How to Save Pakistan By Imran Khan

By Imran Khan

Make no mistake; Pakistan faces a grave threat from the creeping chaos, a by-product of the most shameful demonstration of power politics. There are many threats confronting our society. The threat of extremism is just one which is essentially a consequence of policies that serve foreign interests at the cost of the fundamental rights of our citizens. On 9/11, yes, we should have stood with the US when it was attacked by terrorists. But our cooperation should have been within the ambit of our constitution and law. No civilized society will ever allow its own army, raised and armed at a great cost to society, to be used so mercilessly against its own citizens and expect business as usual. In a society where the majority is without fundamental rights, without education, without economic opportunities, without healthcare, the use of sheer force will only expand the extremist fringe and contract the majority moderate.Our military rulers are incapable of understanding that the real owners of the country are its people who must have the right as, political sovereigns, to decide without fear and coercion who should rule them. In India the only qualification for Lalo Prasad or his domestic housewife Rabri Devi to rule Bihar was the mandate of the people. Can we imagine our ruling elite ever accepting a similar peoples verdict. This fundamental question of Who Owns Pakistan must be decided once and for all.

In the absence of democracy and rule of law, extremism and religious fundamentalism will continue to grow at a frightening pace. The more the present regime bows to Washingtons desire to “do more and the more innocent Pakistani blood is shed under the garb of fighting the war on terror or curbing extremism, the more Pakistan moves towards becoming a “failed state, and the more people would resort to picking up arms against the security forces.

Have we ever thought why for almost 30 years out of 60 years of our existence, we have been a frontline state? Was it to protect our interests or to serve foreign policy interests of a super power in return for support to military regimes that otherwise lacked any moral or legal authority rule.

To save the country from impending disaster the first and the most crucial step has to be a government that is established through free and fair electionsa government that is brought to power through the vote of the people of Pakistan and which is perceived to be politically sovereign. The moment a leader is perceived to be an American stooge, he or she will be like a red rag to a raging bull – and the situation would be further exacerbated. Such a government will be suspected of pushing an anti-Islamic U.S. agenda. All its actions (like reform of Madrassas that are badly needed as indeed of our entire unjust educational system) right or wrong will be viewed with great suspicion.

Free and fair elections under General Musharraf wielding unlimited powers under the PCO are impossible. So the first step has to be a political consensus on forcing General Musharraf to resign followed by lifting of Martial Law albeit under the garb of emergency, reinstatement of the judiciary prior to November 3, 2007, removing all restriction on the media, and holding of an empowered APC to decide on the federal and provincial caretaker setups and an independent election commission.

A government that is formed through free and fair elections will not only be politically sovereign but it will also have the credibility to initiate national reconciliation which demands a comprehensive review of policies since 9/11 and building of national consensus on policies that can save Pakistan and not on building unholy alliances between individuals for sharing of power. The U.S. should stay away from a free electoral process as any US interference or backing of any political party will be the kiss of death as far as its effectiveness in dealing with terrorism. So the US can help itself and Pakistan by keeping out of our electoral process. To bring peace in the tribal areas we need to learn from the British experience who developed a highly effective system of negotiations through Jirgas while rewarding the tribes through subsidies to keep peace. Since Quaid-i-Azam signed a treaty in 1948 with the people of the tribal areas and withdrew Pakistani troops, they have remained the most peaceful and trouble free part of Pakistan.

Even a cursory knowledge of Pushtun history shows that for reasons of religious, cultural, and social affinity, the Pushtuns on both sides of the Durand line cannot remain indifferent to the suffering of their brethren on either side. For them, the Durand line is imaginary and for all practical purposes does not exist. The Pushtuns have a history they take pride in of resisting every invader from Alexander downwards, the Persians, Moguls, British and the Russians (all super powers of their times) who were all bogged down in the Pushtun quagmire. So, no government, Pakistani or foreign will ever be able to stop Pushtuns crossing over the fifteen hundred kilometer border to support their brethren in distress on either side even it means fighting the modern day super power in Afghanistan.

