Pakistan Crumbling - Revathi Sivakumar

March 18, 2008

At last, a truly historic day in the saga of a troubled country! March 16 could well be touted as a watershed for Pakistan. In what has been described as a huge victory for the people of the country, the Asif Ali Zardari-led government has agreed to reinstate 12 judges, as well as the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhary.

The battle over their dismissal has been raging for about two years, since they were removed by former president, Pervez Musharraf, in 2008, during his infamous emergency. Today, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who was addressing the country on Monday morning, declared: "The Pakistan government has decided to reinstate the judges, including Iftikhar Chaudhary. The decision was taken in consultation with President Asif Ali Zardari." Nawaz Sharif, PML-N chief and one of the key architects of the ‘turning point’, was leading a long march in Gujranwala to protest the government’s move. When he heard the news, he immediately called off the march, and sent his thanks to Gilani and Zardari.

Gilani in turn forwarded an invitation to Nawaz Sharif to work in collaboration with them, on a ‘new charter of democracy’. The nation erupted in celebrations. It is a seminal development for the nation, not least because even the army played a positive role in this scenario, according to the former ISI chief, Hamid Gul.

On Saturday, the government had already decided to file a review petition challenging the Supreme Court's order barring PML-N leaders Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif from electoral politics. Now it does look as if the country is on its way to making the judiciary and the Parliament supreme.

The lawyers’ struggle

The history of the lawyers’ struggle began two years ago, when on March 9 in 2007, Pervez Musharraf, then President of Pakistan, sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary for what he termed as “misuse of his official position”. It led to a nationwide protest by lawyers, which escalated into a full-blown crisis. Two months later, lawyers clashed with security forces as the government tried to stop a rally that was to be addressed by Chaudhry in Karachi.

In July, the Pakistan Supreme Court reinstated Chaudhary. However, in November, Musharraf swiftly moved in to take strong action against the move. He imposed Emergency, suspended the Constitution and sacked 12 judges of the Supreme Court, including CJ Chaudhry, placing them all under house arrest.

In 2008, March, elections were held, followed by the formation of a coalition government, which included the PPP, Zardari's party, and PML-N, headed by Nawaz Sharif.

Both of them agreed to reinstate the judges. However, after a few days, the coalition party had failed to break an impasse over the reinstatement of dismissed judges. Nawaz Sharif walked out of the government.

In February 2009, the Supreme Court barred Mr. Sharif and his brother, the governor of Punjab, from holding office. The act was viewed by everyone in Pakistan as just a ploy to clip the wings of a popular opposition figure. Zardari also elected a puppet governor in Punjab, the country's most populous region and the hub of Mr. Sharif's support.

Even as rebellion increased, in March, the government banned a national protest march and arrested hundreds of political workers, deepening popular discontent with Mr. Zardari. Nawaz Sharif had defied house arrest and began leading the long march to Islamabad. Tens of thousands of people joined in, perhaps making President Zardari reconsider his decision, and take the step which will be viewed by history as a ‘watershed’.

Trouble and turmoil

Pakistan still has a long way to go before it can establish peace and real democracy, however. In recent times, the political crisis has got complicated due to terrorist attacks. Pakistan was born as a Muslim state. Today, the wrestling between its secular and Islamic natures has become pronounced. The other problems include the military's role as the arbiter of power, rampant corruption and heavy economic and political unrest.

On March 3, Sri Lankan cricketers, who were on a tour of this country, were attacked in Lahore, capital of the Punjab province in the eastern part of the country. At least seven people, including five policemen, were killed. And 19, including seven Sri Lankan cricket players, were injured.

The mastermind who has been blamed for the attack is Muhammad Aqeel, who belonged to a banned group. He was also allegedly involved in an earlier attack on former President, Pervez Musharraf. Some terrorists in his group were said to hail from Lahore, while others were reported to have come from northwestern Pakistan's tribal areas, along the Afghan border.

As expected, the attack was a huge setback for Pakistan’s image in the international world. Serious doubts are being raised about its commitment to fight terrorism.

The Taliban

The problem has got compounded by the growing sway of the Taliban, which continues to wreak havoc in the country. Even as large tracts of the country came under the sway of militancy, the Commander, Maulana Sufi Muhammad, persuaded his father-in-law, a radical cleric freed by the government, to negotiate a peace agreement. In exchange, the government agreed to let the radicals reinstate Islamic law across large tracts of the northwest, including Swat.

In September, 2008, when Mr. Zardari was elected President, he agreed to launch an aggressive campaign against the Taliban in the western provinces. However, American officials doubted his commitment to the project. Unfortunately, like Pervez Musharraf before him, he had to walk a tightrope, seeking to appease both the United States, a military with close ties to militants and growing public resentment in the country, against what was seen as American interference in the country's government.

Hence, in spite of the State’s professed war on terror, the influence of the Taliban spread from the isolated mountains along the Afghanistan border to the region of Swat, a tourist haven, not far from Islamabad. The Pakistani government signed the truce with an aging Islamic leader, Maulana Sufi Muhammad, on February 16, after the army gave up 70% of Swat to Taliban fighters. The militants used the truce to enforce their hard-line moral policing even further. The trend is worrying, going by the previous record. Accords with militants in the semi-autonomous tribal areas effectively created mini states, which provided sanctuaries for Al Qaida and Pakistani militants.

Far from establishing peace, the pact seems to have let loose the harsh elements of the army. An Islamic law, or sharia, has been imposed. Girls have been debarred from attending school, while men are forced to grow beards. Music has been banned, shops are required to close during calls to prayer and complaint boxes have been installed to report anti-Islamic behavior. For instance, just days after the truce was signed, a prominent anti-Taliban family member returned to his mountain village, carrying assurances from the government that his village had nothing to fear. However, he was promptly kidnapped by the Taliban, tortured and murdered. Relatives were not allowed to attend his funeral. Thousands of people who fled in the past six months to camps outside still do not dare to return.

Swat, once a tolerant, princely kingdom, faces a dark future. As expected, despite the truce, most people remain terrified of the Taliban. What is even more worrying is the gradual spread of the Taliban to the rest of the country, with rumours that they might take over Karachi.

Future trends

Meanwhile, the role of the US, which is largely responsible for creating this mess in this region in the first place, is questionable. It prefers to make selective attacks, rather than take the country into a partnership towards development and democracy. What is required now is a miracle - something like the reinstatement of the lawyers and CJ by the government. While it is too early to portend a major change of heart, it is a heartening step that augurs well for a beleaguered country’s future.