Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur
The ruling elites here often become destructively, intransigently and obdurately transfixed on issues like, the ?re-election of president in uniform?, ?writ of the state?, ?sovereignty? ?fight against terrorism? or ?fixing up people? at the expense of governance. Pursuing these goals obsessively they simply forget their obligations to the people. They simply become obsessed with prolonging their misrule and the rest of the world can go to hell as far as they are concerned.
The other day Chaudary Aitzaz Ahsan was thrashing it out on TV with the new AG Malik Qayyum, the latest gift of the General to the hapless and unfortunate people, regarding the legality of re-election of the General in uniform by these spineless and superfluous assemblies. I was truly surprised at the futility of the exercise; not because Aitzaz Ahsan was unconvincing or that he didn?t understand the finer points of the issue but because hoping that the General or his coterie will see reason is wishful thinking. For one they are more than convinced about his indispensability (certainly for themselves) and his right to rule and that they have plenty of loop holes in laws to achieve their aim.
They have Amendments and Ordinances in their legal arsenal with which they can create the unheard of legal precedent, the re-election of a General in his second skin as the President; a step which is blatantly more illegal, ridiculous, farcical and bizarre then its occurrence the first time around. They have the capability of promulgating more Ordinances and Amendments to prolong the agony of the people. With Benazir dying to once again dazzle the corridors of power with her patience beads and Oxford accented Urdu one an see her supporting an Amendment helping out the General.
The readers would think that I am letting my imagination run away with me when I say that the politicians here are capable of coming up with ordinances and amendments which would sanctify Musharraf?s rule for an indefinite period in uniform. I ask them to look no farther than the 17th Amendment and the switching of loyalties during Nawaz- Ishaq Khan Tussle in 1993 and the patch-up between Ishaq Khan and Benazir then.
The politics practised here are as promiscuous as the politicians; they accept whosoever is wielding power. The breed found here would shame even the members of the oldest profession by their brazenness and shamelessness.
I will narrate an anecdote which I hope will not be considered to be in bad taste and more importantly not be misconstrued that I in anyway want to demean the practitioners of the oldest profession because I think it is only the politicians of easy virtue who truly deserve scorn, ridicule and contempt.
During the long exile of the Marri people in the hinterlands of Zabul and Helmand provinces of Afghanistan through the 70s and 80s, people occasionally had to visit Kabul for treatment, etc. Once a young man who had gone there decided to visit the haunts of oldest profession on Jada-e-Maiwand and settled the terms for the services sought.
It is interesting to note that the beard that Marris sport in eyes of unversed resembles that of the Sikhs. A small digression of historical importance; the Brohis have shorter beards because once when Naseer Khan the Great was in a battle with Sikhs and a Sikh was about to strike him from behind was stopped by another Sikh who thought Naseer Khan was a Sikh as well. Naseer Khan was hurt because he was considered a Sikh and hence deprived of Shadat, he then ordained that the Brohis keep shorter beards.
To come back to the anecdote, the lady who had agreed hadn?t seen Marris before and there was a sizable population of Sikhs in Kabul thought he was a Sikh. So she inquired to which he jokingly replied in affirmative. The lady said she would on no account agree to bed with a Sikh because it was against her values. This lady certainly had values which made her discriminate and choose her customers. This lady had values which our politicians lack as is proved by their compromises and deals.
With politicians devoid of values and ethics that even members of the oldest profession adhere to, the fate awaiting the people is a foregone conclusion. It is certainly curtains for them. Moreover US, the Mafia Don, are always ready to condone all illegalities which it thinks will benefit them. They condoned the annulment of elections in Algeria and now have encouraged Mahmoud Abbas to exclude Hamas from elections. US will not hesitate to support a president in uniform; in fact they would support a president even in his birthday suit provided he agrees to do their dirty job.
The important question which urgently requires an answer is that do the present ordinances and amendments at their disposal or the new ones that they may come up with to prolong the General?s rule justify and validate his rule? Similarly did the laws that legalized apartheid in South Africa or the slavery in US make them legal?
Your answer to these questions has to be the answer to not only the re-election in uniform but also to his destructive, divisive, disdainful and illegal eight year rule. The answer naturally extends itself even farther to the rule of the unrepresentative bureaucrats in the fifties and then of the even more unrepresentative long Army rule interspersed with the rule of the corrupt politicians and also to the injustices that the people have suffered.
It is simple, if you think that unjust and unrepresentative laws that the rulers can manage to enact with the connivance and collaboration of promiscuous politicians are legal then kindly do not raise a finger or question the fate that has been the lot the people so far. Question not the illegalities and injustices, the ravages and depredations, the insults and ignominies that have been suffered in the name of ?national interest? and be prepared for even harsher and rougher times.
It however should be remembered that the repressive actions of successive governments have already brought the people in Balochistan into confrontation with the State and have seen increasing resentment in Sindh. The warped policies of strategic depth have brought revolt in Fata and Waziristan and the scourge of suicide bombings in their wake. The civil society and liberals have been pushed to the very edge and now stand marginalized because the religious lobby was encouraged to proliferate from day one with the hope that it would provide the basis for the much sought identity of the state. Those who have resisted deserve credit for struggling to retain their rights. It is because of this struggle that they have avoided being sunk in the morass of injustices, bigotry and intolerance.
When faced with such a situation the people have to consider their options to confront the follies and idiocies that the rulers commit and the illegal laws that they continue to impose with the connivance and complicity of politicians more bothered about saving their skins.
The people have to make momentous decisions to survive the overwhelming onslaught of repression, injustice and intolerance. I would like the readers to thoughtfully read the following, ?. ?.that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.?
It seems if Musharraf &co have their way then our goose along with the gander is cooked for sure. The people will have to decide and draw the line and choose a course of action. By the way I am not the author of the passage which talks of the right and duty to overthrow governments and sounds treasonable and seditious. It is a part of the US Declaration of Independence but ironically these very principles are trampled upon and crushed all over the world with active help of US Governments. Anyone who decides to resist the illegality of the legalities in the world is welcome to adopt them.
The writer has been associated with the Baloch national struggle |
