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Thursday, December 6, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Pictures from the Islamabad Protest
© photos copyright Fauzia Minallah
All Pictures are credited to Fauzia Minallah-Eds
Massive Student Protest in Islamabad - Eyewitness Account
On the call of the Student Action Committee (Islamabad) over a 1000 protesters gathered at Aabpara Chowk in Islamabad today. The rally consisted mostly of students from many different universities of Islamabad and surrounding areas. Lawyers, NGOs, Human Rights workers, journalists and members of civil society also joined in to show their support to the students. They were holding flags, banners, placards, posters and flags and were demanding an end to all the draconian policies post Nov-3 and an immediate restoration of the deposed judges and lifting on all curbs on media.
The protest started peacefully at 3 pm. Participants showed their extreme hate towards inhumane ordinances with slogans such as "Rule of Guns and batons, will not work", "The policies of terror, are unacceptable". There was a specially prepared car with a loudspeaker on top that played national anthems and songs in praise of the brave Pakistanis who were fighting for their right for a normal democratic country.
As the protest started moving towards the police club, the police surrounded the protesters threatening dire consequences if they continued to move on. The protesters had made their mind that they will use their fundamental right to protest peacefully and non-violently and resisted to police intimidation. After a few rounds of negotiation the police allowed the protesters to proceed in "groups of 4" for "security reasons". Apparently, students are the new terrorists to them.
Female students proceeded initially but when police stopped all men from joining the proceedings they returned and refused to move till their male counterparts were also allowed to proceed. Someone had heard a few policemen talking about arresting the male protesters under Section 114 which suspends the fundamental human right of organizing a group meeting or rally and no one was willing to risk an arrest of any of their fellows. It was really heartening to see much solidarity amongst students who had all come from different schools, colleges and universities and from diverse backgrounds to come to the help of each other. We can find solace in the fact that the future leaders of Pakistan are united in their demand to save Pakistan and have forgotten their personal differences.
After the first cordon-off, the police surrounded the students another time this time hoping to intimidate them again to stop the protest. The indiscriminately hit a few students in a cowardly attempt to shatter their morale and stop their peaceful struggle. The students did not resist but more importantly did not give up. They sat down in front of the police and again after negotiations they were allowed to move forward but this time one at a time.
The students regrouped again and started moving together as one body. Many had received threats from bullies sitting in government offices to stop speaking up against tyranny and so were really particular in not moving ahead alone. Given thousands have 'disappeared' without charges or ever being brought before a court, it hardly came as a surprise. They wanted to be safe.
This time the police stooped to a new low and started targeting women. Ghazala Minallah sustained injuries on her face. Other prominent human rights activists were also targetted. Farzana Bari, Hajra Ahmad, Alia and Asha Amir Ali also got hit with batons. After watching such police brutality the students of Pakistan could not hold themselves any longer. The retaliated in self-defence and to protect the innocent women who were being specifically targeted. Many came forward to protect the women and put themselves as shields. Some were brave enough to pull batons away from the policemen. Some used their own flags to prevent the police from hitting women. In the struggle that followed many students got beaten up while a significant proportion of policemen also suffering some beating.
A few helmets of the Riot police fell to the ground, many of their batons were taken by the students and it adequately depicted the future to come: students will resist illegal authority, protect their fellow citizens of Pakistan and of course topple a draconian regime the same way they forced the police to withdraw. Forthwith the procession went ahead to the press club uninterrupted to show solidarity with the journalists. Many prominent speakers ranging from Iqbal Haider from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Marvi Samad, an activist spoke to this reinvigorated crowd that was louder than before.
The Students of Pakistan are not dead. They are coming out numbers to take back their Pakistan!
- Caped Avenger
Call for condemning this inhumane targeted beating of women by Policemen:
The police today was from a section of Capital Police. The Additional SP in today's protest was Nasir Aftab (who was also responsible for ordering baton charge on students and arresting 48 juveniles.) You can call him at 0300-8505563 to show your disgust as this level of indecency shown today. The Magistrate for today's protest was Kamran Cheema who is the same Magistrate who has repeatedly claimed that the CJ and the other honorable judges are allowed to move freely and who also suggested that Benazir was free to move about when police had barricaded her house. He can be reached at 9261163 (between 9-5). Please do convey your sentiments to these "defenders of the people of Pakistan" and anyone relevant.
Human shield prevents forcible eviction of Justice Shahid Siddiqui!
Attempts to forcibly evict Justice Shahid Siddiqui from his official residence: Civil society activists, lawyers and retired judges – including Asma Jahangir, Hina Jilani, Asad Jamal and many others stayed outside his house all night (in the bitter Lahore cold).
They are rotating some 40-50 protesters outside the house at any given time forming a human shield to prevent the Punjab government from forcibly evicting him, said Hamid Khan (former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association). He said that there are only two non-PCO judges living in government housing in Lahore's GOR, Justice Shahid Siddiqui and Justice Ijaz Ahmed Choudhry – the others live in their own residences.
Several student protesters from the lahore press club protest later joined the vigil outside Justice Siddiqui's house. By4.30 pm, scores of student activists had gathered there. "The Justice also came out to speak to the protesters and lauded the efforts of the lawyers, students, media and activists. The protest went ahead despite threats from the police to arrest students from the universities involved."
When the current 'CJ' sent eviction orders to them (in violation of their own rules, which state that even on forced retirement an employee is given six months notice to find alternate accommodation), Shahid Siddiqui responded by challenging his authority and serving a contempt of court notice on him (posted yesterday on this list).
FIR AGAINST STUDENTS AND FACULTY FROM LUMS!
An FIR against two students and 4 faculty members was given to the LUMS guards today, probably in the late afternoon. They have been charged for nothing less than: Wall Chalking the police station wall. There is a problem with this:
1. Saad Latif, the Student Council President was out on an LAS trip for the last two weeks or so. In Manglixir, he could not have wall chalked the DHA thana.
2. Currently, there is no such Professor Farhat ul Haq at LUMS. In the last month or so there has not been any such person in LUMS.
3. Dr. Rasool Baksh: He's an aged dignified Professor, not an angry teenager, for God sakes...
4. Osama Siddiqi: He's been in the US for some time, meeting the who's who of America. I hope he will get back at these people.
5. Aasim Sajjad: Everyone knows that he is in the streets of Islamabad, doing bigger things than wallchalking. They just did a one-thousand-people-strong protest in Islamabad today.
Is this the kind of 'terrorism' that this Emergency was supposed to deter? Are these the infamous 'terrorists' and 'criminals'? Is this the kind of totalitarian state you want to live in?
If not, join us. Dont leave us alone in this critical hour. We may forget the acts of our enemy but we will never forget the silence of our friends.
