'A pariah in the Commonwealth'
I just came across an article regarding Pakistan's re-entry into the commonwealth. Written by Sarmad Bashir, the column titled, A pariah in the Commonwealth appeared in The Nation on November 30, 2005. Following are some of the excerpts:
"One must be reading too much into General Musharraf's observation that people in Pakistan have the tendency of overstepping each other's domain: a doctor wants to do an engineer's job and the vice versa. At best this could be a general rule for 150 million ordinary folks to follow. But then there is always an exception to the rule. And our uniformed saviours are exception to all rules. For the President it is not a matter of opinion but a matter of fact that the so-called experts picking holes in the ongoing relief operation are ignoramuses insisting on knowing everything. It hurts him when he tunes in to his TV set and listens to these critics. Perhaps they all lack the ability to understand that Generals Zubair and Farooq are great blessings of Allah for the nation to help it recover from the trauma of October 8.Doubtless the army engineers have accomplished a remarkable feat, clearing the roads blocked by massive landsliding without which it would not have been possible to deliver relief goods to the survivors trapped in the areas which remained inaccessible for some time. These jawans doing round-the-clock relief duties are the real 'men at their best.' They are the one who have felt the pain of the people suffering from the miseries inflicted by the quake or the multitude living in abject poverty. But that ends here. Move up the ladder and there is a peculiar mindset at work. It has a deep contempt for the civil society and an inherent aversion for democracy. This attitude is manifest in all the dictatorships since the dismantling of the democratic process in 1958. From Ayub to Zia and now all military rules remained focussed on self-perpetuation at the expense of people's freedom."
"Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was effectively prevented from walking away with the claim that Pakistan's readmission to the Commonwealth after a gap of six years is the recognition of the revival of democracy in the country. As he was given a warm send off it was not without a warning for General Musharraf to doff his uniform before his current presidential term expires in 2007. Earlier given two years to show progress towards political process , Pakistan will now remain on the agenda of the body's democracy watchdog, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action group (CMAG), for another one year. The PM had made an intelligent move to pre-empt any warning from the Commonwealth by holding out an assurances to the participants that General Musharraf would relinquish the office of Army Chief in 2007. But he couldn't prevent the summit from adopting a strongly-worded resolution on the uniform issue."
"Mr Aziz might have realised later that the decision to send him to Malta was a rather clever move to make him bear the brunt of the gathering's disapproval of Pakistan's slow advancement on political process than projecting a democratic face of the country. And he must have returned with a feeling that the international community lends no credence to the argument offered by Musharraf apologists that without him holding both offices of President and Army Chief, there would be no democracy in Pakistan."
"Just ahead of his departure abroad, while he was still basking in the glow of the world's overwhelming response to the Donors' Conference, the Prime Minister was reminded by the European Union's representative that decisions regarding relief and rehabilitation should be approved by the Parliament. No matter he got a snub. But our rulers should not forget that by once again lifting the begging bowl we have already forfeited our right to tell others: "There is no need to dictate us what to do; we are a sovereign nation and we know our responsibilities." Mr Prime Minister, the world is no fool. It understands we have been allowed re-entry into the Commonwealth just because we agreed to act as a frontline state in the war against terrorism."
To read the article in full, visit; http://nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2005/30/columns3.php
"One must be reading too much into General Musharraf's observation that people in Pakistan have the tendency of overstepping each other's domain: a doctor wants to do an engineer's job and the vice versa. At best this could be a general rule for 150 million ordinary folks to follow. But then there is always an exception to the rule. And our uniformed saviours are exception to all rules. For the President it is not a matter of opinion but a matter of fact that the so-called experts picking holes in the ongoing relief operation are ignoramuses insisting on knowing everything. It hurts him when he tunes in to his TV set and listens to these critics. Perhaps they all lack the ability to understand that Generals Zubair and Farooq are great blessings of Allah for the nation to help it recover from the trauma of October 8.Doubtless the army engineers have accomplished a remarkable feat, clearing the roads blocked by massive landsliding without which it would not have been possible to deliver relief goods to the survivors trapped in the areas which remained inaccessible for some time. These jawans doing round-the-clock relief duties are the real 'men at their best.' They are the one who have felt the pain of the people suffering from the miseries inflicted by the quake or the multitude living in abject poverty. But that ends here. Move up the ladder and there is a peculiar mindset at work. It has a deep contempt for the civil society and an inherent aversion for democracy. This attitude is manifest in all the dictatorships since the dismantling of the democratic process in 1958. From Ayub to Zia and now all military rules remained focussed on self-perpetuation at the expense of people's freedom."
"Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was effectively prevented from walking away with the claim that Pakistan's readmission to the Commonwealth after a gap of six years is the recognition of the revival of democracy in the country. As he was given a warm send off it was not without a warning for General Musharraf to doff his uniform before his current presidential term expires in 2007. Earlier given two years to show progress towards political process , Pakistan will now remain on the agenda of the body's democracy watchdog, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action group (CMAG), for another one year. The PM had made an intelligent move to pre-empt any warning from the Commonwealth by holding out an assurances to the participants that General Musharraf would relinquish the office of Army Chief in 2007. But he couldn't prevent the summit from adopting a strongly-worded resolution on the uniform issue."
"Mr Aziz might have realised later that the decision to send him to Malta was a rather clever move to make him bear the brunt of the gathering's disapproval of Pakistan's slow advancement on political process than projecting a democratic face of the country. And he must have returned with a feeling that the international community lends no credence to the argument offered by Musharraf apologists that without him holding both offices of President and Army Chief, there would be no democracy in Pakistan."
"Just ahead of his departure abroad, while he was still basking in the glow of the world's overwhelming response to the Donors' Conference, the Prime Minister was reminded by the European Union's representative that decisions regarding relief and rehabilitation should be approved by the Parliament. No matter he got a snub. But our rulers should not forget that by once again lifting the begging bowl we have already forfeited our right to tell others: "There is no need to dictate us what to do; we are a sovereign nation and we know our responsibilities." Mr Prime Minister, the world is no fool. It understands we have been allowed re-entry into the Commonwealth just because we agreed to act as a frontline state in the war against terrorism."
To read the article in full, visit; http://nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2005/30/columns3.php
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