Has The Opposition Failed Us?

 

 

There was a time when the proper place for the opposition was in jail unless of course the leader of the opposition happened to be a brother of the ruler. General Ayub Khan had his sibling fill that role. He did not otherwise tolerate any opposition and hounded it to the end. General Yahya Khan patronized one set of opposition leaders as a part of his scheme to destabilize his benefactor to mount a coup. He played his dirty games after he took over and patronized Jamat I Islami against Awami League and Pakistan Peoples Party. Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto went a step further and broke all records of victimizing the opponents and did not spare some of his former supporters like J.A.Rahim or Ghulam Mustafa Khar.

 

General Ziaul Haq outdid them all and did to his benefactor, who had appointed him as the army chief superseding some seven better qualified generals, far worse and hanged him through a trumped up judicial trial. Mr. Bhutto died inch by inch a brave and courageous man, with all the fiendish indignities heaped upon him by his tormentor. He also persecuted his wife and children and when he hanged the Prime Minister. Mrs Bhutto and her daughter were lodged in Sihala Police Rest House. They could only guess that Mr. Bhutto was being hanged. One of the Justices who sat in the Supreme Court that convicted him has admitted that he went along with the decision because he had his family to look after. Thanks to the private channels that one got a peep into the minds of our judicial luminaries. Could there be greater viciousness?

 

Then came Mr. Muhammad Khan Junejo, a very little known politician. He was a decent man and did many good things including allowing the opposition space for the first time to play its legitimate role. He called a round table conference of all political leaders on Afghanistan, which was in a crucial stage of resolution with Soviets dying to leave. Benzair, the nemesis of Zialul Haq,, sat on his right. Obviously Ziaul Haq was not amused. She took the country by storm when she landed to an unprecedented reception in Lahore. Normally she would have been arrested on arrival or deported. Remember Shahbaz Sharif?  Mr Junejo also lifted emergency, which had been in effect for a number of years. One only knew when it was lifted. It had lasted all the years that Yahya and Bhutto ruled. There was greater respect for fundamental rights during his rule. Ziaul Haq dismissed him because he had divine guidance. He had done istakhara. Soon after his last wish was granted by the Almighty when he died with his boots on, both figuratively and literally.

 

Benzair�s rule was a breath of fresh air when she ordered the release of a large number of political prisoners. Her idealism had not as yet suffered a dose of realism. She had to face a hostile military leadership, a scheming President (Ghulam Ishaq Khan) and a bitterly antagonistic Chief Minister in Punjab. Then came Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif who followed the tradition but allowed the leader of the opposition to stay out of jail. The second stint of Benzair was typical of the rulers of this unfortunate country and she went as far as to jail the father of the leader of the opposition. She abruptly released him after she was made to realize the political fallout if the old man died in jail.

 

Contrary to the media image that the civilian governments have been a disaster, they allow greater degree of freedom. State sanctioned murder- judicial execution- came down to as low as 6 during Benzair�s and Nawaz Sharif�s terms as against more than 600 in Punjab alone during the rule of Pious the Great. New TV channels were allowed and the opposition, which was blacked out of the official idiot box, started airing their views freely. The bumbling civilians allowed the so-called nationalists of the smaller provinces to join the main stream of political life giving a lie to the claim of the guardians of our frontiers that they want to opt out.

 

Then came the dark night of 12^th of October and there was this counter coup. The Press freedom was maintained at the same level, ironically a wee bit better than allowed by the previous government. Certain issues were taboo and journalists touched those subjects only at their own peril. The general who mounted the counter coup soon started playing the same game as his illustrious military predecessors. He got rid of his opponents by jailing the prime minister and putting him on trial for hijacking a plane, which he was not even riding. After he had weathered the worst time including the dreaded Attock Fort he succumbed perhaps to the fear that he may be hanged like Mr. Bhutto. So he bartered away his right to live inside the country for a golden cage built by the custodians of Harmain Sharifain. He cannot issue any statement except indirectly.