Response to Ghazala Minallah's letter to Benazir Bhutto
(This is a response to the demands of the boycott; it puts things in their context and sheds light on what we know little about: the politics of boycott)
Dear Civil Society colleagues,
I have been reading the emotional e-mails and blogpostings by some of you (most notably GhazalaMinAllah's open Letter to Benazir Bhutto) demanding that Pakistan's political parties, especially PPP, follow non-political civil society organizations indemanding restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and other members of the unlawfully removed judiciary over and above all else.
There is also clamour that elections should be boycotted until judges are restored to their offices.
Civil society is fresh from its success of getting Justice Chaudhry restored a few months ago. But thenthe mechanism of restoration was street protests (backed by opposition parties) and a successful appeal to the Supreme Court itself. What mechanism do people have in mind this time? To think that General Musharraf will roll up his bed and go home after our demonstrations and the flurry of emails is a mistake.He could hand over power to another General, which won't solve Pakistan's rule of law problem.
It is time we take a long, hard look at our relationship with political parties and put our weight behind them rather than making the unrealistic demand that they follow us. The goal remains the same--restoration of the judiciary and supremacy of the constitution--but the "trashing the mainstream parties" approach should give way to respecting their weight and sacrifices, too. Aitzaz Ahsan, a PPP candidate for the National Assembly again, would most likely agree with me.
There is a long history of suspicion and criticism of the PPP by civil society organizations and admittedly Pakistan's politicians and parties are far from perfect. But let us face it, in the real world civi society assists political parties. It is not a substitute for them.
Wherever civil society has erroneously convinced itself that it can operate against or independent of politics, the establishment has thrived. Take the example of Egypt, which has more NGOs per capita than any other country. These NGOs denigrated Egypt's mainstream political parties in the 1980s and 1990s just as we are running down the PPP nowadays. The result is the entrenchment of Hosni Mubarak's Mukhabarat (Intelligence agencies) dictatorship.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has been unequivocal in her support for the judiciary and there is no need to launch into long letters based on a single sentence here or there. She is a politician and must deal with multiple constituencies and demands, unlike most of us who have no compulsions. Our personal worst case scenario is that our next blog posting would be hacked. Ms Bhutto, her family and her party have paid a heavy price for confronting Pakistan's military and intelligence machinery. Their flaws and faults aside, there is no denying they have fought and borne the brunt of the repression of the Zia and Musharraf dictatorships.
Benazir Bhutto is on record as saying "Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary is our Chief Justice." Why do we not proceed on that statement and seek its reiteration instead of attacking Mohtarma?
The problem is that civil society has a strong non-political component whereas Ms Bhutto is a political leader. A politician must weigh all options. What if a polls boycott fails and, like 1985, the new assembly becomes operational without any real opposition? Then civil society would be easily smashed.
Also, an election campaign can help mobilize masses (as it did in 1977) and become the forerunner of a bigger protest movement against polls rigging. Imran Khan and some of his supporters are wrongly assuming that Benazir Bhutto's concern in not limiting themselves to the judiciary demand relates to NRO.
Having shouted at the top of their voices for a decade about the cases these people really believe that is Benazir Bhutto's real problem. It is not. Spain has already dismissed the case on grounds of inadequate evidence. The Swiss case is in its death throes. The London case is being quashed by the Appeals Court and the Pakistani cases will get nowhere given that they got nowhere in eleven years. So silly suggestions like"If we reassure Mohtarma that we will end the cases to get her to boycott the elections then maybe PPP will boycott" are based on a wrong premise.
Those who have never contested, lost or won an election do not understand the dynamic of elections. Especially in rural areas it is very difficult to stop people from voting. An election is one occasion when the poor get attention from the candidates. They do not want to miss this opportunity.
Even now, a boycott would be successful only in Lahore, Peshawar and possibly Rawalpindi-Islamabad. The Chaudhries will ensure a high turnout in Gujranwala division. Southern Punjab will turn out to vote for the traditional leaders and MQM will get the vote out in Sindh's large cities like Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur. If PPP boycotts, there might be low turnout in rural Sindh but who will be there to see it? Poor Balochistan seldom counts in electoral arithmetic. The result of a boycott would be a two-thirds majority for Musharraf's PML-Q, which would then do whatever it pleases wih the constitution.
In 1985, Ziaul Haq used smaller parties in MRD to pressure Benazir Bhutto into boycotting the non-party polls. All those advocating the boycott later turned out to be ISI's people. (Read accounts of that election in books by General K.M. Arif and others).
In principle, it sounds very logical to argue "We will not legitimize the election" by participating. In practice, let us go through the mechanism of what might happen. Elections take place, are boycotted by the opposition, result in a four-fifths "win" for PML-Q and JUI.
Then what? Street protests against the illegitimate assemblies? Who will ensure these protests will be big enough to make a difference? Assuming the protests are very large and sufficient to force Musharraf's hand, what would be the next step? Resignation and handing over power to the army chief? Is that what we want or need? Let us give the politicians, especially Benazir Bhutto, credit in figuring out how to work out a political formula of participating in elections under protest and then using the polls campaign as a springboard for a methodical protest campaign. Let us remember that civil society is very important but it is never a substitute for political parties. If international pressure makes the polls freer, the opposition can win and force Musharraf's hand. If the election is rigged, a wider anti-rigging campaign can be launched with the involvement of the poor voters who will feel cheated. In either case, Musharraf will have to talk to the opposition and an alternative way for his exit can be found than another military intervention.
As for the judiciary, civil society should focus on getting an unequivocal commitment from the political parties that they will restore the pre-November 3 judiciary upon being elected. And make the judiciary issue part of the polls campaign, alongside economic and other issues, instead of insisting that it be considered a separate matter from the country's overall politics.I know my view runs contrary to the sentiment of most civil society activists but I request that it be given careful consideration. After all, I am one of you and am not part of the Pakistani political system.
Sincerely,
Wasiq Ali
( The Emergency Times Eds- While its clear what stance we the students have taken on the issue of elections, this article admittedly does provoke thought and debate regarding the PPP's stance and the political subtleties that parties must consider. Critical responses to this article will be posted soon. While in no way do we denounce strategic moves such as using electioneering as a tool to mobilise the masses, our basic demand of non participation in the actual election remains. As such the particular gameplans of the parties are not our concern but on this principled stance we stand united. As to the merits and demerits of a boycott in the current context, an exegesis shall follow)
GEO Petition Dismissed!
Dec 4 update:
This morning, after dragging the case for weeks, the Sindh High Court dismissed Geo's petition to restore at least its non-news channels (sports, entertainment and youth) as 'non-maintainable under the PCO'.
