Sixty-two years down the road after our independence, where do we stand as a nation and as a member of the comity of nations? Are we living in “a democratic and progressive” Pakistan as envisioned by its founder? Can we genuinely claim to be “upholders” of fundamental values of freedom, democracy and human dignity? Have we been able to make Pakistan a bastion of inner strength, political stability, economic self-reliance, social cohesion and national unity that our leaders, over the years, have been show-casing to their people as their destiny?

These are painful questions, and answers to these questions are no less painful. Alas, Quaid-i-Azam did not live long to personally steer Pakistan to be what he thought would be “one of the greatest nations of the world.” With his early demise, Pakistan was orphaned in infancy and lost the promise of a healthy youth with acute systemic deficiencies and normative perversities restricting its orderly natural growth. After the Quaid, it was left without any sense of direction and in a state of political bankruptcy and moral aridity.

It started cutting itself into pieces, losing within less than quarter of a century not only its own half but also its very rationale that had inspired its founding fathers to struggle for a separate homeland for the muslims of the sub continent. The real Pakistan disappeared with its tragic dismemberment, and whatever was left is now hanging on a slender thread of just one slogan, “Pakistan khappay.” What a shame for a nation to be treated like dirt.

Had the Quaid lived longer, he would have only been embarrassed to see how miserably we and our successive leaders have failed to live up to his vision of Pakistan, and to protect and preserve our sovereignty and territorial integrity, our national unity and dignity, and constitutional supremacy and institutional integrity. Our history as a nation is replete with a series of political crises and socio-economic challenges that perhaps no other country in the world has experienced.

No doubt, we have survived these crises and challenges but at what cost? We are not even ashamed of what we have done to ourselves. We have devised ingenuities to kill ourselves. We have become a suicidal nation. All those killed in recurring bomb blasts over the past three years have been Pakistanis. No wonder, the world now calls us the “most violent and most unsafe” country in the world and also the “most dangerous nation” on earth.

Terrorism is our sole identity now. We are seen both as the problem and the key to its solution. Whether we accept it or not, our recognition in the comity of nations today is only as a “breeding ground” for religious extremism and as a country afflicted with a culture of violence and corruption. Pakistan’s name instantly raises fear and concern. And yet we feel insulted at being included in exclusive lists for special security-related body scan procedures.

What a tragedy and irony that a country which, on its birth, was considered a “20th-century miracle” of a state and which was fought and won entirely through a democratic and constitutional struggle should now itself be struggling haplessly for democracy and constitutional primacy, and for a place among the “peaceful nations” of the world. It is a nation, no longer imbued with any sense of direction or common purpose. It is a mastless country, looted and plundered by its own rulers, debilitated spiritually, and left with no self-respect or sovereign independence.

For any state in the contemporary world, its Constitution is its solemn and inviolable “social contract” which guarantees fundamental freedoms and basic rights of its citizens, including their inalienable right to choose or change their government through an independently cast ballot, and which establishes the power and duties of the government and provides the legal basis for its institutional structure. But for our rulers, it is only a document that can be changed or usurped at their will for their own benefit.

The present elected government had no reason or rationale to keep the dictator’s legacy, the 17th Amendment in its political armour even for a day. But it has not only kept it as a political weapon to keep the system hostage to its own self-serving considerations but is also using it to undermine institutional integrity. It is a dangerous approach. For the first time in our history, the judiciary had recreated itself and was ready to pay its old debts to the nation. The nation welcomed the reincarnation of judicial independence as an advent of the rule of law.

But our near-sighted rulers could not rise above their personal interests and have been obstructing judicial processes. Their reaction to the Supreme Court’s NRO verdict was totally uncalled for. It should have been a welcome opportunity for the ruling party to use this historic verdict for its much needed “face-lift” through honourable means. It was also an opportunity to have the party’s leaders exonerated honourably through due judicial process in the courts of law. The problem with us is that we have no capacity to digest good things.

The Supreme Court ruling was not against them; it was against the unconstitutionality of the NRO. There was no threat to the system unless the politicians themselves messed it up. We cannot afford blind forays into points of no return anymore. The NRO episode could now become another turning point in our politically troubled history. The apex court’s decision, if implemented in letter and spirit, would have strengthened the new-born judicial independence as a sine qua non for durable democracy in Pakistan.

But by obstructing justice, we are only pushing the judiciary back to square one. The Machiavellian era will again return to haunt our body politic. The Supreme Court will have no incentive to remain steadfast in its new role as independent judiciary, and will revert to its same old PCO mode, always ready to sanctify military take-overs and justify the infamous “doctrine of necessity.” It will then be a colossal blow to democracy in this country. The politicians themselves will be the biggest casualty of this ugly turnaround.

The people would certainly want the political system to continue only if it is a democratic political system. But do we have a democratic system? Parliament is totally non-functional. It makes no laws nor has it the ability to undo the wrongs done to the Constitution by the outgoing dictator. As in his time, it is the president, not the prime minister, who embodies power. We only wear a parliamentary mask. Our prime minister is non-consequential. The people are disappointed that their prime minister as well as the elected parliament are being held hostage to the whims of political ‘laterals’.

We don’t even have a full-time president. PPP Co-Chairperson, Asif Ali Zardari even as elected president, is still holding his top party position in violation of the tradition and an ethical code established by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1947 when, as governor-general, he refused to remain the head of the Muslim League. With General Musharraf’s departure, the people expected real democracy to return to the country. But that was not to be the case.

Neither parliament nor the elected government inspires any hope or confidence among the people. They are beginning to wonder whether they made the right choice in the last elections. They are facing difficulties that they had never experienced before, including unbearable gas and power outages, a serious law-and-order situation, and endemic corruption. Just two days ago, the fuel prices went up again. The common man’s blood is being sucked to generate state revenues. Public discontent is brewing and may soon reach a point of implosion.

This is a grim scenario. Prime Minister Gilani must stand up to his obligations under the Constitution as country’s elected chief executive, and save himself from becoming another Shaukat Aziz. He is approaching second anniversary of his prime ministerial tenure. His track record so far has been very poor. Making meaningless statements on the floor of the National Assembly will not do. These are exceptional times warranting exceptional decisions. Show your political grit, prime minister, before it’s too late.

The writer is a former foreign secretary. Email: shamshad1941@ yahoo.com