Knicq

Comment Gone Lengthy - Emergency.
knicq posted in Comments Gone Lengthy, Knicqisms on November 9th, 2007

It is unfortunate, isn’t it? When we have to settle for a dictator as a lesser evil, when looking to choose a leader?

But I do think we need to guard against the impression that the economic development which came about in Pakistan had anything to do with Musharraf. We did not see much of that ED in the two years preceding 9/11. Fact is our economy was actually in doldrums precisely because of the sanctions we had been saddled with because of Musharraf usurping power from the civilian Govt. Post 9/11 the west chose to lift those sanctions because it suited their purpose, just as they chose to turn a blind eye to the farce Musharraf had held in the name of elections recently, because it suited their purpose. The lifting of those sanctions, the trickling in of foreign aid - trickling because Musharraf accepted peanuts for putting Pakistan on the front-line of a war which is not ours in the first place, combined with the Arab states deciding to invest their petro-dollar in places other than the west after 9/11 and the ready availability of investment avenues in Pakistan, ironically because of the infra-structure the Sharrif Government had put in place, is what had led to the economic prosperity. Let us not forget that the economic prosperity has come at a great cost - the law and order situation has deteriorated, we are fighting a civil war in our own backyard, and for the first time in our history there are elements in our midst questioning the two-nation theory, the very premise of creation of Pakistan.

I disagree with the notion that there is such a thing as too much judicial interference.  The very purpose of having a judiciary is to ensure that the rule of law is followed, and the rights of a citizen are guaranteed, and every single citizen is innocent until proven guilty. These are basic human rights, which if not guaranteed can allow draconian rule to tighten its grip on a people, a country. The judiciary is well-within its rights to demand an explanation for any arrests, to ask for arrested people to be presented before it and to be charged with an offense, or be released from custody.

The judiciary must be convinced that there was credible proof to black-list those black-listed.

Suicide bombers are a curse, a curse we must rid ourselves of, and a curse we must defend the image of Islam from. But the imposition of emergency has very little to do with controlling the suicide bombings. What makes a suicide bomber, and where are all these suicide bombers coming from are two very important questions, but they are not pertinent to the emergency.

This emergency has been imposed because a dictator wishes to prolong his rule, and because he foresaw the judiciary throwing a spanner in his works, and it must be fought tooth and nail precisely because it threatens and goes against every tenet of Islam, and every standard of humanity.

Bigger countries with greater problems have not only survived crises after crises without emergency, but they have also come out the stronger for it. No one institution knows all the answers - it is only through strengthening all of the institutions, judiciary being foremost amongst them that nations conquer crises and turmoil. What falls outside of judiciary is extra-judicial, and there are few bigger curses than a Government with rampant extra-judicial ambitions.

It is a black black day, when an extra-judicial government bundles the judiciary out for interference in its extra-judicial activities.

We both come from the same premise, we want the best for the country. Quite apparently though we differ in what is better for the country, and that is what is important we must all have our opinion, and we must be able to differ without having to fear that too much differing will take us half a century back in time.