US Human Rights Activists Harassed!
Press Release: December 4
Contact in Pakistan: 0308-204-2346
US Human Rights Activists Harassed by Pakistani GovernmentU.S. human rights activists Medea Benjamin and Tighe Barry were on their way to a student rally at the Lahore Press Club at 3pm on Tuesday, December 4, when they were stopped outside the Club gates by six plainclothes government agents. They were told they had to leave the country because their visas had expired. Both, however, have valid visas.The government agents grabbed Barry by the arm and tried to hold him. Benjamin got help from some journalists, who managed to escort the two activists inside the Club. At 5pm, prominent lawyer Khummeram Khosa drove his car into the Press Club premises to escort the activists out of the Club. The government agents, on three motorcycles, followed their car through the city streets. When the activists tried to call the media, they discovered that their phone was being jammed. The activists returned to the Press Club to alert the media about this harassment. They also advised the U.S. Embassy. "It's a sad state of affairs when the Pakistani government—a government that is trying to portray itself to the West as democratic—tries to harass and deport U.S. human rights activists," say Benjamin. "If they do this to us, who have the protection of being US citizens, imagine what they do to their own citizens." "We will not be intimidated," says Barry. "We will continue our activities here in support of Pakistanis struggling for democracy, and we call on the Pakistani government to stop harassing us and respect our rights." Benjamin and Barry are members of the U.S. human rights group Global Exchange and the women's peace group CODEPINK. They have been in Pakistan since November 25 on a mission to learn about and support Pakistani civil society. They have been meeting with lawyers, students, judges, journalists and political leaders. They also conducted a 24-hour vigil outside the home of prominent lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, who is under house arrest. Through these activities, they have received tremendous support and appreciation from the Pakistani people. Today, they received a Letter of Thanks from the Lahore High Court Bar Association. The lawyer extended "heartfelt gratitude for showing solidarity with the legal community of Pakistan" and for helping to "boost the moral of the Pakistani lawyers in their just struggle for the restoration of the Constitution."
A student movement?
It is not yet a student movement but at least the student community is in motion and ferment again after a lapse of a couple of decades. Whether this will develop into a movement is still to be seen. Students who had been absent, during the period from March to November in the struggle for the rule of law and for the freedom of the press, were suddenly galvanised by the events of 3rd November and the subsequent destruction of the constitution and the judiciary by Gen Musharraf. This is all the more remarkable as these students are primarily from the elite universities whom one would think have benefited most from the consumer boom and the neo-liberal policies of Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz. It is easy to be cynical about this embryo movement but there has already been one very significant and positive development and that is the fact that after nearly forty years the hold of the IJT on the Punjab University Campus seems to be broken. It is astonishing how rapidly the “hawa” of the IJT collapsed with the visit of Imran Khan to PU. In retrospect it is clear that the political atmosphere there had changed and it only required a trigger to precipitate that change. That trigger was provided by Imran’s visit. For the first time girls at PU are able to voice their opinions without the fear of the IJT goondas.
A few days ago I attended a meeting of students, from various universities in Lahore, who are organising the student demonstrations against Musharraf and for the restoration of the pre 3rd of November Supreme Court. The students, like other sectors of society, are demonstrating for the withdrawal of Emergency, restoration of the Constitution will all fundamental rights, for a free judiciary, removal of judges appointed under the infamous PCO and the withdrawal of the ban and restrictions on all print and electronic media. They see these minimum steps as prerequisites to re-establishing the rule of law in this country, so blatantly violated by Musharraf, and to ensuring that there will be free and fair elections.
The meeting took me back forty years to when I attended meetings of the Students for a Democratic Society, the famous SDS, at the University of Chicago. The SDS originally was concerned with civil rights issues, like the condition of Black Americans and the question of free speech (recall the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, led by Mario Savio). It later became the leading student group against the war on most US campuses. Its working strategy was based on participatory democracy and direct action. It was characterised by radicalism and student power. It had a strong belief in decentralisation and a distrust for most organisation and operated on a meagre budget and did not have a strong central bureaucracy. The meeting in Lahore reflected many of these aspects of the SDS. The same idealistic, youthful faces, chaotic meeting, no acceptance of leaders, wariness of leaders within the student movement and without, a multitude of different positions, a fear of the major parties using the student movement for their own purposes, hours and hours of discussion before any decision was taken, the striving for consensus and the stress on non-violence.
Following this meeting I participated in the student demonstration at Liberty Chowk on Friday the 30th. It was wonderful to see the youthful energy, the enthusiasm and the idealism of these students. It was the more surprising in that the majority of these students belonged to the well off classes, coming mostly from elite universities like LUMS, FAST, BNU with very few from PU for example. For me what is amazing is that these students are coming out to protest not for themselves per se (they are pretty well off and their future is assured) but for democratic principles and to safeguard the future of Pakistan. Unlike the SDS’s Free Speech Movement, which was for the right of free speech on campuses, or the anti-Vietnam movement, which was fuelled by the fear of the draft, Pakistani students are taking a stand on principles, which they rightly believe are necessary for a democratic and modern Pakistan. They see that the future of Pakistan is inexorably linked with democracy and the rule of law and for the end of military rule, whether direct or disguised. I do not here intend to belittle the SDS because not only did it play a vital role in the anti-Vietnam war movement but in spite of being essentially a white middle class organisation based in the elite universities (Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, Berkeley) it did actively make civil rights for Black Americans a central part of its programme and activities.
It is very easy to be critical of these upper class students. But from what I saw they are sincere in their wish to see Pakistan a democratic and just society. However, unlike the SDS which took up the cause of the disenfranchised and oppressed black population of the States, the student movement in Pakistan, much like the rest of the so-called civil society (a phrase which I dislike as it doesn’t mean anything; are others uncivil?), has not yet talked about the tremendous poverty in this country and has not yet taken up the issues of economic and social justice. The history of the SDS was different as it grew out of a socialist educational organisation. In contrast to the SDS, the Students Action Committee in Lahore is fairly heterogeneous, with very few students who consider themselves “leftists” (socialism is still a taboo word). However I had the impression that the leading role was being taken by progressive students. There were students, at the meeting, who could be classified as “rightists”. But these are early days and there is the need for unity of action concentrated on immediate issues of democracy and justice. Nevertheless some students who believe that the struggle should be linked to issues of social and economic justice have formed a more restricted Progressive Student Action Committee.
