Commentary/Fuzail Jafferey

Is Pakistan heading towards a soft monarchy

A few months ago -- to be precise on January 3, 1997 -- Colonel Masud Akhtar Shaikh (retired) wrote an article titled 'What cost democracy?' in the large-circulation Pakistani English daily The News. The colonel explained in great detail how all forms of democracy had miserably failed in Pakistan during the last 50 years and also pointed out that civil and military dictatorship did not go down well with the national temperament of Pakistan.

According to Shaikh, the only way-out for Pakistan is to opt for monarchy. "We go all out to extend support to King Zahir Shah whenever a proposal for the restoration of his throne in Afghanistan comes up, and that shows our tacit liking for monarchy," Colonel Masud Shaikh wrote in support of his theory.

Ironically, only last week the internationally acclaimed cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan accused Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief of trying to establish a 'monarchy' in Pakistan. Imran, no longer called 'Badshah' (King) Khan by his fans after his Insaaf-e-Tehrik Party failed to win a single seat in the last general election, may appear a bit cynical. However, certain recent developments in Pakistan clearly indicate that Sharief, alias Miyan Saheb, is adopting every possible means to emerge as the unchallenged and unchallengeable ruler of his country.

Imran Khan has already been reduced to the status of a political non-entity. Discerning observers feel that sooner or later he will settle down in Britain from where he will continue to finance and supervise the Shaukat Khanam Hospital which he built in his mother's memory.

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto is sinking deeper into troubled political waters with each passing day. Her husband Asif Zardari, charged with murdering Benazir's brother Murtaza Bhutto, has been in a Karachi jail since last November. His numerous bail applications have been rejected by various courts and his chances of acquittal seem remote.

Similarly, Pakistanis believe the Public Accountability Cell chairman, Saifurrahman, when he announced the freezing of the Swiss banks accounts of Benazir Bhutto, Zardari, and her father-in-law Hakim Zardari, allegedly containing millions of dollars. Few bought Benazir's denials of such an account. If true, the disclosure will sound the death knell of Benazir's already sinking political career.

Pakistani President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari has been cut to size after Sharief had the 13th Amendment passed with the help of the absolute majority he enjoys in Parliament. Till a few months ago, the Pakistani president enjoyed immense powers. He could appoint supreme court and high court judges, the armed forces chiefs, dismiss the elected government at will without assigning any reason. All these powers have now shifted from the presidential palace to the prime ministerial castle in Islamabad. In the history of Pakistan, no prime minister has ever had such a favourable environment to work for the betterment of his people and country.

Certain recent actions and pronouncements of Sharief indicate that he has forgotten his election promises. The Pakistani masses, who voted for the Pakistan Muslim League early this year hoping for a stronger democracy and a better life, feel cheated. The intelligentsia genuinely fear that Sharief is taking Pakistan back to the days of General Zia-ul Haq who buried all democratic norms by suspending the constitution on July 5, 1977 and aggrandised immense power unto himself.

The News, in an editorial recently, said: "The policies of General Zia dragged us (Pakistanis) backwards into darkness, violence and anarchy. Nine years have passed since he left us, but we are a long way from recovering from his more than 11 years in power, the longest time any single person held sway." Nawaz Sharief evidently want to better this longevity record not by democratic means but by following the former dictator's footsteps and using the help of army hawks who still believe in Zia's policies.

To the shock and disappointment of his supporters, the Pakistani premier not only participated at a ceremony held at the Faisal mosque, Islamabad, to mark Zia's ninth death anniversary and waved to the crowd holding hands Zia's son Ejaz-ul Haq, but publicly pledged to "continue Zia-ul Haq's mission and implement Shariat laws in the country." Carrying on in the same vein, Nawaz Sharief described the crowds gathered at the mosque "as clear proof of the masses's commitment to Zia" and eulogised the dictator for his great contribution "to the progress and development of Pakistan."

Sharief's pronouncements are in clear contrast to his earlier claim that he wanted to make Pakistan a truly democratic country. Zia ruthlessly destroyed democracy to consolidate his position. He suspended the constitution, made the judiciary dance to his tunes, replaced senior civil servants with his trusted military officers, and brutally cracked down on dissenting voices including those of journalists, creative writers, jurists, and other consciencious citizens.

One should not forget that Zia did all this in the guise of Islamisation of Pakistan and by introducing his own brand of Nizam-e-Mustafa which had nothing to do with the true spirit of Islam. Zia had depended heavily on the Jamaat-e-Islami and a host of right-wing conservative groups owing allegiance to the Saudi government. Millions of rupees were distributed among the so-called Ulema (religious councils) through the Inter-Services Intelligence and other secret agencies to establish madrasas (religious schools) throughout the country, specially in the North-West Frontier Province.

The Taliban militia, which today holds most of Afghanistan to ransom and violates every possible human right is a product of these radical institutions. The atrocities that the Taliban is presently committing against Afghan women have their origin in the Hudood ordinances framed by General Zia. This not only changed the position of women in the society but made them easy targets of sexual and other forms of harassment. Similary, the Zakat ordinance alienated Shias from the mainstream while the introduction of separate electorates reduced the minorities like the Hindus, Parsees and Christians to the status of second-class citizens.

According to noted Pakistani columnist Abbas Rashid, "While Islam was liberally used by Zia, it was clear that what he sought most was unfettered power for himself." That is what the democratically elected prime minister has been trying to do in recent months. Instead of scrapping the inhuman and repressive laws framed by Zia, he too has developed the tendency of capturing one institution after the other so as to establish his supremacy. For example, the government-appointed Press Council reminds one of the Majlis-e-Shoora formed by General Zia. The Council has already imposed restrictions on parliamentary reporting. On the other hands, large amounts are reportedly spent on pampering those journalists who give favourable coverage to government and its activities.

If the Pakistani media is playing down the ongoing confrontation between the indiciary and the government over the number of judges in the Supreme Court, it is only due to the efforts of Sharif's Minister of Information Mushahid Husain, himself a veteran journalist. Of late, Sharief has done everything possible to please the hardcore Zia loyalists in the army.

His open assertion about Pakistan's advanced nuclear capabilities, his call to the international community to intervene in the Kashmir dispute if India doesn’t accept the so-called and obsolete Security Council resolutions, and finally the total failure of the third round of the secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan, all betray Sharief's designs to stick to power in the same fashion as Zia did for eleven long years.

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