 

The other formidable opponent of this regime is Ms Bhutto. She is also staying away from the country for fear of being arrested. Continued incarceration of her husband Mr. Asif Zardari for about 8 years without having been convicted has aroused strong sympathy amongst the population for his courage, savvy and determination and compounded the personal problems of Ms Bhutto. With both potential opponents out of the way the general organized local council elections to lend his rule legitimacy and capped his �success� with landmark referendum. With firmly in the saddle he need not worry. He co-opted the willing politicians including some of the most corrupt under the umbrella of PML (Q).

 

An enigma has been introduced into the political complexity of the situation by reports of an ongoing dialogue with the two real political leaders. The official spokesman of this regime has admitted the ongoing dialogue with Benzair, the Minister for Information. But one sees no movement on the ground. The General has assured the treasury MPs �that none of exiled leaders, Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif or Benazir Bhutto, would be allowed to return home till 2007.�The question is why should he be trying to woo these �discredited� politicians whom he has legislated out of holding the PM�s office because they had held the office twice without giving a minute to the irony that their term of office had prematurely been terminated by the civilian masks of the military.

 

 It has been rumoured that the regime only wants the opposition leaders, whose political base has only increased, to concede without getting anything in return. Benzair wants elections advanced by a year and held under a Chief Election Commissioner who enjoys respect and credibility. There are also rumours that the regime is also discussing with Shahbaz Sharif. The real Sharif is adamant in having no truck with the regime. He wants it decided once and for all whether this country belongs to the people or to the military. The regime has also been spreading rumours of the split between two brothers. But that is less likely. The family follows time-honoured tradition of ceding authority to the elders.

 

But with the constitution tailored to suit the whims of the general, time serving politicians co opted and the military uniform in place, why is the regime bothered about the exiled politicians. The explanation is that it wants their support for free to allow the general to continue in office indefinitely. Exit strategy excites only the armchair intellectuals. 2007 is a figure, which fascinates the people who want return of democracy, but to the general this is one of the usual years, which will come and go.

 

Opposition has been at the receiving end in this country. Every government in Pakistan democratic or military has imprisoned its leaders, hounded them, and harassed them and when in benign mood ignored them. The recent examples of state terrorism on the opposition are the conviction of Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani former Speaker of the National Assembly. He has been convicted to ten years imprisonment (a heavy term indeed) by a NAB Court for having appointed some persons in violation of rules. In another case, Jahangir Badar is being prosecuted for similar offence. He had appointed a retired major to the OGDC in violation of rules on instructions of General � Nasirullah Khan Babar, then Special Assistant to the Prime Minister. No reference was filed either against Gen. Nasirullah Babar or against the Major. Selective accountability is the order of the day. And the opposition has understandably to protect itself against such selective acts of accountability.

 

Another case of harassment of the opposition for the offence of standing up to the government is that of Mr. Javed Hashmi, He has been convicted to life imprisonment for �treason� through a secret trial in jail.  There is no hope of his ever coming out as long as this government feels it is strong enough to keep him there.

 

These are few cases of bold and brave politicians who have defied all odds to stand up to the oppressive regimes. These are some honourable exceptions. But a majority of them do not deserve these epithets. Opposition has somehow escaped serious scrutiny by the media because it has been assumed that it has been doing its job well. Every segment of society has received attention one time or the other from intellectuals and the press. Opposition leaders have been depicted as heroes having supposedly stood up to the governments. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case. Opposition is as much infested with unprincipled politicians as any other part of the society. Take the case of the present opposition in the National Assembly. The �official� opposition headed by Maulana Fazal ur Rehman has been installed by the regime although it is the ARD that represents the largest single bloc in the National Assembly. MMA is widely perceived as the B team of the present military government. Mulla Military nexus has become a byword of Pakistan politics.  