Given the class background of most of these students, they are still wary of taking direct action on the streets unlike the legal community and journalists. Most of the action has been limited to protests on campus but recently in Lahore there have been two major demonstrations on the streets organised by students, one a march from the Press Club to the Geo offices on Davis Road and the other the demonstration at Liberty. However there have been small quick `guerrilla’ actions by a handful of students. The students are not yet prepared to really go on the streets, like for example protest on the Mall and stop the traffic. They do not want a confrontation with the police, even in a non-violent manner.
Another interesting fact already mentioned above is that from March till 3rd November students as a group did not take active part in the protests. True there were individual students who were very active in Islamabad in front of the Supreme Court during all this time but they were there as individuals. But November 3 produced a qualitative change in that students joined the protests collectively. Something clicked at that point. As usual there are coincidental, contingent reasons for this change, e.g. the fact that some LUMS teachers happened to be at the HRCP office in Lahore on the 4th of November when the police arrived to break up the meeting and arrest the participants, including the LUMS teachers. This is what triggered student activism at LUMS and focussed the minds of students on the nature of the Musharraf regime. If there had not been this incident I doubt if LUMS students would have protested. But history is full of contingent causes.
In spite of these limitations I believe that the involvement of students is a very positive step towards the establishment of democracy and justice in Pakistan. I don’t want to overestimate the nascent student movement but neither do I want to downplay its significance. There is a call by the Students Action Committee for a nationwide student protest on 4th December. Students in the major cities of Pakistan are linking up and the success or otherwise of this protest day will tell us about the real strength of this movement and the prospects of its growth. One of the demands, which is beginning to be formulated, is student specific and that is for lifting the ban on student unions. In my opinion student unions are a healthy expression of student aspirations. Students are an important conscious element of society and their collective voice should be heard.
Another fact worth noting is that the lawyers and journalists movement has been joined not only by the usual suspects, NGOs and `civil society’ organisations and now students but also, perhaps surprisingly, by young professionals particularly in the IT sector. Both students and IT professionals are characterised by the fact that they belong to the modern Internet linked world. They have access to world media, particularly alternate media and this has broadened their perspectives on Pakistan. They are in a better position to situate Pakistan in the larger world context and are able to see how other countries and societies benefit from a democratic dispensation. Although the vast majority of the poor working classes are missing from this movement it is significant and a very positive development that at least some segments of the educated section of society are concerned with justice and democracy and do not just think of their own immediate welfare.
Within the last couple of years two events have given me hope for the future of Pakistan. The first event was the tremendous response by the people of Pakistan to the tragedy of the October 2005 earthquake. There was a huge aid effort mounted by ordinary people to help their fellow citizens in Kashmir and NWFP. But what I want to stress here is the response of the children of the elite. Students from all schools and universities, be they state or private, mobilised to collect relief and transport this to the affected areas. My point here is that the rich upper class students of institutions like LUMS, whom one would have suspected to have been immune to the suffering of the poor, also made large and significant contributions. I don’t want to make too much of this as I know that they still belong to the exploiting classes and when they went home after doing all the charity work they still had their drivers and servants. They didn’t think about raising their salaries or treating them better. But at least there is still a spark alive in them which allowed them to see for a moment the fellow humanity of the poor people affected by the earthquake. One can of course dismiss the earthquake charity work as noblesse oblige but I think it is more than that.
The earthquake relief effort by poor and rich alike from as far as Baluchistan and Sindh demonstrated that the ordinary people of Pakistan have a sense of unity. The earthquake brought out the feeling that we all, who live on this piece of earth, are in this together and we have to support and help each other. This feeling was more real and worth much more than all the platitudes mouthed by our dictators about national unity while they continue to bomb and kill their own fellow citizens.
The second series of events that give me hope for Pakistan is the response to the removal of the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in March and the whole movement for the establishment of the rule of law and the end of one-man military rule in Pakistan. The fact that the educated conscious segment of society has come out for the defence of principles rather than personal short term gains is a good harbinger for the future of Pakistan. It is easy to say where are the masses? Does one forget so easily the thousands who came out to cheer and welcome the CJ on his drive from Islamabad to Lahore and the large crowds who gathered to listen to him wherever he went? These were not just lawyers. There were many ordinary citizens who realised that this was a historical period in Pakistan where for the first time the judiciary had stood up to defend the rule of law and its own institution against the arbitrary actions of a military dictator. The fact that students have joined them, even in limited numbers, is of great significance. Student activism on campus should be welcomed because for too long students have become apolitical and only interested in their own careers. If these events trigger even a few minds to think about the broader social and political problems of this country it will be a major positive development. For too long university campuses have become sterile without a semblance of debate. It is time that campuses again reverberate to fervent passionate debate and become breeding grounds for people who want to promote progressive social and political change in Pakistan.
Faheem Hussain
Visiting Professor of Physics
School of Science and Engineering
LUMS
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Student Action Committee Protest at the Lahore Press Club
Lahore 04-12-2007:
A protest was held at the Lahore Press Club at 3 pm today (Tuesday) under the auspices of the Student Action Committee Lahore, which is comprised of 21 universities. At the same time, a parallel protest was being held in Islamabad, organised by the Islamabad Student Action Committee. In Lahore, about 200 students, lawyers, civil society activists and journalists gathered inside the press club holding placards and posters. The protesters formed a human chain around the Shimla Pahari, shouting slogans such as 'Adlia ki azadi tak jang rahe gi', 'Lathi goli ki sarkar nahin chale gi', 'Tulba maangain azadi', and 'Girti hui diwaar ko aik dhaka aur doo'. The protesters had originally aimed to march to the Geo office on Davis Road. However, since traffic was being blocked, the protesters decided to return to the press club so as not to cause inconvenience to motorists. Inside the press club, a number of speeches were made. Activist Hina Jillani, Bushra Aitzaz, and students from participating universities were among those who spoke. The speakers called for the reinstatement of the pre-November 3rd judiciary and the freeing of the media, and demanded that all political parties boycott the upcoming sham elections. The eviction of Justice Shahid Siddiqui, who refused to take oath under the PCO, from his house in GOR-I was condemned and the protesters were encouraged to go and protest outside the Justice's house. All the speakers encouraged the protesters to keep up their efforts and not back down until their goals had been achieved. The protesters then disbanded and many of them left for GOR-I. At the judge's residence, students joined lawyers, journalists and other activists outside Justice Shahid Siddiqui's house and chanted slogans. The Justice also came out to speak to the protesters and lauded the efforts of the lawyers, students, media and activists. The protest went ahead despite threats from the police to arrest students from the universities involved. FIRs have been registered against student and faculty who are thought to be leading the movement.-- RegardsPublic Relations ManagerLUMS Student Movement
(The Emergency Times -Eds_ Reports for the Islamabad protest will follow but of what is known it was a huge event with over 1000 protestors present and has succesfully registered the students demands.)
