Alternate Solutions Institute released my latest paper, Pakistan's Democratic Impasse - Analysis and the Way Forward, today (December 29).
Copied below is the text of the Media Release:
New paper - “Pakistan’s
Democratic Impasse” published
The paper indicts
politicians as the main culprit for failing the state of Pakistan
The paper falsifies the
myth of blaming the Pakistan Army for the ills Pakistanis facing
Author argues constitution
authorizes politicians to rule, not the Army
Lahore December 29, 2012: Alternate Solutions Institute released today Dr.
Khalil Ahmad's latest paper, Pakistan’s Democratic Impasse – Analysis and
the Way Forward. Already this year, he has published two books, "Pakistan
Mein Riyasti Ashrafiya Ka Urooj" (The Rise of State Aristocracy in
Pakistan, February 2012), and “Siyasi Partian Ya Siyasi Bandobast: Pakistani
Siyasat Ke Pech-o-Khum Ka Falsafiyani Muhakma” (Political Parties Or
Political Arrangements: Philosophical Critique of Pakistani Politics, July 2012).
The paper elaborates the
above-stated position which the author took in both of his books and in a
number of articles already published in newspapers and on his blog (www.NotesFromPakistan.blogspot.com). He holds that after so many stumbles through the 65
years of its existence, Pakistan has finally come to be: a government of the
criminals, by the criminals, for the criminals. He singles out politicians as
the main and the lone culprit for failing the citizens of Pakistan.
The author says his paper
derives its rationale and insight from a reading of the constitution of
Pakistan which considers the fundamental rights and the articles protecting
these rights and freedoms as the core value of the constitution. His paper
looks beyond those articles and books, or that specific approach, which analyze
the democratic failure of Pakistan in a historical, sociological, economic, or
political perspective only or in a way combining them all, and tries to see the
history, sociology, economics and politics of Pakistan with an eye focused on
the scheme of things the constitution of the country put in place to run the
state of Pakistan.
Also, the author has tried to
see the past, present and future role of politicians or political parties and
Pakistan Army through the lens of the constitution, and thus his standpoint
which is unprecedented and goes against the prevailing wisdom of putting the
responsibility for the failure democratizing the society of Pakistan wholly and
solely on the shoulders of Pakistan Army, may seem pleading the innocence of
those Generals who imposed Martial Laws and disfigured the constitution;
however, this paper in addition to castigating the anti-constitutional acts of
the Generals of the Pakistan Army holds that it is the inherent inability of
the political civilian governments which did not prosecute and punish them, and
in that sense vehemently censures that approach of absolving the politicians
totally as unconstitutional and derisive to the constitutional manner of
bringing order in a society.
The author concludes that
this paper not only sees bits of an already delayed indictment of the Pakistani
politicians, but an opportunity also to conduct, on the basis of the same paper,
a thorough political audit of the performance of the political leaders and the
political parties as the sole culprit who misled the political evolution of
Pakistan, and constantly breached the trust of the citizens of Pakistan, as a
result of which people of Pakistan were deadlocked into an impasse with no way
out or forward to live their life as they wish but to live in servitude to the
politicians.
In addition to suggesting
ways to overcome this impasse, the author says that by putting all the burden
of failures on politicians, constitutionalism and civilian supremacy in
Pakistan may be strengthened, and this in due course will bring rule of law as
an established norm in the country, and will bring a political culture never
ready to tolerate any unconstitutional acts of any actors and flouters of the
law of the land, and thus will ultimately help prepare ground not only for a
decriminalized democratic polity but for democratic culture and values also to
take root and flourish, overcoming the Pakistan’s chronic democratic impasse.
The author of the book, Dr.
Khalil Ahmad, has been teaching Philosophy, and presently is mainly devoted to
Political Philosophy. He is one of the founders of the Alternate Solutions
Institute, a think tank dedicated to the strengthening of fundamental rights
and rule of law in Pakistan. His most important works are "Pakistan
Mein Riyasti Ashrafiya Ka Urooj" (The Rise of State Aristocracy in
Pakistan), and "Charter of Liberty.”
The paper may be downloaded
from the website of the Institute: www.ASInstitute.org
For more information, contact
the Institute at: Email: info@asinstitute.org
©
The Blogger
All rights reserved. No part of the contents published on this Blog – Notes from Pakistan may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of The Blogger.
All rights reserved. No part of the contents published on this Blog – Notes from Pakistan may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of The Blogger.
No comments:
Post a Comment