 

The MMA, as the mulla alliance is known, do not meet the graduation criterion and yet the military regime has allowed them not only to continue but also to rule NWFP and Balochistan. The decision of Peshawar High Court de-recognizing the so-called degree of one MMA member was challenged in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The military regime did not challenge the appeal after a deal was done. The case lies somewhere in the deep recesses of labyrinthine judicial process. After a stay, the case continues to pend, obviously until the term of the present assembly expires. The thick relationship between the military and mullas� needs no proof if one is needed.

 

Peoples Party in spite of desertion by a dozen �patriots� still enjoys the support of the largest number of members. The Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League (N) under the banner of ARD carry the flag of real opposition to the military rule. The official opposition as represented by the MMA is playing by the rules prescribed by the regime and raises some sharp noises once in a while to sustain its image for being the real opposition and then goes along to strengthen the military�s control over the country. The mulla military nexus has indeed been formalized with the last elections.

 

The present government has one single item agenda that is to protect �supreme national interest�. That is a different matter as to how you define it. It was in supreme national interest to hold a copycat referendum to legitimize the seizure of power by the Generalissimo. The referendum, and ultimate shame in political chicanery, has been embedded through 17^th amendment in the constitution. Zia ul Haq did the same. General Yaha Khan also tried to safeguard the national interest in 1971 by blatantly disregarding the verdict of the people as expressed in the polls swept by Awami League. He went as far as to allow the humiliation of his own military, which nourished him in power, and the loss of more than half the population, for whom he did not care any way. The motivation of the present regime is no different. The national interest is only a fig leaf to mask personal ambition of the Generals.  Civil war like conditions in rural Sindh, the whole of Balochistan and the tribal areas of NWFP present bad omens reminiscent of early 1970s.

 

The Pakistani generals have assumed the role of being the arbiters of our national interests. One has known the Generals well enough to understand that their simple minds are incapable of comprehending anything more complicated than their personal ambition or the rudimentary fundamentals of the military strategy or tactics. Once they set their heart on ordering national priorities by entering politics they make a bigger mess.

 

The government is smug in the belief that the real opposition to the present regime sitting outside the country provides for its longevity. Both the leaders by remaining abroad have failed their electorate by not orchestrating the will of the populace in wanting restoration of democracy.  A determined opposition to the Generals so as to force them to their barracks can only come from the presence of these two leaders. As things stand, with the two leaders sitting it out for the sake of their personal reasons, the military gets a chance to further entrench itself into the civic society. The two leaders are guilty of abandoning their electorates to the harsh realities of insidious military rule.

 

But what is the ARD doing? Has it played an effective role in confronting the military? Has it shown unity of purpose? To all these questions the answers are in the negative. The opposition as represented in the ARD is lackluster and does not fire the imagination of the people. Raja Zafar ul Haq and Amin Fahim are not the kind of leaders who would inspire the crowds. One has to put up with the second and third-rate leaders who have stuck to the party in the hope of winning offices when the fortunes change.

 

Our leaders, with a very few exception, lack intellectual capacity to do real hard work to confront the government. The questions that they ask in the national assembly lack homework and are generally mundane and are therefore ignored or elicit half replies. Follow up action on those questions lacks input and therefore renders the whole exercise ineffectual. The only form of asserting their presence is their frequent walkouts, which have lost their sting having been devalued by repetition. The government takes the walkouts in a stride and uses their absence to fast forward their pet pieces of legislation.  The latest example is imposition of export controls on nuclear material.

 

The opposition has during the last two decades not acquitted itself well.  No National Assembly dissolved by a Chief of Army Staff directly or through the President has over protested the dissolution by holding a meeting on the road in front of the National Assembly. This is because they lack the courage and character to stand up to the tin pot dictators. Unless the society offers a determined opposition to the military, the opposition alone cannot do much. Our political progress has been a step forward and two back. We have moved with geological leisureliness.  (sshusain@hotmail.com)

 

 

 

 

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