LUMS beseiged by Police
LUMS is currently surrounded by police personnel who have set up barricades near the front entrance. Inspection of all traffic going in and out of the University is underway. The professed motive is to prevent students from attending today's student rally at the Press Club.
Yesterday, a local SHO visited the LUMS campus and issued, in no uncertain terms, threats to abduct students who continued to participate in the protests. Similar intimidation attempts have been made in Islamabad, at people's homes.
The state continues to use totalitarian measures to curb the students' voice.
We will not back down.
In Complete Unity.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Student Action Committee issues call for the 4th
IS THERE STILL ROOM FOR HESITATION??
3rd November 2007 – Martial Law was imposed on Pakistan
Independent-minded judges have been sacked & the Sovereign judiciary has been turned into a sham Institution
The Last Check on the Absolute Power of the Executive is Gone! The Last Voice of Justice has been Muffled
The Judges or anyone who argued for the cause of Justice face arrest. Who is helping the terrorists? Are they? Are we? No! It is the state of injustice that is helping the Terrorists!
No matter what is done, how many of our fellow citizens are Disappeared without explanation, how many civilians are killed in military operations, how many families are torn apart, how much the interests of the Pakistani people are harmed by following foreign directives, how many laws of state & humanity are broken
There is no one to question those in power anymore, no one to hold them accountable!
Welcome to the future: No Justice, No Accountability, Restricted Access to Information
Are we going to give up our fundamental rights without a fight?
We, the people of Pakistan, especially the students, have to prove that we are not so uncaring, self-absorbed & cowardly as to not speak up today!
There are conscientious people expressing dissent: common citizens, journalists, doctors, retired army officers & yes, even school children!
We have to ask ourselves - what is the protestors’ crime that the police attacks them with such extreme brutality, with tear gas & batons?
PROTESTING is not the real crime, the real crime is
the ATTACK ON THE JUDICIARY, the ABUSE OF OUR CIVIL RIGHTS & the ASSAULT ON THE MEDIA.
The uniform may be gone. The dates of lifting the emergency & holding elections may have been announced.
But unless the pre-Nov 3rd JUDICIARY & CONSTITUTION are restored, PEMRA’s curbs on the MEDIA are removed, all POLITICAL PRISONERS are released with the charges against them dropped,
WE WILL BOYCOTT THE ELECTIONS
The youth of the nation (students as well as people in the labour force) must work towards a Pakistan governed by humane values, where there is no discrimination on the basis of race and class. With numerous lawyers & activists behind bars & extreme limits on the media, it is our job to create awareness & raise a moral cry in defense of justice, accountability & human rights. We call upon youth to take a stand & we call for the lifting of the ban on student unions, so that campuses can become a constructive arena, not for fighting the battles of political factions & leaders, but for peaceful, non-partisan, intellectual debate on methods to improve the lot of people in educational institutions & the country in general. This is a moment when our choices could make or break our nation. At this crossroads in Pakistan’s history, the nature of governance in the next few years will be determined.
MAKE A CHOICE. IF NOT NOW, WHEN? IF NOT US, WHO? Opt for Action, not Silence.
Only if we UNITE, have FAITH in our own power to change things for the better & move forward with DISCIPLINE, can we change our destiny.
WE INVITE STUDENTS & PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE, TO JOIN OUR
PROTEST RALLY ON 4TH DECEMBER 2007, AT 3:00 PM OUTSIDE THE PRESS CLUB, LAHORE.
Student Action Committee. Lahore
Disclaimer: We represent students united against these injustices, from 21 educational institutions of Lahore. We are not affiliated with any political leader or party; rather, we represent the collective conscience of the students of Pakistan.
Please copy and distribute this to as many people as possible. Join us: sac.lahore@gmail.com.
Update on activities: httpp://pakistanmartiallaw.blogspot.com (Daily updates of relevant domestic and international developments); http://fastrising.blogspot.com (FAST), http://PURevoution.blogspot.com (PU)
Musharraf's oath a standing joke - Justice Rehman
(Courtesy DAWN)
Musharraf’s oath for the office of the president under suspended Constitution and by a judge who has himself taken oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) was a joke with the Constitution, says Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman of the Lahore High Court, who was among those judges who were invited to take oath under the Provincial Constitutional Order after Nov 3 but they refused.
“Such acts have no parallel in history. They can be only taken where there is a law of jungle,” he said.
Justice Rehman was on the Multan bench of the Lahore High Court when the emergency was imposed. Talking to Dawn by phone from Lahore, he said though he had taken oath as a permanent LHC judge only four days before the imposition of the PCO and at a time when his retirement was still eleven years away, it was his conscience that had restrained him from taking oath under the PCO.
He said had he taken oath, it would have pinched him forever that he had done something unconstitutional and illegal and against the decision of the seven-member Supreme Court bench that had directed the judges on Nov 3 not to take oath under the PCO.
Answering a question about the rejection of oath offer, Justice Rehman, who is the son of Justice Hamoodur Rehman, said that his family traditions did not allow him to take oath while it was also the matter of his conscience.
Pakistan's Moment of Truth - Sharif and Bhutto must boycott elections
U.S.- Iran Peace Project - ANALYSIS
December 3, 2007
When Benazir, leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) meet on December 3, their decision to participate in or boycott the January 8 parliamentary elections will impact the future of Pakistan for decades to come. It is a strange irony that Bhutto and Sharif, two former prime ministers that both failed to put Pakistan on a clear path to progress can now save Pakistan by denying themselves what they covet most-political power for themselves and their parties. For the greater good of Pakistan they must boycott Musharraf’s January 8 elections and dispel illusions of the grandeur of a false democracy. Bhutto and Sharif must shoulder the responsibility of true leadership by uniting the majority of opposition parties to demand the return of the legitimate Supreme Court and new elections in the early spring.
If Bhutto, Sharif, the opposition parties and the Pakistani people have learned anything from the nation’s failed experiments with democracy in the 1990’s, it is that civil society must lead the military. Pervez Musharraf by virtue of his actions cannot be trusted. Nor will Pakistan’s salvation be realized by entering a Faustian bargain with the United States, Russia or China who all seek to subvert Pakistan’s independence for their own geo-strategic interests.
Today, Pakistan is a nuclear failed state held together by a brutal and declining military dictatorship. Complicated by competing loyalties within its military and intelligence apparatus to extremist forces and torn by tension between its volatile Baloch, Kashmir and Pashtun communities, Pakistan has somehow managed to stumble to the doorstep of democracy. But the only way for Pakistan to emerge from this unique moment of challenge is for opposition party leaders to reject the crumbs of false democracy from Musharraf’s table and maintain a unified demand for true empowerment of the Pakistani majority.
