Whither Emergency

General Musharraf’s self perception of being indispensable to Pakistan is now compounded further as the US affirms him as the most valuable partner in the ‘war on terror’. He must now rest absolutely re-assured and without a doubt, that he is indispensable to the entire world. In Pakistan, news reports of concerned international actors come to the fore as we hear of certain actors suspending development assistance which is clearly non-military. Reports of ‘condemnations’, ‘regrets’ and ‘deep disturbance’ about the abeyance of the constitution have been followed up by ‘desire’s’ of foreign actors in seeing a ‘return to democracy’. In the entire ruckus the core issue addressed by the General through this state of emergency, which is the Judiciary, has been lost.

Musharraf, who is long accredited for his invaluable role in the ‘war’, has also been long accused of not doing more. He continues to not do ‘more’ but instead has indulged in misdirected excesses which do not point to him actually getting around to taking care of the job that he has been entrusted to do. Instead of taking on militant extremism in the tribal border areas as the US has egged him on doing, the military has actually lost ground way before that. The government has lost control without much fuss in up-to eight settled districts close to the border regions. The need of the past has been to deal with extremism and this is one avenue where the General can call on a vast array of forces for support. Pakistani’s, by and large, on both sides of the political spectrum - excluding some parts of the religious parties, understand the menace of extremism and many would support well directed and well planned military action against militancy in the worst case scenario. Recently the militants voluntarily vacated the tourist boom town of Kalam on the pretext that the local population was highly unsupportive of talebanisation of the area, since it was bad for business. The Swat valley relies heavily on tourism for its survival and winning hearts and minds without military action would perhaps be the optimal solution. Despite having both hard and soft options open to combat militancy, one wonders why the president is so slack in taking a decision on this matter of grave concern.

The issue which encompasses the current emergency is however related to the Judiciary and liberal opposition to the President. It is an ironic development that has hit the president since March of this year that the people who have benefited most from his rule have either remained silent spectators or they have thrown their lot behind the lawyers and now the judges. The sentiments of the ‘liberals’ of this country are no longer vested with the General but with the forces that battle against him for constitutionalism. It is a separate matter entirely that any of the political options that would enter the fray of power in the incident of a Musharraf disappearing act, things would immediately turn bleak. One needs only to look into the past performance of politicians but nonetheless the anti-Musharraf liberal movement has gained ground. However before it could even become a threat to Musharraf, he has decided to declare emergency and put to the sword those who have defied him in the Supreme Court and quite brutally at that. This leads us to the premise that the gravest threat to survival is not Islamic extremism, but instead, it is the law.

Opposition to the General, who has at last imposed full blown martial law, brews and simmers but not much more. The student movement that brought Field Marshal Ayub Khan, America’s blue eyed dictator of the sixties down to his knees is virtually non-existent. Pakistan’s private and public university network does not have the level of political consciousness and backbone to launch any viable movement today. The political opposition that gave a forewarning to the Commander of the Faithful, General Zia-ul-Haq of what the future was going to look like in 1986, is now dealing with anyone who wants to deal. The last thing on Benazir Bhutto’s mind is going to her vote bank and building an electoral based political force whereas today Benazir Bhutto has become the west’s mode of hedging their bets. The lawyer’s movement although spirited and sustainable to date failed to branch out into broader society and has not looked beyond the black coats. This has come to haunt them violently as they find themselves in the first line of fire without much to fall back on when they clash head on with the security forces.

All of this allows enough space for predatory politics to flourish. The decentralization of politics in Pakistan, courtesy, General Musharraf (again) has led to the birth of the predatory political model which has bared its teeth leading to unprecedented levels of crime and to a crumbling security apparatus of the state. In this context one can argue that this emergency may have deeper roots in the overall deteriorating law and order situation. Predatory politicians, the likes of which can be found in every village at the local government level to the highest echelons of power-meaning those who stand to gain most from this emergency. i.e. those who are already in power. The alternatives are not very reassuring, too few and too far in between.

The tragedy facing Pakistan, whether the mass public is interested, affected or concerned in this state of affairs or not, is that the third pillar of the state has been knocked off. The Judiciary which had begun to provide a viable check on Executive office is no more. The only option is to start at the very lowest rung of the ladder and to try and climb it all over again. Expressions of solidarity leading to the bonding effect between these expressions and the consequent branching out of this solidarity to the mass public and society at large would be the ideal road to take for those who resists and want to resist. It can be argued that this is something worth preserving and sacrificing for and can count towards the long and arduous march towards the liberal democratic model. In Pakistan, we can already lay claim to witnessing pockets of resistance. Otherwise, it is perhaps best to not concern one’s self with what is going on around us because frankly speaking, one can easily choose to do so. For now at least.