a man of few words, the nation has high hopes in him. His to date proven resolve not to interfere in non-military matters has been a silver lining in what was otherwise an inherited ominously billowing dark cloud.

General Omar Bradley known in World War II as 'The Soldier's General' because of his care and compassion for those under his command said: 'Leadership is intangible and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it'. He also went on to say: 'I am convinced that the best service a retired general can perform is to turn in his tongue along with his uniform and to mothball his opinions'.

While invoking emergency President Musharraf took to quoting Abraham Lincoln. The quoted President's words and deeds helped bequeath to his people a country of their aspirations. This from his first inaugural address with its invocation of 'the mystic chords of memory' to that at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. The latter is known as the Gettysburg Gospel so deeply is it etched in American conscience. This 'gospel' stating 'government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth' has been quoted by popes, presidents, prime ministers, and revolutionaries around the world.

In 1918, another American President, Theodore Roosevelt wrote in an Op/Ed for The Kansas City Star: 'To announce that there must be no criticism of the President or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else'. This was written in the middle of World War I. Our 'friends' deny their own history, perpetually coercing us to do something they would never dream of in their own homeland.

President Musharraf's stance is viewed by all as an absolute personification of American policies. He has repeatedly denounced any possibility for a dialogue or political solution of conflicts and their root causes. This holds true, be it Lal Masjid, the tribal areas, Balochistan or the Judges issue. His heavy-handed policies have been an exercise in futility. Peace, security and unity have given in to extreme polarization and mayhem in our daily lives. The Lahore FIA incident took the gruesome blast tally to a chilling thirteen with 600 dead in just over two months. Tragically we have attained the dubious world record of being second only to Iraq in term of suicide bombings.

With people sickened and starved by insecurity, poverty and pulverized by an alien war, it is a nagging belief that our country has been 'sold' out from under us. Our freedom, for which so many perished, is now shackled with political and economic macho bravado decisions of just one mortal.

Insecurity, in these last years has increased with violence on the rampage everywhere. All state and civil society mechanisms for monitoring, reporting and prosecuting the perpetrators are paralyzed, if not destroyed. The suppression of the right to information and expression has further undermined democratic principles and allows for abuses to occur without fear of judicial prosecution. Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis once said: 'When the monster does not bother us, it begins to resemble us'. Is it not time to rethink the strategy of an 'alien war' which has proved fatally detrimental to our own interests?

Amidst this mayhem, the recent 11 point 'Charter of Demands' put forward by the US is something the states within America would never accede to. Even in Louis L Amour's Wild West, strangers with guns were not welcome, that if the local Sheriff had the gall to enforce it. Much blood has flowed since the 'with us against us – love call' which saw a total capitulation of Mr. Musharraf. These recent demands, just the fact that they were made, smack of unbridled arrogance and do not merit the merest of attention of any honorable sovereign country.
Moving on: With the 'Murree Declaration' it would be naive to expect the advent of an immediate spring come rolling down the queen of hills. The road ahead is rutted and dangerous with detractors aplenty who abhor a government here true to its own people. The Interior Minister mentioned the same with names but was immediately watered down to being a personal view. At that level something said so overtly is not to be brushed off so easily. What is stated is done on the basis of evidence not heresy. It however takes heart to challenge and stand up to it.

The economical revival with its mythical glimmering visage of glittering high rises and artificial economic conglomerates has vanished, the mirage that it was. The people do not, as in these last eight years, want insecurity and an economic prosperity that is measured on the barometer of cell phones sold. This is a mindset that was fostered and created among the masses. Progress was reduced to the 'balance' one had in his cell phone. The state washed its hand off the people by encouraging them to download jazzy tunes and catchy melodies. This, they foolishly hoped, would prove an opiate to help forget the rampant insecurity, impoverishment and absence of the basic of all commodities and utilities - flour and electricity.

On the road to recovery people can and will bear hardships only if they see the path taken is the promised one. The masses deserve far better than what has been meted out to them. The newly elected got votes on the premise and promise of a reversal of policies combined with good representative governance. The dazed people saw the previous regime, oblivious to our interests, kowtowing to foreign diktats. This, they rightly viewed as a government gone absurd and absurdity institutionalized is lethal.

There are three ways to govern: domination, compromise and integration. By domination, as we saw in the last eight years, only one side gets what it wants. A compromise gets neither what it wants; integration, untried and untested is the only way out. In our chequered history, many a times have we been 'dominated and compromised', it is time integration be given a fair chance.

Political compromise, more so as practiced by us, is the lowest common denominator of agreement among the compromising parties. All it does is establish a ground floor of debate for perpetuating and sharing power. It often understates the issues, stakes, and the state of prevailing affairs. It only speaks with clarity and certainty about issues personally beneficial to the 'compromisers'.

A totally united and non-contentious front on principles of nation building and sovereignty is therefore imperative. The people do not want squabblers but a uniting force, asking much more than lofty promises, signed charters and a plethora of media conferences. It is also imperative that no office acts as an epicenter of Byzantine intrigues against the aspirations of the people hence strengthening by default those near and afar prowling around for the kill.

The elected have, yet again, been handed a great responsibility. They should, once for all, understand that they derive strength from their own people. This very strength is causing ripples across the globe. The past track record and the timing of some recently planted stories in the foreign press, makes a mockery of the 'champions of democracy'. It also proves that the 'Tass - Pravda' legacy endures, albeit in another land.

Our representatives should pause and think whether the trust reposed in them is commensurate with the garnered experience of our tragedy. If they have learned and understand the same, spring might finally be around the corner. When they step audaciously onstage to take that sacred oath, hopefully the words 'Memento Mori' will constantly resound in their ears. Let us pray they prove true to the country and its people, their moment of glory coming in being the architects of a new edifice of nation building and good governance.

(miradnanaziz@gmail.com)