As difficult as it may be for opposition forces to find unity in the din of national turmoil, an unprecedented opportunity now exists for Pakistan to create its own special democratic enterprise. The ability of Musharraf and the military to maintain their despotic rule rest on two pillars; naked force and a divided opposition. History has proved that even the most barbaric regimes cannot maintain power once the people decide they are no longer willing to endure oppression. Musharraf has all but exhausted the limits of naked brutality with emergency rule and the bloody suppression of pro-democracy forces. On the other hand, the opposition has the power to overcome its divisions and not furnish the means of their own political destruction.
It is doubtful that Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif will rise to the historic moment at hand. Their past history of naked power grabs at the expense of the Pakistanti people does not bode well. Thus, all opposition parties and leaders committed to boycotting the January elections must do everything possible to pressure Bhutto and Sharif from capitulating to Musharraf and the military. The Musharraf regime is weak and deteriorating in Pakistan and in the eyes of the international community. The hour of truth has arrived in Pakistan. We trust that the Pakistani people will seize the moment, with or without Bhutto and Sharif.
********************************
Webster Brooks 111 is the Editor of the US-Iran Peace Project's website: www.usiranpeace.com His articles have been published in newspapers, websites and blogs across the Middle East and in the United States. US.-Iran Peace advocates the restoration of full diplomatic relations between the United States and Iran.
An Unlikely Visitor gives Musharraf support
By Marc Perelman
A few days before Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte traveled to Islamabad last week to impress upon General Pervez Musharraf the need to restore
democratic rule in Pakistan, another American envoy quietly landed in the capital to chat with the Pakistani president and army chief.
With the blessing of Washington, Jack Rosen, chairman of the American Jewish Congress's Council for World Jewry, traveled halfway across the globe for a
face-to-face meeting with Musharraf, who he had hailed two years ago as a courageous leader and driving force in Jewish-Muslim dialogue.
While nearly all major Jewish groups have altogether avoided the issue of Pakistan, Rosen has offered outspoken support for the country's embattled president.
"The real choice we face is not between Musharraf and a return to an effective democratic system, but between Musharraf and the possible collapse of Pakistan,"
Aitzaz's detention orders extended
(Courtesy The News)
LAHORE: The Punjab government on Sunday extended the detention orders of Supreme Court Bar Association President Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, sources in the Home Department said.
They said since the Punjab government did not receive any instructions from the Interior Ministry in this regard, so it was decided to extend Aitzaz’s detention orders. Atizaz’s detention orders were issued under 3 MPO for 30 days. He was to be released on December 3, but the government extended his detention orders for another 30 days.
Meanwhile SCBA Media Advisor Azhar Siddique also confirmed that the government had extended Aitzaz’s detention period. He said the Balochistan government had also extended the detention orders of Balochistan Bar Council President Baz Muhammad Kakar and Quetta High Court Bar Association President Haji Muhammad Shakil for 15 days each.
Student Protest in Islamabad on the 4th
Pakistan Youth Alliance and the Student Action Committee are jointly organizing a peaceful protest on Tuesday, 4th December at 3:00 p.m, Aabpara Chowk in Islamabad.
Our demands will be:
- Restoration of the judiciary ( re-wind to November 2nd )
- A complete election boycott (a more detailed article on this subject will follow)
- Free media
This is an open call to all those who agree with the demands stated above.
WAF Gathering on the 3rd of December
To sustain the momentum of the movement, WAF is organizing its next
event on 3rd December at 3pm. This will be a gathering of people
(women, men, students, lawyers, political parties etc) in which the
participants will sit in circles, for a session of songs, poems, skits
etc. Our focus will be on the restoration of the judiciary.
Venue: Lawrence Garden, Baghi-Jinnah behind Quaid-e-Azam Library
Date: 3rd December 2007 (Monday)
Time: 3:00 p.m
You are cordially invite to come and participate in the event
R.S.V.P
Neelam Hussain- 0300-4800360
Naila Naz- 0300-4536313
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Call from Student Action Committees in Islamabad and Lahore
The Student Action Committee (
The Student Action Committee invites all concerned members of society to join the students in their fight for the restoration of democracy and rule of law in
A letter to Benazir Bhutto from Ghazala Minallah
Ms BHUTTO, A FREE JUDICIARY BUT DETAINED JUDGES???
Dear Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto,
I was absolutely shocked and amazed at your latest statement regarding the judiciary. How could you, of all people, say that you believed in an independent judiciary BUT that personalities did not matter? If personalities did not matter then why was Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry removed? Why were some judges locked up whereas others were not? If personalities did not matter then why is Musharraf waging a personal war against the CJ? You do not have to be a genius to figure out the reason. How can you separate the personalities from the institution? What you have on Constitution Avenue right now is a besieged and helpless building. The unfortunate but harsh truth is that right now we are a besieged nation as well.
Ms. Bhutto, I am writing to you because your statement has shocked and disturbed me to the extent that I feel I have no option but to reach out to you in this manner. I would like to remind you, since you seem to have forgotten, that you too were the victim of a corrupt judiciary. If Justice Iftikhar had been the CJ of the Supreme Court at that time then perhaps your father would never have been hanged. Had the entire bench been like the present one then there would have been a unanimous judgment. But the judgment was not unanimous - it was a 4 to 3 split – just one judge too many on the wrong side. One more upright personality on the right side and our history would have been different. So yes, personalities certainly do matter.
Ms. Bhutto, I am writing to you in desperation because I am the daughter of Late Justice Safdar Shah, who was one of the three dissenting judges. When Mr., Bhutto was the Prime Minister my father was CJ of the Peshawar High Court. Both these headstrong personalities did not get on with each other, and because of Safdar Shah's constant criticism and disagreement regarding the reforms and policies being introduced by the PM, the latter had him prematurely retired by introducing the 5 th Amendment. After the coup, when Gen. Zia took over, and Mr. Bhutto was charged and convicted of Conspiracy to murder by the Lahore High Court, he appealed to the Supreme Court. Gen. Zia wanted Mr. Bhutto dead and he did his best to manipulate the bench. It soon became obvious as to WHY Safdar Shah had recently been appointed as judge of the Supreme Court . Having the typical mind-set of a dictator, Zia was sure that he would be vindictive and take revenge. But, he was wrong and the rest is history. WHY? Because three of the judges had the courage to say NO, and did not give in to the threats and pressure exerted on them. So yes Ms Bhutto, personalities do matter. Had Justice (retd) Wajiuddin's father , the late Hon.Waheeduddin not been prematurely retired on extremely dubious medical grounds , history could have been different, No one can dispute the fact that the judgment was wrong since Justice (retd) Nasim Hassan Shah confessed on a talk show on TV a few years ago that the judges were threatened and pressurized into giving that judgment. Yes Ms. Bhutto, they were, and I am a witness to that fact.
