Munir Attaullah

A government must undeniably be of the people and for the people. Sure, a government that pays no heed to the voice of the awam risks losing the next elections. But until that time, that government, and not the awam, should be allowed to govern

Three score and three years ago our fathers, under the undisputed leadership of Mr Jinnah, brought forth in this subcontinent a new nation, conceived as a homeland for Muslims, but also dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, and should be treated as such by the state.

Lest there be any doubt on this issue I refer you to Mr Jinnah’s famous address to the Constituent Assembly.

Now we are engaged in a vicious civil war and reckless bickering between institutions, leaders, communities, and factions, testing whether this nation, or any nation, so conceived and dedicated, can long endure. Have ordinary citizens not lived most of their lives as helpless spectators, and innocent victims, of such unending turmoil? All the more necessary then that today we re-dedicate ourselves to the noble ideals of the Quaid as a tribute to him and those selfless others who struggled valiantly and sacrificed everything so that the nation might live. And it is altogether fitting and proper that we do so.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot re-dedicate ourselves to — and we cannot consecrate, and we cannot hallow — this land of the pure. It seems far above our poor power to add to (but not detract from) its cause. Why? The reasons are many. Two are particularly worthy of mention. The first is fear and passivity in picking up the gauntlet flung at the nation by the obscurantist lobby; that minority with a narrow and obsessive fixation with re-creating and re-living a semi-mythical glorious past that has long irretrievably vanished and is impossible to emulate. The second is a stubborn refusal to learn from the broader wisdom and bitter experience of the rest of mankind. As a consequence, the world will little note nor long remember what we say or do here. But it can never forget what Mr Jinnah accomplished, and said.

And yet, despite everything, it is for us the living rather to be dedicated here and now to the unfinished work that our fathers and Mr Jinnah entrusted us with. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from Mr Jinnah and these honoured dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here today highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the people, for the people, by their duly chosen leaders, shall not perish from this land.

Really, it is insolence on my part to both so adulterate and mutilate Lincoln’s short but unforgettable Gettysburg address. He well understood that brevity is not only the soul of wit but also the heartbeat of eloquence. I, on the other hand, seem to labour the point I wish to make. And, of course, the purist will wince at my slight re-formulation of that famous concluding phrase of his speech that is supposed to define democracy.

So, let me first get that last objection out of the way, as it concerns a minor but not unimportant point. A government must undeniably be of the people and for the people. But many of us seem to take the ‘by the people’ bit too literally. Sure, a government that pays no heed to the voice of the awam risks losing the next elections. But until that time, that government, and not the awam (or the media stalwarts who claim to be their voice) should be allowed to govern. Or misgovern. Government ‘by the people’ is workable only indirectly, the accepted method being through elective representation. Simultaneously, this overblown myth of the media being the ‘fourth pillar of state’ is a dangerous vanity that we take seriously only at our peril.

Even simple governance — let alone good governance — is a formidable task, at the best of times. To balance myriad conflicting interests is hard enough; in a society riddled with dozens of fault lines; the job is not only of Herculean but also of Faustian proportions. Nor do we ever seem to take into consideration the acute paucity of essential social infrastructure (such as a critical mass of educated and responsible people) required to efficiently execute policy. We want results, and we want them instantly. Whether we, collectively as a nation, have the human capacity, the material resources, or the will to make the necessary sacrifices to achieve the desired results seems irrelevant.

And certainly nor do we seem to care for the all too predictable consequences of vaulting over-reach. Should we be blithely mounting ill-equipped and ill-prepared expeditions, in the winter, to conquer K-2? The one thing we do not lack is a misplaced self-confidence that is nothing short of sublime. Prudence, patience, scepticism, doubt, and tolerance are not part of our natural make-up.

Still, there is every reason to be cautiously optimistic. Think of it this way. Not so long ago, if it was not army rule, we thought in terms of a ‘troika’; and every sort of politician would go running to seek the blessing of the GHQ. Though we still have a long way to go, those days at least are, I believe, now permanently over. There was a time when the opposition, in the sort of political situation prevailing today, would have moved in for the kill. Today, we have a much more mature Mr Nawaz Sharif, who understands the importance of waiting for the next elections to stake his claim to power. The present parliament, for all its shortcomings, is an improvement on those of the past. And today, some of those very same judges, who not only validated Musharraf’s coup, but gave him carte blanche to amend the Constitution, seem to have turned over a new leaf.

And of course the media is stronger and freer than ever. It is true that a powerful and shrill section of it, for whatever reason, has made the one-point agenda of targeting the president its obsessive focus. And, by constantly insinuating for sometime now that his downfall is just round the next corner and the government is both in panic and is doomed because of judicial activism, is trying to generate an artificial atmosphere of political crisis and instability. To what end? Fortunately, there are now many other saner minds in the media who appreciate that not only is this propaganda offensive, reckless though it may be, is mostly hype and largely delusive wishful thinking, which is unlikely to achieve its objectives.

Bury the past. There are far too many skeletons in everyone’s cupboard. And why should these dusty and cobweb encrusted closets be opened selectively? Are there not enough current problems and disputes — legal and political — that require urgent attention?

Let us be patient, prudent, magnanimous, large-hearted, and circumspect. Sagacity requires we appreciate our limitations, and concentrate our energies and resources to build a better future rather than dwell unproductively on the murky past. And let us be clear. It is the political class rather than the judiciary that is the ultimate custodian of the destiny of the nation.

The writer is a businessman. A selection of his columns is now available in book form. Visit munirattaullah.com