Many faces of a shameless democracy

So someone had the guts to expose the brazen falsity of those outrageous praises showered on Asif Ali Zardari published in various newspapers on September 12.

The other day, one riposte appeared in The News.

Democracy must be hiding its face

By Ishaque Khakwani

ISLAMABAD: I am using my right to respond to Farahnaz Ispahani’s article in praise of Asif Ali Zardari published in The News. In any civilized country a person with Zardari’s credentials would have long been hauled up and in custody, leave alone qualified to enter the race for the office of the president of Pakistan. 

Getting elected and completing 5 long years in office is the biggest humiliation, which the coming generations of Pakistan will face. All because we were so subservient to the foreign dictates that the entire establishment and the large majority of political parties of Pakistan bowed down to their wishes. All this in the name of sham democracy. 

The worst is that We all knowingly succumbed to this bad advice to place Zardari not only in the President’s House but he actually was at the helm of affairs and ran the country through his most corrupt prime ministers ever to hold office in Pak-governments. 

The pity is that all the high and mighty wearing coloured uniforms and black sherwanis enjoyed the rape when it became inevitable, that too for five long years!! We were made the laughing stock of everyone internationally and a nuclear power with all its inherent resourcefulness put on a brave face as if nothing mattered. To salvage the country’s pride & honour was of least concern to all and sundry. 

Democracy must be hiding its face in shame to be so boldly associated with Zardari-led regime. The scams were more than a plateful, the killings all over, particularly in Karachi, were all time high; the law and order non-existent; violations of law by the people in office went unabated; Supreme Court order flouted to the maximum in our 67 years of checkered history and to top it all merit in all civil and military services ran aground. 

All in the name of so-called democracy!! The print media and some TV anchors went blue in the face bringing out all ills practiced in the name of democracy, but all was kosher with the strange logic purported to save the democracy in Pakistan. 

To top it all the new government of Nawaz Sharif rather than correcting the flaws and punishing architects of these scams, is seen honouring them. It is repulsive to see the Armed Forces presenting guard of honour to Zardari and Nawaz Sharif well perched on the same sofa with Yousaf Raza Gilani with an ear-to-ear smiles. Welcome to new Pakistan!!!

[The News, September 13, 2013]

And someone from The News staff had the guts to add this at the end of this riposte:

(The writer is a former MNA and minister in the Shaukat Aziz cabinet under Pervez Musharraf)

That highlights another shameless face of democracy in Pakistan, the dictatorship of General Musharraf!