Opinion | Columnists
Anxious times ahead for Pakistan's people
Even otherwise, the verdict is against Musharraf. The Pakistan president himself said that he would resign if he found himself unpopular.
- By Kuldip Nayar, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 01:05 February 23, 2008
- Image Credit: Photo Illustration by Dwynn Trazo/Gulf News
I do not rule out rigging in the Pakistan election. My belief is that the seats the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam), the King's party, and the Muttahida Quami Movement have won are far more than their hold or stock in the country suggests.
The combined strength of the Pakistan Peoples Party (87) and the Nawaz Sharif's Muslim League (66) is far less than their popularity. The two should have got two-thirds majority in the National Assembly while they have secured 153.
It looks as if the plan to rig the polls on a large scale got stalled when Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari, Chief of PPP, warned that their defeat would be considered a manipulation and would force them to urge their cadres and people to come out on the streets.
The ISI withdrew its hand then. The impression that General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the army chief, gave through distancing his men from politics seems to have influenced the polling machinery not to interfere. Kayani's withdrawal of 160 officers from civilian posts made his efforts look credible.
One positive development is that the religious parties have lost the ground. In any case, they were the creation of President General Parvez Musharraf and the earlier Martial Law Administrator General Zia-ul-Haq.
Both used the army to ram fundamentalism in Pakistan to stop the liberals from coming to power. The six-party religious combination, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, which won 59 seats in the last election, has been reduced to 3-member party. Its chief Fazlur Rehman, retained the seat which his father had cultivated.
Civil society in Pakistan is as progressive and democratic as anywhere in the world. It is Musharraf who has tried to destroy them because they are anti-authoritarian in their stance.
Frontier victory
The Awami National Party, headed by the grandson of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, Frontier Gandhi, has swept the NWFP. The victory indicates that the progressive ideas inculcated by Abdul Gaffar Khan had only a temporary regression in the last 60 years.
The victory of PML (Q) in Balochistan is primarily because the nationalist forces had boycotted elections. They should be won back.
No doubt, both Nawaz Sharif and Zardari have got the people's verdict in their favour. They must not fritter it away by joining hands with Musharraf or the army. Both are unpopular among the people. Nawaz Sharif has been categorical on this and, I am sure, he will do no business with Musharraf.
Sharif's crucial pronouncement is that the 60 sacked judges would be reinstated. He had made his party candidates to swear by the undertaking that the judges including Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry would come back. It is heartening to see that Sharif is toeing the same line.
Musharraf should have resigned by this time. He had said that the PML (Q) was his party. Why should he stay when his party has been routed? Even otherwise, the verdict is against Musharraf. He himself said that he would resign if he found himself unpopular.
He should also realise that he would not get a two-thirds from new national assembly for confirmation as President. By sticking to the office he may create a piquant situation which Pakistan, still in the sea of troubles, cannot afford to face.
His efforts to keep out Nawaz Sharif will not work because the latter has emerged as the undisputed leader in Punjab.
Nawaz Sharif, the most matured politician on the scene, should make the first move and offer his party's unilateral support to Zardari and persuade him to agree on the reinstatement of judges, including the chief.
The forces which have won in Pakistan are a plus point for New Delhi. Both Nawaz Sharif and Zardari have said that they want good relations with India. Nawaz Sharif, coming from the business, can see the advantage.
Relations with Pakistan depend on how well we sustain our pluralism. Communal forces can undo what is happening in Pakistan to befriend India, especially at the people's level.
What happened in Maharashtra - the campaign to oust North Indians - may be purely linguistic chauvinism but such incidents can scare away Pakistan.
It is understandable that locals would want outsiders to integrate with them, learn the language and adopt local habits and values. Outsiders are expected to do so because otherwise they continue to have their own state within the state.
Sectarian attitude
One example in Pakistan is that of the Urdu-speaking population (MQM) at Karachi.
I recall when they took me to their area many years ago, they proudly said that they did not learn Sindhi, nor favoured the inter-community marriage.
Such an attitude annoys the hosts because it betrays the sectarian attitude on the part of migrants.
The spirit of tolerance is what is sustaining India's pluralistic society. This is the glue which should never be allowed to go dry. I fear regionalism rising in Pakistan. This will weaken the federation and the Pakistan itself.
The country is going through anxious times. But its leaders should remember what Jawaharlal Nehru said about his own country: Who dies if India lives and who lives if India dies.
Kuldip Nayar is a former Indian High Commissioner to the UK and a former Rajya Sabha MP.
Opinion Editor's choice
-
‘I do, I do' ... but for how long?
By Tariq A. Al Maeena, Special to Gulf News
Rate of divorce could be reduced if prospective couples undergo a marriage reality course to know what they are getting into
-
Syria: Intervention by process of elimination
By Mishaal Al Gergawi, Special to Gulf News
This is a chance for stakeholders to commit to removing it from its metaphorical resistance axis and reorienting it with its neighbourhood
-
Encouraging 'green thinking'
By Habiba Al Marashi, Special to Gulf News
Those who practise recycling must share what they know and convey positive results of their efforts
Your turn
