It’s Never Too Late

At Independence, the Government of India Act 1935 was the basic law of both India and Pakistan. Their respective Constituent Assemblies (CA) were also the legislatures. The Indian CA produced a constitution by November 1949, but not so the Pakistani CA. In September 1954, Pakistan was closed to adopting a new constitution with the draft ready to be announced on December 25, 1954 (Quaid-e-Azam’s birthday), but Governor General Ghulam Muhammad dismissed the CA on October 24, 1954 claiming that the CA had lost the confidence of the people and that the constitutional machinery had broken down. This was his second dismissal after Khwaja Nazimuddin within a span of one and a half years. The real reason though, was that the draft proposed curtailment of Governor General’s powers including the powers to dismiss governments and elected prime ministers, so that to obviate recurrence of the Khwaja Nazimuddin case. The President of the CA Maulvi Tameez ud din challenged the act in the Sindh High Court, which after detailed hearing gave the verdict against Ghulam Muhammad declaring it illegal and unconstitutional. The decision was then challenged by the Federal Government in the Federal Court headed by Justice Munir, who not only accepted but validated the act of the Governor General under the pretext of ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ (first expounded in the English law in the 13th century that states “that which otherwise not lawful is made lawful by necessity”).

At Independence, the Government of India Act 1935 was the basic law of both India and Pakistan.

This doctrine there onwards was to serve as a ready reckoner, paving the way for the destruction of democracy in Pakistan. Thus, the favour incurred by one man (Ghulam Muhammad) was returned, most honestly in equal coinage. In 1958, when Ayub Khan enforced Martial Law in a staggering coup d’état removing President Iskander Mirza and abrogating the 1956 Constitution, there was neither a cogent reason nor any civil disturbance to be seen. Once again, the act was challenged in the (now) Supreme Court. The result was no different. CJ Munir placed the stamp of legality on the first military regime. It is, however, interesting to read the concluding remarks in the verdict, “That the revolution having been successful, it satisfies the test of efficacy and becomes a basic law –creating fact”. It is hard to see how in a case that was heard within six days of the promulgation of Martial Law, CJ Munir could hold that the new regime satisfied the test of efficacy.

From that day onwards, till date, it was neither the military that could remain apolitical, nor the judiciary, thereafter, could be termed as independent. The combination of the two, duly assisted, abetted, and supported by the civilian bureaucracy brought the matters to the present ebb. The symbiotic relationship evolved thereafter suited the stakeholders while alienating the masses. With time this subtle alliance got a ‘cover blanket’ and much needed anonymity by the term ‘Establishment’ that ensured impunity and freedom of action without any accountability. The political parties, the pundits and analysts also felt comfortable using the very reference, without having the trouble to step into the danger zone. With the dismissal of the last government led by Nawaz Sharif, followed by that of Imran Khan’s , the term ‘Establishment’ transformed into ‘Khalai Makhlooq’ and then simply the ‘Fauj’ or Military.

Man has a short memory; he just wants to jump on to the bandwagon without going into the intricacies of logic and reasoning. It seems yesterday, when the PTI government failed to live up to its very rhetoric and was seen losing ground quicker than anticipated. The feelings of the PTI supporters were turning rancorous every passing day. The Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz, PML (N), almost seized to exist as a potent political party smashed under the weight of its corruption and plunder, while Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was thought to have finally and terminally lost into oblivion, just staying afloat catching to its ethnic straw.

Next came in the comedy of errors – the political apocalypse that altered the entire chessboard. The PML (N) and the PPP from the teeth of death got the new lease of life while the PTI hit the real jackpot. In this entire monkey business, there seem to be only one loser; the military. Nobody seems to care that whenever an army chief dismissed a civilian government it was the judiciary that provided him the requisite legitimacy. The unprecedented reaction of the masses against the army is a wake-up call which must be given due cognizance, before things spin out of hands. This is due to the political awareness of the people through media. No amount of joint conferences of justifications and optics such as rallies in support of the army would ever help placate the aggrieved masses. It will further annoy the people, which is not in the interest of the country. It is a known fact that the uniformed intelligence operators usually put up their analyses in a manner that pleases the seniors. The army, as well as the judiciary must realize that there exists no margin to commit follies. It is about time that the two ought to realize the present-day reality that people would now not abandon their ideas and convictions on flimsy criticism. The game of playing politics on the hoof has to be stopped and stopped for good. General Qamar Javed Bajwa, at the end had to admit in his farewell speech that the undue involvement of army in the political machinery of the country did not auger well, and that the army having learnt a lesson has unanimously reached the conclusion to stay strictly apolitical in the future. It took some seven decades but as the saying goes, it is never too late. This, however, is not only a challenge for the army, but also for the judiciary that remained a key player throughout. But above all, it imposes a greater challenge to the politicians, as we see that a larger group of the politicians in the coalition government seems to be engaged in cajoling the army to continue with its unconstitutional role. There is a dire need to realize that with political instability, comes economic instability.

Politics breaks down when politicians fail to resolve matters politically. Today, the country’s ailing economy is the culmination of abysmal political malfunction that has vitiated the investment climate over a period of seven decades. The country has become an object of ridicule and shame amongst the comity of nations, while dropping a further dampener upon our spirits is the lack of political will to reform. Our politicians, judiciary and military—on an emergency basis—need to adopt an accent that puts the country’s economic well-being above their individualistic, divergent schemes to gain self-serving political mileage, before we hit a point of no-return.