Zubair Torwali

We have no choice other than to make our democratic institutions strong enough to lead the country further. Ironically, a number of politicians too are busy in maligning the democratic government. In spite of all these odds, this government needs to complete its tenure

That democracy has suffered long in this country is a bitter truth. It must now be given a chance. The crooks in the infamous establishment never want it to flourish in Pakistan. Here I would again repeat the common saying that the worst democracy is always better than the finest dictatorship. Today we see the people who are now out of parliament — mainly due to their own whims — at loggerheads with the democratic government. The president has been made the main excuse to derail the system. We cannot say that this democratic government is free of ills. But it must be given the time to prove its credibility. Only the people of Pakistan are sovereign and they must be allowed to hold their elected government accountable. Non-democratic forces and their proxies have no right to rush to destabilise the government.

Amidst many ills, the present democracy has performed far better than the previous ‘dubious’ governments of the dictators. Take the example of the war against militancy. During the era of General Musharraf, hundreds of soldiers were ‘kidnapped’ or made ‘hostage’ by scores of Taliban in FATA. Then deals were conducted to secure their release. In Swat, the FM-fame mullah was deliberately left to haunt and hunt the people for a couple of years. The initial phases of the military operation in Swat were more like war games. The procrastination, rather covert support to the militants, made the local people lose their trust in the state of Pakistan. This was the real cause why the local people were afraid to rise against the militants. The dictatorial regime of General Musharraf did not touch the militants for two reasons: the then NWFP government was helping Musharraf consolidate his rule; the general wanted to present himself as indispensable to the West, particularly the US. Between these two millstones of Musharraf’s policy, the people were ground. On the one hand, Musharraf was ‘apparently’ fighting militancy, but on the other, he was grooming the militants.

Now take the example of the democratic government. It has to its credit a number of achievements: for the first time a serious operation was launched against the militants in Swat. Credit for this must be given to the Awami National Party (ANP) government of NWFP and the PPP government at the Centre. As far as the February 2009 deal with the militants is concerned, it was not done by the government. It was done by the military establishment with dubious purposes. Many ANP leaders will not deny that they were helpless before the military at that time. It was clear from their statements and discussions on TV talk shows, where members of the provincial government had shown their helplessness, though implicitly. The ANP government has tried to build pressure on the military. The ANP leader Asfandyar Wali was not in the US for a recreation tour. He was there to build the pressure on the powerful military to act decisively. Then came the South Waziristan operation, though still doubtful of success, yet a good start. Another great achievement of the democratic government is the Kerry-Lugar Act, though many will deny it. The Act was not the product of a few days or weeks. The government negotiated the issue of civilian supremacy with the US and finally came with the bill, which has the conditions of bringing the military under the civilian command in practice. A big chunk of the aid is for the development of institutions and the social sector. The military reacted to the bill and came up with its reservations. Nowhere in the democratic world has the military any say in political decision-making. It is only Pakistan where the military can even make its concerns public by issuing statements to the media. Military-men in Pakistan have always tried to step into the shoes of the civilian government.

It was also an achievement of the democratic government that it did not get the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) approved from parliament. Think of a dictator and what he would have done with the NRO. This monster was the product of a military dictatorship. Now the non-democratic forces are hell-bent to dismantle the democratic government with the help of the media and using the judiciary’s decision as a lever. The number of the NRO beneficiaries is 8,041. Among them only 34 are politicians, and yet all the vitriol in the media is directed towards the politicians. Among them, one person is most targeted — the president. What about the rest? There might have been some generals. But where have they fled?

We have no choice other than to make our democratic institutions strong enough to lead the country further. Ironically, a number of politicians too are busy in maligning the democratic government. In spite of all these odds, this government needs to complete its tenure.

The challenge does not end here. We, who call ourselves enlightened civil society members, should keep a check on the government in order to enhance its performance so that we may not get caught in the vicious circle of military interventions again, but move forward instead. Otherwise the non-democratic forces and their proxies will have their chance to drag us back to square one.

Now a few sentences about the renaming of NWFP. If the majority in the democratic government has decided to have Pashtunkhwa/Pakhtunkhwa as the name for the province, we, the minor ethnic communities living in NWFP, should have no objection. Let us hope that the government will give proper space for the preservation, promotion and recognition to these less-identified communities and their culture so as to enable them to trust their elected government.

The writer is a freelance analyst who belongs to one of the non-Pushtun communities living in Swat and coordinates Center for Education and Development there. He can be reached at ztorwali@gmail.com