Here
is the media release:
New
book - “Pakistan’s Democratic Impasse” published
The
book indicts politicians as the main culprit for failing the state of Pakistan
The
book falsifies the myth of blaming the Pakistan Army for the ills Pakistanis
facing
Author
argues constitution authorizes politicians to rule, not the Army
The
book elaborates the above-stated position which the author took in three 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 not only for failing the citizens of Pakistan, but betraying their
trust also.
The
author says his book 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 book looks beyond those articles and books, or that specific
approach, which analyzes 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 book 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 his book 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 book, 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.”
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