A sovereign Pakistani government will need to impress upon the U.S. administration that there is not going to be a military solution in Afghanistan. The more Aerial bombings kill innocent Pushtuns, the more recruits for Taliban and even Al-Qaeda – revenge being an integral part of the Pushtun character. Most crucially the Americans need to understand that in order to capture or kill two or three thousand Al-Qaeda, they are in danger of turning the entire one million male Pushtuns, armed and natural guerilla fighters, in the tribal areas of Pakistan against them.

So like in Iraq the US should give a time table for withdrawal from Afghanistan and replace NATO forces with OIC troops during the interim period. The Pushtuns then should be involved in a dialogue where they should be given a stake in peace. The crucial lesson the US needs to learn is that you can only win against terrorists if the people from within whom the terrorists are operating from also consider them terrorists. Once they become freedom fighters and heroes amongst their people then history tells us that the battle is lost.

The other form of militancy that is growing in Swat and Dir has stemmed from an issue of governance. Dr. Tirmizi has done excellent research on Dir once it became a part of Pakistan in 1974. Before 74 both Swat and Dir according to him had complete rule of law and democracy. The village Jury (Jirga) system gave everyone total access to justice as well as a say in the running of their affairs. Commenting on the success of the tribal system Olaf Caroe, the British governor of NWFP in 30s, stated that there was more crime in a week in Peshawar then in a year of whole of the tribal areas. After Dir and Swat became part of Pakistan both democracy and justice disappeared under Pakistans corrupt governance system. The more the governance system crumbled in Pakistan, the more the nostalgia grew for the old system based on Shariat. Hence when the movement for Shariat started, it was quickly adopted by the poorer section of the population. A new democratic government would need to constitute an empowered Grand Jirga comprising all stakeholders to develop consensus on measures to bring peace and forge reconciliation in the tribal areas and Swat. A similar process would be required in Balochistan commencing with the release of all the political prisoners.

Another form of militancy is also potentially extremely dangerous for Pakistan. This is the growing fundamentalism out of fear of their culture and religion being threatened by Musharrafs “enlightened moderation. Tehrans westernized elite under the Shah in the 70s imposed similar pseudo westernization. The Iranian masses especially the Tehran Bazaris reacted to the perceived threat to their cultural and religious values violently. Like the fundamentalists of the Lal Masjid, the Iranian masses anger was focused on what they perceived to be western vulgarity. So strong was the reaction to vulgarity that eventually Iran forced their women into veils – and that in a society that was considered the most sophisticated in the Muslim world.

To deal with this type of fundamentalism, a genuine democratic government will have to be sensitive to the cultural and religious norms of the masses. After the uprising of 1857 the British realized that one of the main causes of the rebellion against them was due to their insensitivity to the religious and cultural sentiments of both Hindus and Muslims.

But before we achieve our goal of building a free democratic society, the first and foremost challenge is to force general Musharraf to resign. General Musharraf recent statements are proof that he is in a denial mode. The time is ripe for change, for a fresh beginning. The present regime is under siege and we must never allow this opportunity to fritter away. I appeal to all Pakistanis particularly the students, workers, civil society members, and political workers to join the peaceful protest led by the lawyers for the restoration of democracy.

The treatment meted out to me at the Punjab University campus by the agents of agencies is no different to what has been meted out to other democracy activists. My loyalties are with the people of Pakistan and I am determined to continue the fight for Pakistan being waged today in the streets and bazaars of my country.

The writer is Chairman Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf

Credit: MicroPakistan

Comments

2 responses to “How to Save Pakistan By Imran Khan”

  1. zakir khan Avatar

    Imran Khan represents the silent majority of Pakistan. The poll turn out bears testimony to this fact. The corrupted electoral system and the stranglehold of the dynasties will never let them succeed unless the PTI chairman starts enlisting young people who have a soft corner for their motherland and grooms them to be leaders of 2012.