Alas, Punjab is Awakening!
14 May, 2007
By Ahmer Muzammil
36 years too late that resulted in the unprecedented loss of East Pakistan, but there is a saying in urdu “Subha ka bhoola Shaam dhalayy aajayeyy too ussay bhoola nahi kehtay” (A person who looses his way in the morning, if he reaches his destination before sunset than indeed he wasn’t lost). Famous columnist of dawn Mr. Ayaz Mir recently said and I quote “We should be aware of the deadweight of Punjabi tradition, bootlicking being a constant of Punjab’s history and politics. The Q League is the name not of a party but a phenomenon.” This coming from not only the son of Punjab but also an ex major in the Army. And this is why no one should ever count the Pakistanis down and out because its people like Ayaz Mir and numerous others that are the hope for a brighter tomorrow. They are not afraid to confront the oppressive Army establishment and they have the moral fiber to rise beyond their petty interest and raise the voice of discontent. That voice of revolution and disgruntlement against the ruthless, cunning and calculated status-quo had to resonate in Punjab if it was to materialize because Pakistan has not and will not become the success-story & promise-land that it still can until and unless our Punjabi brethren kick the “doctrine of necessity” aside and embrace the true spirit of democracy. I pray to God that what happened on May 5th in the land of 5 rivers was a beginning of a ‘beautiful thing’. “Kufr Toota Khudaa Khuda karkay”. The yellow-pundits and the apologists for the govt. can cry foul every day of the week, twice on Sundays but the boat has already sailed my friends. This was the last straw that literally broke the camel’s back. The people of Pakistan needed an excuse to vent and thanks to Brother Commando that he messed with the wrong marine and what ensued is history. This is no longer a constitutional matter. Let’s not Kidd ourselves here! And quite frankly its outlandish when the talk of respecting the judicial process and constitution stems from the same jokers who have openly mocked and raped the constitution and flaunted the due process in our country just because they have the most guns. Where is constitution when the President is also the Army-Chief and Chairman of the Lota league all at the same time? Where is due process when citizens are abducted by security agencies and their families are beaten, their clothes get ripped off just because they make the cardinal sin of asking about the whereabouts of their loved-ones? I have said it a gazillion time before and I’ll say it again, we the people of Pakistan need to make a basic decision at this juncture in our history. Is Pakistan going to be a banana republic where the might (read Army) will rule? Or will we, the people of Pakistan, decide our own fate? It’s been 60 years now for the love of GOD; I think it’s safe to say that no one will blame us for making a decision in haste. Let’s also humanize our Heroes. What do I mean by that? I have no doubt that the chief justice might have made a phone call to get his son promoted. I don’t have any concrete evidence that he did but IF he did, I wouldn’t be surprised nor would I still be hesitant to stand with him in this struggle because I live on planet earth and I realize that we don’t live in a perfect world, this is Pakistan we are talking about, so lets get our heads out of the sand. This is not about whether Chief Justice was buying acne cream from his medical allowance, nor is it about him getting some favors for family & friends, it never was! Because if it was then we wouldn’t have had known convicted looters, bank-defaulters, land-grabbers, real-estate scammers, thugs and thieves in our cabinet. This is about him taking a suo-moto action against the fishy transaction of Steel mill, this is about him inquiring on his own about the whereabouts of the abducted, and he was getting nosy and kind of spoiling the party for the establishment in Islamabad. Chief Justice was acting like the annoying uncle who would shame you to turn-off the hoopla at your cousin’s mehndi because the call for fajar was originating from the minarets. You knew he was right and you had been partying all night but you wish he didn’t. I am under no illusion that Chief Justice is a saint. How could he be? Am I one? Are you any better? No one is perfect but we need to understand that this is a historical moment in the history of Pakistan. For once someone has stood up to the General and said “I am not scared of your guns!” We the people of Pakistan must broadcast this message to our Generals that we are not their occupied territory. We will honor them and respect them as long as they stay within the bounds of the constitution of Pakistan. I think Peoples Party would be highly foolish to make any deal with Army establishment. Whoever claims to be a democratic force in Pakistan must realize that you can’t keep your whites spotless if you insist on hanging out with coal-miners. Meer sada hein buhat, beemar hoayy jiskay sabab, Ussii Attarr kay londay say dawa laytay hein.
The most surprising aspect of this whole fiasco has been the recent rhetoric from MQM. I get why the Q leaguies have their knickers in a bunch. After all if Musharaf goes so goes the carnival because without Musharaf (or more importantly, his clothing) they are good as dead. But MQM has a political constituency; they have a voter-base which can still make them a player in the democratic process, so initially when they stayed on the sidelines and for the most part remained impartial it was a smart ploy. But now all of a sudden they are becoming “Shah say barh karr shah kay wafadar” at this critical juncture and considering that the same “Shah” has wreaked havoc at them not in distant past (we haven’t forgotten Aligarh and Qasba colony massacres have we?) so its quite troubling and I hope that sense prevails and they stop “feeding milk to the snake” otherwise not only the historian wouldn’t be kind at this expediency and moral-bankruptcy but the “snake” is not known to be a domesticated pet and it’s a recipe for disaster. All the “snake-feeders” are duly warned.
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