MAJOR(R)KHALID NASR Admin
Number of posts : 59 Age : 74 Location : LAHORE ,PAKISTAN Registration date : 2007-12-16
| Subject: SAVING THE FEDRATION OF PAKISTAN Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:17 am | |
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Babar Sattar
The menacing curse cast upon the federation of Pakistan continues to play itself out in harrowing ways. Benazir Bhutto's assassination was an abhorrent act that has shocked the entire world. Her demise is being grieved not just by the Bhutto family, the Pakistan Peoples Party and its members and supporters, but by the entire nation. The shock and sorrow at Bhutto's killing quite expectedly aroused a violent reaction across the country. Such violence will in all probability subside as more time passes after the burial ceremony and the reality of this tragedy sinks in. While in the immediate-term this one event will characterize the politics of Pakistan, its medium- to long-term consequences for the country cannot even be meaningfully fathomed at this stage.
Bhutto's assassination is both a product of and has consequences for the three fault lines that define the reality and the future of our state and our nation: the extremist-moderate divide; the centre-province divide; and the civil-military divide. Bhutto led Pakistan's only mainstream liberal political party that dominated the centre-left of the country's ideological spectrum and had mass appeal across all four federating units. Her role was considered crucial for the future of the country, at an exceptionally tenuous time in its history, as she carried the promise of helping the country steer in the right direction in relation to all three fault lines.
Bhutto was a liberal voice who had vowed to fight obscurantism and terrorism in Pakistan. Her assassination has raised more questions about the strength and influence of the forces of obscurantism within the state of Pakistan. The question of responsibility for this murder will continue to be raised in the days to come. Al Qaeda has reportedly assumed ownership of this horrendous act. But irrespective of the veracity of such claim, even if the state and security agencies had no part in the commission of this crime, they cannot be absolved of their liability for acts of omission that allowed the impending threat against Bhutto to be carried out.
The threat to Bhutto's life was unmistakable. Before returning to Pakistan in October she had written a confidential letter to President Musharraf that identified four key individuals within the ruling regime and the state security apparatus who should be held responsible in the event that she was murdered. Her concerns were vindicated by the twin bomb attacks on her convoy in Karachi that claimed 160 lives. The country was baffled by security lapses that surrounded that gory incident -- jamming devices malfunctioned and streetlights had been switched off. Bhutto had claimed that the incident was not a random suicide attack but a planned assassination plot and had demanded that international forensic experts be engaged to conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident.
The Musharraf regime rebuffed the demand off hand asserting that Pakistan's security agencies had the capability to conduct an effective inquiry. No significant information regarding the Karachi attack and its perpetrators has been produced so far. The PPP continued to lament the compromised security provided for Bhutto since the Karachi incident without avail. It is now clear that a well-planned and meticulously executed assassination plot claimed her life and not a random suicide attack. The suicidal blow-up essentially functioned as a cover-up to conceal the perpetrators. Even more shocking was footage of such a major crime scene being washed up by state janitors along with the murder weapon and all the evidence that could help trace the killers.
In retrospect one feels almost silly at being stunned by the successful assassination. Were we not leading up to this eventuality? Bhutto was a high-risk target. Her foes kept attacking her. The ruling regime did little to safeguard her life and security. She kept protesting and the ruling regime kept belittling her demands as 'politics'. (So effective was the ruling regime's propaganda that many in the country were actually convinced that she had orchestrated the Karachi attacks to boost her support.) Eventually her assailants got her. And now we wonder in shock and disbelief how all of this could transpire before our eyes.
The issue of accountability for this national tragedy is not easy. But the time to act is now before the simmering anger and resentment acquires a form that begins to threaten the existence of our federation and the soul of this nation. General Musharraf presides over this country and the buck must stop with him and not any minions. Blaming Al Qaeda or the Taliban or unidentifiable terrorists is a no-brainer. Al Qaeda or the Taliban are not responsible to ensure the integrity of Pakistan and the security of this nation, its leaders and its citizens. The general assumed that responsibility and it could not be more obvious at this stage that he has utterly failed to carry it out.
