In
the matters of running the state of Pakistan, penetration of politics,
politicians and political considerations have marred the capability of the state
to think clearly, act accordingly and punish promptly; which has weakened it to
such an extent that in most of the cases the state is conspicuous by its
absence, resulting in increasing anarchy in the country. It was back in 1953
that Justice Munir Inquiry Report concluded thus: “And it is our deep
conviction that if the Ahrar had been treated as a pure question of law and
order, without any political considerations, one District Magistrate and one
Superintendent of Police could have dealt with them. Consequently, we are
prompted by something that they call a human conscience to enquire whether, in
our present state of political development, the administrative problem of law
and order cannot be divorced from a democratic bed fellow called a Ministerial
Government, which is so remorselessly haunted by political nightmares. But if
democracy means the subordination of law and order to political ends – then
Allah knoweth best and we end the report.” (Justice Munir Inquiry Report 1954,
P. 387)
The
problem has now complicated so much so that a thick layer of confusion prevails
from the highest courts to the lowest functionary of the state. The diagnosis
Justice Munir Report made is though still valid; however, the effects of the
disease the Report diagnosed have shifted the ailment to another vital area;
i.e. the earlier disease has given rise to another one more fatal, i.e. how to
fix responsibility. Let it be stated here that the fault lies not with laws as
such, but more with their implementation. All the thinking regarding the
implementation of laws, rules and regulations that exists now in every organ
and institution of the state lacks clarity as far as fixing of responsibility
is concerned.
With
this preamble, this piece tries to analyze the political discourse taking place
on the issue of Islamabad sit-ins of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan
Awami Tehreek. The other day, after the disclosures of Javed Hashmi regarding
the involvement of both PTI and PAT in a conspiracy to topple the present
government of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, which allegedly had the sponsorship
of certain retired officials of Army and ISI, General Mirza Aslam Beg (R) managed
to present himself to a prime time TV talk show to expose another bigger
conspiracy behind the sit-ins. The Big Bang he may have hoped to make by his
revelations failed to release any impact. His utterances were no different from
the statements of religious politicians who now and then see the hand of India,
or America or Israel behind any noticeable occurrence happening in Pakistan. He
tried to name US, UK, Canada and Iran as the conspirators behind the Islamabad
sit-ins; he said these countries wanted martial law and anarchy in Pakistan and
that the incumbent Chief of the Army Staff foiled their plot. That at best may
be termed as an attempt to deflect the burden of responsibility which Javed
Hashmi’s revelations put on the Army via retired security officials.
Since
Azadi and Inqilab Marches of PTI and PAT started, elements in civil society and
the media, and some politicians expressed their belief that the same was
sponsored, as they dub it, by the establishment. Thus every development that
took place in the Red Zone, be it the coming of the marchers to the Red Zone, their
forcible entry into the premises of the Parliament building, their attack on
the Prime Minister House, their short but significantly symbolic occupation of
the Pakistan Television Headquarters, their leaders’ daily tirades tarnishing
the every semblance of the writ of the state, was interpreted in the light of
that belief. Thus according to such elements the culprit is the establishment,
or , the retired officials of the establishment.
I
have every so often reiterated that the Pakistani mind has lost a very precious
function, i.e. the function of common sense. While fixing responsibility, it does
not see who is the perpetrator of an act, what it tries to focus its attention
on is who is behind him, as if the perpetrator is not the one who is
responsible for that act, the responsible for that act is one who is behind him
and has exhorted him to do the act. No doubt, law takes into account the one
also who exhorted and / or abetted one to commit a crime, but it puts the
burden of responsibility mainly on one who commits the crime.
It’s
a social and moral case: I use an example to illustrate this fallacious
thinking; that if a person asks another person to jump into a well, and he
jumps into the well, who is one who should be framed with responsibility for
jumping into the well? Practically, the most prevalent view in Pakistani
society is: one who asked him to jump into the well! That view has taken over
the commons sense thinking in every domain of the state and social life. It is
like that mother who puts the blame of making his son an addict on others, and
treats her son completely an innocent soul. That’s the way responsibility is
put and fixed in Pakistan. One may object in Pakistan responsibility is never
fixed. That’s another chronic malady the state of Pakistan is afflicted with
from the day one. The present piece tries to highlight the fact that a new ploy
has been developed to thwart the issue of fixing responsibility: put
responsibility on everyone or on one who is not the main culprit. That’s the
state aristocracy’s way of avoiding responsibility for anything done!
Hence,
whether or not, it is the retired officials of the Army or any intelligence
agency as Javed Hashmi blamed, or the USA, UK, Canada or Iran, or the
establishment as is alleged, or any other conspirators, who are behind the the
PTI and PAT’s sit-ins; whether or not PTI and PAT coalesced with any other
conspiring power, that’s not the real issue. The real culprit is one who is
before us, not one who is behind the mountain. The culprit is who has organized
the sit-ins. It is PTI and PAT who are the culprit. It is their leaders who are
the culprit!
Note: This article was completed on September 23, and was originally posted in September 2014.
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