Pakistan’s moment of democracy

KARACHI, November 17: Adil Najam is co-director of the Project on Human Development at the Pardee Centre for the Study of the Longer Range Future at Boston University. Adil Najam, who earlier taught at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has to his credit important works on longer-term global policy problems, especially those relating to sustainable human development and climate change negotiations. Books released this year include Southern Visions on Trade and Sustainable Development. Constantly on the move, Najam was located in Cairo for an interview conducted over e-mail by IPS correspondent Zofeen Ebrahim on Pakistan under emergency rule. IPS: As a Pakistani teaching international politics you may have to handle a volley of questions on the recent imposition of emergency. Adil Najam: Pakistani politics is way too complex – unnecessarily complex – even for us Pakistanis. For outsiders it can be almost incomprehensible. This is dangerous because it can lead to people making simplistic assumptions. The emergency has baffled Americans and American students as much as – may be even more than – Pakistanis. For the first few days many were willing to buy Gen Pervez Musharraf’s account of why he did what he did. However, one still gets questions about ‘what will this mean for Pakistan’s nuclear bomb or for the war on terror?’ My standard response is that these are the wrong questions. In some ways these are the questions that Musharraf wants them to ask. For, then they will conclude that while the general’s actions may be wrong, that he may be the ‘bad guy’, but anyone else, somehow, will be much worse. The emergency is really about keeping a hold on power and has nothing to do with either the nuclear programme or the war on terror. Those are distractions from the real issue. And the real issue is democracy. The real question they should be asking is whether the US can continue to be seen as a hypocrite, calling for democracy everywhere and yet working with anti-democratic forces in the Muslim world again and again. IPS: Is it difficult to defend Pakistan and at the same time talk about the failure of the man at the helm? AN: I have actually been arguing that this is a moment of great pride for Pakistanis. How can you not be proud of your people when ordinary citizens – lawyers, journalists, students – come out on the streets ready to be beaten up and put in jail? The anti-Musharraf forces in Pakistan are not the religious parties or the extremists – they include students, journalists and lawyers, the most liberal and secular forces in the country. This is Pakistan’s moment of democracy. Even if we do not get democracy out of this, we have proved yet again that Pakistan is a democratic society trapped in an undemocratic state. My argument has been and remains that this is not failure on the part of Pakistanis, instead a proclamation of their success. The reason the military government is forced to apply ever greater force and ever more draconian measures is simply because the democratic forces in the country (the lawyers, the students and journalists) are simply unwilling to bow down. How can one not be proud of that? The failure here, therefore, is not of Pakistan, but of Gen Musharraf. He wrote his own indictment in his ‘emergency’ speech! IPS: What has been the reaction of Pakistanis across the US? AN: There has been a heartwarming show of solidarity by Pakistanis abroad, especially Pakistani students. You hear of protests, vigils, and demonstrations everywhere, from Hong Kong to London, New York to Boston. There is a palpable sense amongst Pakistanis abroad that this is a decisive moment in Pakistan’s history and that they cannot just sit silently. There is an urge to, at least, speak out. IPS: How would you compare the mobilisation of Pakistani students (both nationally and internationally) from that during previous martial law regimes? AN: I think there is a difference. There is less despondency this time because they see sources of strength and hope within Pakistan. They see these sources of hope amongst the media, in the judiciary and the legal fraternity and amongst students in Pakistan. Unfortunately, except possibly for Imran Khan, they do not see hope in the politicians. But this time people are not ready to just say, ‘well everyone else is bad so lets stick with this guy’. This time they are saying that even if the others are bad and self-serving and corrupt and incompetent, ultimately a government of the people is superior to a government on the people. The new media and the internet have also allowed people a great opportunity to have a say. Whether anyone listens or not they feel they can at least speak out. Look at the Pakistani blogs and look at the discussions there. Those discussions are also demonstrations of an electronic form. The content of these e-discussions is itself an indicator of the pent up desire amongst Pakistanis for real democracy. All this is what is different and this is what makes the current discourse so much more exciting and positive. IPS: Increasingly it has been observed that those holding peaceful on-campus rallies are primarily students from the elite studying in private institutions as opposed to young people from all strata of society. Those belonging to right-wingers are conspicuous by their dormancy. Please comment. AN: This has been exactly my point. Look at the pictures of the protests and see who is there. Lawyers, students, journalists, educated liberals. These were the folks, who were supposed to be Musharraf’s constituency. Now look closely at who is not there. With the exception of Imran Khan, the political leaders are not there except in the form of giving occasional statements which, frankly, are not entirely believable. The political workers are not there, from no party, really. The millions who came to greet Benazir have, for some reason, not been mobilised. The workers of the MMA (Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal) coalition of religious parties are not there. Importantly, the religious extremist elements in whose name this whole thing has been carried out are not there protesting the emergency. The Lal Masjid crowd is not there. Those who have been blowing up other Pakistanis without real cause see that democracy is not cause enough to protest for. IPS: What has been the contribution of a plethora of blogs that has been generated? AN: Blogs are one way in which people are finding expression. I remember when the chief justice was first suspended (in March) there was a sudden burst of activity not only on my blog (Pakistaniat.com) but also new blogs. It’s the same today but at a much greater level. Visits and comments on my blog have gone through the roof. The urge behind these blogs, these posts, these comments is exactly the same urge that takes someone to a demonstration. It is the urge to not sit silently and let history go by. It is the urge to say something, to be heard, to be counted. Source: IPS

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