Ms. Bhutto, our paths crossed briefly and both of us were victims of a corrupt judiciary which colluded with a Military Dictator. But I am not writing this letter to lament about our plight, since nothing we went through can possibly compare to the torture and torment you and your family went through .Have you forgotten the times when you visited your father in prison? Have you forgotten the humiliating tactics those heartless tyrants subjected you and your family to? Have you forgotten the last time you went to visit him in prison and were not able to hug him? Whenever I think about that grave injustice, which was nothing but a judicial murder, my heart goes out to you and what you suffered then and have suffered since. That is precisely why I am at my wits end and cannot understand WHY you cannot value the importance of independent judges.
Ms.Bhutto, do you think you are invincible? Are you so blinded that you cannot or will not acknowledge the truth? Does it never occur to you that some day you might have to face those judges in the present Supreme Court.? Well let me please spell it out. With independent judges you get a verdict you deserve, whereas with the present kind of farce you get a judgment dictated by the intelligence agencies or the dictator himself. Do you honestly not know or are you honestly not aware of the grave injustice going on? Does it not send a chill up your spine that if the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court can be tossed around by Musharraf it could very well be you as well ?For God's sake Ms. Bhutto , WAKE UP .You owe it to your father as well as to the nation to defend the judiciary and fight for its independence.
My father continued to be persecuted even after the judgment and we were forced to leave the country. But I will never forgive or forget those responsible for the torment my father went through during his last years. He died an unhappy man and was never able to get over the fact that he was not able to prevent the cold-blooded murder of an innocent man. And that innocent person was your father for God's sake! I have vowed that I will continue to fight for the independence of the judiciary come what may! I was confident and certain that once you were back you would definitely take up this battle and lead the nation towards sanity.
Ms. Bhutto, is it not obvious to you WHY Musharraf wants Justice Iftikhar out of the way? Ask the families of the 'missing persons', who for the first time were being heard and for the first time they could see a light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone knows who is responsible but no one before this CJ had the courage to take up the matter. Ask the countless downtrodden people who had discovered that they could have direct access to the CJ through Suo Moto notices. Ask 2 and 3 yr old Aneela and Tasleem from Naudero Feroze in Sindh , ask 4 yr old Shaneela or 6yr old Munni or 8 yr old Marina from Mardan what this Chief Justice has done for them. These innocent little girls were the victims of jirga decisions according to which they were to be handed over to the enemy as a symbol of truce .It was Justice Iftikhar who took serious notice of this barbaric custom and passed strict orders to the local authorities to prevent this atrocity from carrying on. It was during the tenure of this CJ that serious environmental disasters were averted .Who took notice of the New Muree Project? Who took action in the Dungi ground case? Who prevented Shah Sharabeel from converting a public park in sector F-7 Islamabad into a multi-million commercial project? Ask the poor people living in the adjacent Christian colony what that decision meant to them. Sharabeel has taken up arms against the CJ since this decision because for that class of people the slum dwellers are a low life who do not deserve any special attention. I can go on and on about the cases in which the SILENT CRIES OF THE DOWNTRODDEN of our society were being heard by a sympathetic judge for the first time. Ms. Bhutto, these are the Suo Moto notices which Musharraf said were a waste of time in his speech justifying the emergency. If personalities did not matter then why is Musharraf so threatened by this man? On any and every occasion he gets he attacks and tries to malign the CJ with a vengeance. His abnormal hatred for the man has exposed the truth. He knows very well that this man was the biggest hurdle in his plans to destroy what is left of our country. The coup was against the judiciary, the 'emergency' was created to sack the CJ and the other conscientious judges. Musharraf needs to be told that we are not a nation of imbeciles and that everyone is aware of the truth and the depth of the situation. We all know that the 'crisis ' in Swat or the threat of terrorism had NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the sacking of the CJ and the locking up of him and the other judges.
Once again Ms Bhutto, I beg you to think very carefully about where you are heading. I beg you not to betray your father or the nation. I beg you not to fall into Musharraf's trap and to boycott the elections. The rigging has already taken place, so why are you allowing yourself to become a party to this farce? I beg you to realize that you are the one holding the trump card right now. If you boycott the election, THEY lose face. But if YOU participate, you not only lose face, you lose the confidence and the faith the people of Pakistan have in you. Last but not least, you owe it to Bilawal, Bakhtawar, Aseefa and all future generations of our beloved country.
Yours sincerely,
Ghazala Minallah
Fazlur Rehman refuses to support Judiciary
At a ceremony hosted by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), Fazl said that he supported the independence of judiciary, but would not favor the reinstatement of the deposed CJP and other judges, as they had taken oath under a PCO in 1999. His remarks created uproar in the hall, with a large number of participants shouting “Shame! Shame!”
Replying to an angry participant’s comments that he wanted to become deputy prime minister, Fazl’s reply was, “I want to become the prime minister! What do you mean by deputy prime minister?”
US human rights activists stage 24-hour vigil in front of Aitzaz's residence
When: 12 noon, December 2 until 12 noon, December 3
Where: 5 Zaman Park, Lahore
Medea Benjamin and Tighe Barry, members of the U.S. human rights group
Global Exchange and the women¹s peace group CODEPINK, came to Pakistan to
learn about the political situation since emergency rule was declared on
November 3. One of the people they are most anxious to meet with is
prominent lawyer/politician Aitzaz Ahsan, who was jailed by the Musharraf
government from November 3 to 25, when he was then placed under house
arrest.
Pakistan government representatives in the US have said that the lawyers
arrested under the emergency law have been released. But when the visiting
human rights activists tried to meet with Aitzaz Ahsan on December 1, they
discovered that his home is still designated a 'sub jail' and he remains
hostage in his own home, unable to go out or to receive visitors. For that
reason the U.S. activists decided to stage a vigil outside his home.
"Pervez Musharrah is telling the world that he is committed to democracy. So
it is outrageous that the head of the nation¹s Supreme Court Bar
Association, Aitzaz Ahsan, remains under house arrest," said Tighe Barry.
"We have come a long way to meet this man who we have heard is one of the
great heroes of the struggle for democracy in Pakistan," said Medea
Benjamin. "We will sit patiently in front of his door and sleep overnight in
front of his door, asking his jailers to allow us in."
