Elf Habib

In our country, no action was taken even against the dictator who oversaw the dismemberment of Pakistan, when it suffered the most humiliating military defeat, leaving about 100,000 soldiers on enemy soil. Zia similarly remains uncalled to account for treason and trampling the constitution

Nations surviving through debacles, defeats and dictatorships invariably dig out the factors and perpetrators of these catastrophes and punish the culprits for their deeds. Thus they express their shame and regret to stem the recurrence of these tragedies. Yet, despite being repeatedly devastated by dictators, Pakistan has never managed to sift through their deeds and the damage inflicted by them. The most illustrious democratic nation Britain did not spare even Oliver Cromwell, its solitary dictator, despite his vast conquests, contribution and reforms. Strictly speaking, he was not a dictator in the present sense, as representative institutions had not yet emerged in Britain. Still he was condemned for deposing and decapitating the monarch and detracting from an established pattern of monarchy and its minions. His body was exhumed and hanged to demonstrate his real status for posterity. Germany is still struggling to hunt and punish Nazi activists, particularly the collaborators in the Holocaust. The British media also keeps exposing the excesses of the Raj, including efforts like the dramatisation of the farcical trials of many nationalist icons like Gandhi. But in our country, no action was taken even against the dictator who oversaw the dismemberment of Pakistan, when it suffered the most humiliating military defeat, leaving about 100,000 soldiers on enemy soil. Zia similarly remains uncalled to account for treason, trampling the constitution, executing the elected prime minister, inducing sectarian and ethnic strife, raising, abetting and exporting fanatic mercenary hordes to fight in Afghanistan, and initiating terrorism that still bleeds the nation and blights the resources desperately needed for its development. Similarly, Musharraf has not been arraigned for defiling the constitution, the collapse at Kargil, jolting the judiciary, bungling over $12 billion American aid, the excruciating sugar, cement and stock exchange scams, negligence in the energy sector and failure to fund the independent power producers.

The Supreme Court, ironically, quashed the National Reconciliation Ordinance reviving some 12-15-year old cases of corruption contrived by various controversial agencies against the elected representatives but took no action against the architects of the impugned ordinance. The notorious National Accountability Bureau crafted by Musharraf to ‘nab those who were anti-boss’ but to take ‘no action against his buddies’ was similarly sanctified. Mush was likewise left untouched while invalidating his actions following his November 3, 2007 subversion or implicating him in the illegal confinement of some superior judges and their families. In the same way, no action has been taken against Generals Aslam Beg and Durrani or Brigadier Imtiaz. The court, however, revived the most derided yet dormant clause of the constitution inserted by Zia to evaluate the purity, piety, morality and general repute of the public representatives. Some visionary jurists like Asma Jahangir have already expressed concern at these developments. The superior courts thus seem to be ostracising the democrats in a manner almost reminiscent of the judge-general nexus witnessed during dictatorships rather than cushioning the democratic representatives and pounding the dictators and their cohorts. The trend evidently razes the hopes about the ravages of dictatorships being remedied through the present courts.

Some parts of the media, despite having played a remarkably bold, vibrant and effective role in dislodging the erstwhile dictator, suddenly stopped scouring his misdeeds and their impact on various sectors. As if taking a mysterious cue from some quarters, it rather turned its salvos against the leaders in the fledgling representative system. Most of the investigative forays flaunted by it, interestingly, were not against the corruption and scandals of the dictatorships but merely a reiteration of allegations against the leading figures of the elected system, raked up by the agencies of dictatorship. This section of the media, however, may be forgiven for being forced by its compulsions to concentrate on the stories of immediate interest and sensation, leaving the serious, long-term aspects to researchers, analysts and historians. But even they have miserably missed the mission. Political parties could be a valuable vehicle to compile appropriate dossiers, given their vast and varied contact, access and information-gathering potential. But the research and analysis sections even in the largest national parties like the PPP and the PML-N are hopelessly inadequate. Nawaz Sharif, for instance, has been long belching fire and pouncing for his pound of flesh from the errant generals. Yet he has not been able to move a viable resolution in any legislature or commence any concrete proceedings in the courts. The PPP also has been acting too callow to comprehend the consequences of not cornering the remnants of dictatorship. It missed a potent preventive strategy and its stalwarts are already being dragged into the dock by its adversaries. The trial of dictators and their cronies can still be started, as even some clergy cadres and adventurists like Imran Khan have been pressing for it.

The damage done by dictatorships however extends far beyond Article 6, which primarily pertains to the disruption of government. It involves the disruption and derailing of the entire national mindset, outlook, culture, ethos and evolution. Its evaluation and assessment has to be accordingly shared by the intellectuals, artists, academics, researchers, jurists, journalists, economists, workers and trade unionists. They have to find how the syllabi and courses were mutilated to stunt creativity and enlightenment, free speech and criticism were curbed, and the media and entertainment were fettered. Newspapers were closed, journalists were flogged, and dissidents witch-hunted, tortured, thrown into dark dungeons or exiled. The workers were relentlessly shot at in their factories. The farmers were forced out from their fields and the politicians coerced to change their loyalties. National resources were plundered and ploughed into non-productive sectors, spreading hunger, poverty and deprivation. The responsibility for this, evidently, has to be determined and the persons involved in its conception, planning, implementation, continuation, management and support have to be punished. A scroll of perennial shame and stigma has to be collated for posterity. This is evidently an arduous task and can be best begun by constituting a special parliamentary commission for truth and justice to proceed against the dictators and their collaborators. The commission — comprising eminent jurists of immaculate record, unblemished by PCO oaths and loyalties — while conducting the trials for treasons under Article 6, can also probe the ubiquitous damage, decadence and deprivation caused by the dictatorship. Setting up a commission like this has already been mandated by the Charter of Democracy and any further delay would certainly cost dearly to the nation, particularly the democratic forces.

The writer, an academic and freelance columnist, can be reached at habibpbu@yahoo.com