Blind spots of Pakistani politics

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=78707



By Ghazi Salahuddin
11/4/2007
This is what I heard Mahmood Khan Achakzai saying in a conversation in Quetta on Thursday last week: "Balochistan is the blind spot of every Pakistani". We know what a blind spot is, technically as well as metaphorically. What he meant was, and I quote from my dictionary: "if someone has a blind spot about something, they ignore it or they are unwilling or unable to understand it".

Let us not go into why he included "every Pakistani" in a certain category. It could be a Freudian slip. But I am not reporting the views expressed by the erudite and affable leader of the Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party because the encounter was off the record. And it was part of the visit to Quetta by the Citizens Group on Electoral Process, facilitated by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat). In addition to our regular monthly meeting, held this time in Quetta, we had an instructive exposure to a variety of opinions about the state of affairs in a troubled province of Pakistan.

Though an interactive seminar on 'national integration and free and fair elections' was the highlight of the visit, we also had a separate session with the Baloch leaders of the National Party. And if views expressed in the off-the-record sessions and the open seminar were extremely disquieting, projecting deep anger and alarm over the federal rulers' attitude towards Balochistan, we were served with large helpings of confidence and tranquillity at the dinner-meeting with Governor Owais Ghani on Friday.

This visit, lasting for less than three days, was very hectic -- and that explains my absence from this space last week. But I should not refer to it in any detail because of the breathless pace of events during this week. In fact, it is hard to focus on any one issue since so much is happening across the national spectrum. Every flaming headline would deserve a separate column. Every day, there is something that provides a mirror to reflect the deepening crisis of Pakistan. In short, we are under siege.

On Tuesday, there was a suicide bombing in the highly sensitive area of Rawalpindi, killing at least eight people. This explosion took place almost half-a-kilometre from the Army House, the official residence of the president. On Thursday, a suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into a PAF bus on the Sargodha-Faisalabad road, killing five PAF officers and three civilians.

But even these major incidents seem to have faded into the larger conflagration in Swat, a beautiful valley lodged in the fond memories of innumerable domestic tourists. After Waziristan, it is in Swat that the militants have challenged the writ of the government. Was Swat, then, the blind spot of our rulers in Islamabad? As I write this column, I have Saturday's newspaper on my table and one headline is truly frightening: "Militants release 48 FC troops, claim capture of another 100".

At another level, confusion that has been created about the prospect of promulgation of a state of emergency in the country or even martial law is a source of great anxiety and apprehension. There have been potent hints that the government was considering extraordinary measures to deal with the grave situation that prevails in the country. So-called reliable sources have asserted that the rulers are weighing their options that include supra-constitutional measures.

These reports have gained some credibility with Condoleezza Rice's statement on Friday that the United States was opposed to any move by President Pervez Musharraf to impose martial law. She said that Pakistan must go ahead with elections early next year. "We are in constant contact with the leadership and the political leaders in Pakistan but I am not going to speculate on what might happen", she added. You may recall that telephone call she made to Musharraf at two in the morning a few weeks ago in the same context. Obviously, something can still happen.

On the face of it, the situation in the northern areas and suicide bombings in the heart of the country could be an excuse for taking these extreme measures. However, the government seems more worried about the Supreme Court proceedings on petitions that have challenged Musharraf's eligibility as a presidential candidate. Earlier, a ruling was expected this week but now it has been delayed.

Reports about the possibility of imposition of emergency or martial law have also echoed in the Supreme Court. On Thursday, Justice Javed Iqbal, the head of the 11-member larger bench, said the Supreme Court could neither be tamed by any threat of martial law nor taken hostage by any one. He reiterated on Friday that the court would not yield to any threat of imposition of martial law, emergency or extra-constitutional measures and would give its verdict according to the Constitution and law.

Come to think of it, if the situation has become so dire as to justify extraordinary measures, who should be held responsible? The irony here is these measures are being contemplated merely to protect the person who is at the helm for more than eight years. And credible opinion polls have confirmed that he has totally lost popular support. Is it that Musharraf is America's blind spot?

We can also see how our rulers turn a blind eye to reality that exists on the ground. For instance, there was that unbearably horrifying report about the beheading of four security personnel in Swat last week. It was published on Saturday, October 27, with some details of how the militants kidnapped three men of the Frontier Constabulary and two policemen and later they paraded beheaded bodies of three FC men and a constable in the bazaar. On the same day -- Saturday -- Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was in Karachi and he called on Pir Pagara with Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, and we had a graphic account of the jokes that they had traded. We were informed that the prime minister was confident of PML-Q's victory in the elections.

But can elections be held in these circumstances and can they be free and fair? With things falling apart -- yes, Yeats again -- and the centre not being able to hold, apprehensions about the promised transition to democracy are hard to dispel. To return to the meeting of the Citizens' Group in Quetta, a review of the overall political conditions in the country had prompted serious concern about the declining prospects for the holding of free and fair elections. And this assessment was founded on an objective analysis of concrete moves that have been made by the government.

In this gloom that surrounds us, the only note of cheer is provided by promotional television commercials that figure Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Or do you look at them as an unintended spoof of our ruling politicians?



The writer is a staff member.

Email: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com