Photos, account of Protest in Dublin
Dublin: (Dec 1) A big pro-democracy protest was held outside the Irish Parliament House on Saturday afternoon. It was organized by a group of conscientious Pakistani citizens which drew a large number of protestors who came to express solidarity with the deposed judges and called for their immediate reinstatement. The speakers on this occasion demanded lifting of Martial Law in Pakistan. They included important members of the Irish Parliament as well. The speakers called to boycott, what they called 'fraudulent' elections under a dictatorship, while rejecting the controversial PCO and called for restoration of the country's constitution.
The protestors chanted anti-Musharraf slogans and held placards decrying dictatorship under President Parvez Musharraf and opposed his repressive and tyrannical rule in the strongest terms. They called for lifting of curbs on media and release of all judges, lawyers and political prisoners and urged the Pakistan government to respect democratic norms.
This was the largest political protest held in Dublin by the Pakistani community. The last rally in Dublin took place on November 9. With the increase in number of protests and world-wide condemnation of Pakistan's unpopular dictator it appears that pressure is now building up on President Musharaf to force him to finally step down from office, a controversial position which he has managed to hold on for the last nine years. (Uzair Kundi reports)
Boycotting Elections
Dr. Faisal Bari
Ms. Bhutto and Maulana Fazlur Rahman have hinted that they are not convinced that elections should be boycotted as that would leave the field open for Muslim League-Q, and Musharraf will again have a Q-League government and without any effective opposition in the assemblies even. They have also hinted at the fact that they learnt their lessons about boycotts from the 1985 non-party election.But this seems like a very strange argument to make. The two of them seem to be saying that even though we know that there is a martial law in the country, there is no independent judiciary or an independent election commission, there are no basic rights, there is no constitution, the whimsies of one person, backed by the military might of a standing army, is the law, and there is no hope even of things changing before elections, we should still go for elections. The hope that Ms. Bhutto is expressing, is of course, that though she knows she will not get a fair deal, but she would rather fight this election and then come into power and change the system from within.
This seems like a really bad and far fetched argument. If Musharraf is not willing to give all parties a fair shot at the polls now, why will he allow anyone to change anything if he is able to get quite a few Q-Leaguers in the assemblies? And if the hope is that Musharraf will become toothless once he gives up his uniform and then, only as a President, he can be dealt with, the hope is unfounded. What is going to stop the next General from playing the same game?
Even regarding the 1985 elections, it is not clear what lesson has Benazir learnt from it and if this was even the right lesson to learn. The boycott of the 1985 election did reduce the credibility of the election and it was only in 3 years that we were at polls again. And not only that, it was partially the 1985 boycott that allowed Benazir to make a significant comeback in the 1988 elections. But even more to the point, Benazir won in 1988, but came into power after making quite a few compromises, was she able to change the system then? Fighting elections under the present situation, when the system is totally stacked against politicians, even if she wins, will she be able to do anything at all?
Right now the world has seen and knows very clearly that this entire issue of imposition of martial law was wrong and misguided. And even though the US needs Musharraf to do its dirty work and kill more Pakistanis, it still cannot justify what Musharraf did 3 weeks ago. They, even if for form sake only, have to continuously say that martial law should be removed, and the constitution and basic rights restored. For the rest of the world, as expressed by the Commonwealth and even some individual countries, what Musharraf did was completely wrong. Surveys show that the majority of Pakistanis also think that the imposition of the martial law was unwarranted and unjustified. Under the circumstances if the bigger parties of Pakistan, PPP, PML-N, the Jamaat, JUI and so on, boycott the elections, and if elections go ahead under these circumstances, there will be no credibility for these elections anywhere in the world. Musharraf might succeed in bringing his selected group back in power, but it is very unlikely that that arrangement will work beyond a few days or a few months.
On a matter of principle too, if the aim is to get democratic rule established and entrenched in Pakistan, a boycott of the elections, under the present conditions, is the only choice open for political parties. If political parties agree to contest the elections under martial law, and with the judiciary as it is, they will only legitimize what Musharraf has done. As it is, just the fact that most parties have chosen to file nomination papers before deciding about the boycott, has led many people in the administration and the Q-League to say that this act of filing nomination papers implies that these parties have accepted the legality of what was done by Musharaf on November 3rd. If the parties go ahead and fight the elections, they will definitely legitimize the martial law. In fact, one of the first acts the incoming parliament will have to do, even before it can start functioning properly, will be to indemnify all actions taken by Musharraf. And they will have to do it because their own elections will also only be valid if they indemnify all other actions as well. This has been done by dictators before too, and it will be tried by other dictators in the future too. And as long as they can find enough collaborators, they will be able to get away with this. Do the current political parties want to give Musharraf this way out of the crisis?
A lot of people think that politics is 'the art of the possible' and it is all about expediency. But it is not clear what is meant by expediency here. If expediency just means that the sole aim of the game is to be a minister or a prime minister or to have some such title, then clearly, expediency dictates that all parties collaborate with Musharraf and not just contest elections but actually do so in coalition with Musharraf. If people know that a certain party has the backing of the agencies, the chances of that party winning seem to increase significantly. And what Q-League, Patriots and others did in 2002 was then the height of expediency and a pretty smart move. What MMA did to help pass the 17th Amendment also then makes sense: MMA had two governments in the provinces as well as the position of the leader of the opposition. But if this is the game, why do we need elections even? Why not have a Shoora of selected people?
If expediency is anything other than the very narrow objective of being in power tomorrow then certain principles will have to make their way into the calculus as well. If the objective of the politicians is to establish a system that creates a reasonably well functioning representative system that allows people some power to articulate their demands and some ability to elect people on that basis, then the foundational principles of such a system will have to be established for all and will have to be grounded beyond question. Rule based on a constitution and a judiciary that can effectively check to ensure that the constitution is being followed are the bare minimum for such a system. If these two are compromised, how do you know when some ground rules have been altered unfairly, and who would you appeal to for arbitration? This is the situation right now. There is no constitution, there is no rule of law, there are no judges one can appeal to and there is not even a free media around that can make the voices of the weak heard. How can going for elections under these conditions be taken as a way of strengthening democracy? Forgetting principles, even expediency, which is not just based on the aim of being in power, would dictate that boycotting the elections is the only way out of the current crisis.
If all political parties do not boycott the elections, and it is clear that Q-League and MQM are not going to boycott, those who do might have to pay a price for it for some time. Maybe this is not too high a price to pay for principles. If the larger parties, especially PML-N and PPP boycott the elections, the credibility of the process will suffer and the cost might not be very large for all. Even this cost seems to be high for some parties (Ms. Bhutto and the Maulana). But if the larger parties do not boycott the elections and accept the current conditions and then go to polls in January, the country will definitely lose big-time and for years and years to come. The choice for the politicians seems clear. Let us see how the game unfolds.
E-mail: faisal@nation.com.pk
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