First of all, the general must own up his failure and step aside. This nation must fight to save itself from the scourge of terror, but we have a better chance without the general being in charge. Second, an independent investigation team must be assembled to probe this murder. Given that this will be a fact-finding mission, this team must have an international component that can bring to the table not just forensic and scientific expertise, but also credibility. Given Pakistan's failed history of producing the truth in the aftermath of such calamities, a local investigation team will be perceived as a cover-up ploy. And third, we must form a non-partisan national commission to investigate the influence of obscurantism and extremists within our security apparatus.
Pakistan is in dire need for security sector reform. The powers exercised by our state security apparatus is not always backed by legislative mandate and is completely devoid of civilian oversight. In the backdrop of the Lal Masjid saga, suicide bombings across Pakistan (and even within a military establishment) and now the assassination of Bhutto, it is essential to verify that there are no hold-outs within our security agencies that are either complicit with or sympathetic to the forces of extremism. We must engender clarity, certainty and confidence with regard to the hierarchy, structure and functioning of the civil and military security agencies, their mutual interaction and their mechanisms for internal accountability. Without this doubts will continue to loom with regard to their role in the state and conspiracy theories will fester.
Bhutto's murder will further strain our already vulnerable state of centre-province relationship. At this stage it is crucial for the PPP to stay intact as a liberal force of national cohesion. With no internal party democracy or succession planning, this will indeed be a challenge. The remnants of the Bhutto family, Asif Zardari and second-tier political leadership of the PPP shoulder the responsibility of rising above parochial and personal interests the preventing the party from degenerating into provincial factions. The death of Bhutto will aggravate the insecurity of minority provinces and stroke fires of separatism. Provincial leaders such as Altaf Hussain must resist the temptation to arouse and capitalize on this growing insecurity by hurling opportunistic accusations at Punjab.
Further, Nawaz Sharif as the leader of the other mainstream national party -- that is identified predominantly with Punjab -- will have a role to play in stemming the alienation of Sindh and other minority provinces. Holding national elections at this juncture is simply not a viable option. A government of national unity must be formed to rule Pakistan in the interim period. The composition of such government and the effective representation of the provinces therein could go a long way in generating legitimacy for the political process that will follow. As a prominent national leader belonging to the majority province, Nawaz Sharif must fight for the representation of the minority federating units in such national government.
This is a time in Pakistan's history when all state institutions and individuals leading them must tread with care and caution and take deliberate strides toward national reconciliation. And in this context the role of the military and the army chief cannot be overemphasized. They must understand that no administrative solution can rescue us from the storm we are weathering. The army must strengthen and support civilian political forces to embrace this challenge and steer the country to safer shores by stepping aside from politics as a neutral institution of national unity. Pakistan can only emerge as a moderate democracy and functional federation once the rule of law and civilian control of the military take root.
AJURIS, Advocates & Corporate Counsel 51-A, St # 63, F-8/4 Islamabad
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reader Comments: [post comment]
Mohamed
A very good article, but I dont feel that the KING can listen such voice, This is a murder of democracy, assassination of centre-province relation and the nation-militry relations. And it has definitely been done for the same purpose. The general will never own up his failure and step aside, till he destroy the country. Nation is fighting to save itself from the scourge of terror of Musharraf and his criminal team. but at the same time peoples like Z.Hamid are countering such thoughts for his KINGS against entire nation's rights, I wonder, how such peoples are allowed here as THINK TANKS? Independent investigation team WILL NEVER be assembled to probe this murder. As peoples like Z.Hamid will be opposing on this forum also with nonsense puppits-sponsored propaganda. If the assassination was carried out by Al-Qaeda or Taliban then a fact-finding mission was possible and a team of international component that can bring to the table not just forensic and scientific expertise, but also credibility. Look into the so-called government statements, every statement conflicts with the other, what does it mean?, they have decided before any investigation what to prove by an inquiry, so, how it can be expected. No one will think about a non-partisan national commission to investigate the influence of obscurantism and extremists within our security apparatus because the present regime is more terrorist than Al-Qaeda and Taliban, I dont know these comments will be published or not, hence this is a truth
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