THE spirit of constitutional democracy revolves around individual rights exercised by citizens, free from threats, intimidation, assured of security of life and property, with the state and its institutions funded by tax payers, confined to work within specific boundaries laid down in the constitution as supreme law. Except for the Executive and Parliament, the third pillar of the state Judiciary and all subordinate state funded institutions must be strictly apolitical, aware of the significance of the oath they take.
It is the lack of democratic credentials of those at helm which has engulfed Pakistan in a cobweb of crisis, threating its sovereignty. Democracy involves tolerance for dissent, and respect for mandate, of all those elected by people. This cooperation is irrespective of differences and personal likes or dislikes of majority party leader, working in coordination with leader of opposition, to legislate laws and through collective wisdom frame policies for benefit of common citizens. Devoid this spirit, democracy can be relegated to majoritarian rule and degenerate to fascism and dictatorship.
Unfortunately, democratic process was derailed within a year, when the Quaid died in 1948, and it became victim to intrigues by those whom the Quaid had warned, as the biggest curse, which we inherited, the legacy of the British Raj in the form of paid civil or uniformed bureaucracy, trained to serve HM government and not the citizens of the subcontinent. Today Pakistan is a country on the brink of economic collapse, surviving on foreign loans, unwilling to impose direct taxation on all sources of income, or breaking away from its past practices, ruled by men of mediocre intellect, who lacked both vision and credibility to take this country out of the crisis that threatens its sovereignty.
Pakistan was created to be a modern democratic welfare state and it can only survive, if we revert back to Jinnah’s vision. The vision of founding fathers led by MAJ was elaborated when he stated in 1945 that “Islam came in the world to establish democracy, peace and justice; to safeguard the rights of the oppressed. It brought to humanity the message of equality of the rich and the poor, of the high and the low, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) fought for these ideals, for the major part of his life. Is it not, therefore, the duty of every Muslim, wherever he may be, to do his level best to preserve the great ideals and the glorious traditions of Islam, to fight for the equality of mankind, the achievement of man’s legitimate rights, and the establishment of democracy?
We in India believe that Pakistan is our legitimate demand, our birthright. We believe that it is in consonance with democratic principles and justice”. Within a year of our freedom, the Quaid died in 1948 and his sister, who participated in the struggle for independence and earned title of Mader-e-Millat was not allowed to address the nation till 1951, and then also in a pre-recorded censored message. Pakistan was never meant to be an authoritarian state, where religion was exploited, extremism cultivated and state welfare confined only for the affluent elite, nor serving as a client state involved in proxy wars, beyond its borders.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
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