Pakistani politicians should unite
There are occasions when all politicians from all parties
should respond in a united manner when national interests are at stake. The recent
“Memogate” scandal that has blown up in Pakistan is one such example.
Whether Husain Haqqani really helped write that memo, and
if he did, whether he acted on his own initiative or was instructed by his
superiors from Islamabad, is not clear.
But what is clear is that help was sought from the US
military to pressure the Pakistani Army chief and ISI chief so that they
wouldn’t get carried away by the negative image they “earned” when they were
caught napping on the night of May 2, when the American SEALs came stealthily
to eliminate Osama Bin Laden in his house in Abbottabad, just a short distance
from the Pakistan Military Academy.
Whether Zardari or Gilani instructed Haqqani to do so is
beside the point. The relevant question is if what was requested of then US
Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mike Mullen was in the interest of Pakistan or
not.
Democracy has just returned to Pakistan and can be easily
crushed in this nascent stage.
Pakistani politicians are just learning to run their
country under a democratic system. Indian politicians are also still learning
to govern effectively in a democratic system even after more than 60 years of
(almost) uninterrupted democratic rule. So it is unfair to compare their
performance with the more mature democracies of the UK or the US.
Most of the democratic governments in Pakistan have been
dismissed by Pakistani Armed Forces when an excuse was available to them. That
is what happened when Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia Ul Haq and Musharraf grabbed
power. So it is in the interests of Pakistan to strengthen the institutions of
democracy by asserting themselves when the Armed Forces have been weakened by
their own negligence.
Muhammad Ziauddin, in his column in Express Tribune on
Nov. 23, 2011, appreciated how all three branches of the US government closed
ranks and came to the defense of Raymond Davis with one voice certifying his
questionable immunity of a mole known to be a CIA contractor. I feel that all
senior Pakistani politicians including Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and others
should also close ranks and support President Zardari today against the common
adversary of democracy vis a vis the Armed Forces and ISI.
From Indian perspective, it is very important that
democratic rule stays in Pakistan, because India and Pakistan are coming closer
than ever before. In fact, the Indian Prime Minister went as far as calling his
Pakistani counterpart a “man of peace”, something the Indians took with a pinch
of salt.
I appeal to all Pakistani democratic parties to support
the democratic government in power instead of creating problems for it.
K. B. Kale, Jakarta
First published in JP on 29/11/2011
No comments:
Post a Comment