By
Imad Zafar
JULY 21,
2020
American author DaShanne Stoke once said,
“Those with unearned privileges often spin things as ‘political
correctness’ to further silence those they wish to oppress.”
Decades of brainwashing in the name of
political correctness and declaring elected politicians corrupt in the name of
the larger interest of Pakistan has made this country a state where the
military generals dictate everything.
From
political discourse to state narratives and from religious doctrine to social
doctrines, everything is created by the military establishment, and no
surprise, the majority of the population, while deprived of even basic
facilities like clean water, access to health care and education, and three
meals a day, are being fed on promises that were never meant to be fulfilled.
The
manipulation of the system through a managed and organized propaganda campaign
has always given the establishment the upper hand, and since it is equipped
with weapons, there are few who dare to oppose its ideology on the ground.
You can be
called a traitor. You can be accused of smuggling drugs. You can be accused of
being a foreign agent, and you can even be silenced permanently, like Asia
Times’ late Pakistan bureau chief Saleem Shahzad. This is how things work in a
country where the law is defined by the establishment.
This past
Sunday, the assets of special advisers to Prime Minister Imran Khan were
revealed to the public and the media. This provoked stern criticism from the
public, especially on social media, as seven of the prime minister’s advisers
were found to have dual nationalities or permanent residency in a foreign
country.
It is
pertinent to note that Imran Khan before becoming prime minister openly said on
several occasions that no one sitting in the cabinet could have dual
nationality or permanent residency in another country. Since Khan is a master
of taking U-turns and believes that a successful leader never stands by his
commitments, he surely will find another excuse and will justify this
revelation.
The asset
statements revealed by these advisers also show that some of them are
multimillionaires, and Khan has made sure that no poor or middle-class person
can even think of entering the power corridors.
Moreover,
retired Lieutenant-General Asim Saleem Bajwa, the man who successfully ran a
campaign to boost the image of ex-army chief Raheel Sharif and currently heads
the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority, came into the limelight as he
too is working as an adviser to the prime minister on media affairs.
Bajwa’s
assets include 26 hectares of agricultural land, posh plots in Defense Housing
societies, and a farmhouse in Gulberg Greens, Islamabad. Many were shocked to
see the low values he declared for these properties in his asset declaration.
In one case, he declared a 2016 Toyota Land Cruiser to be worth only 3 million
rupees when the real value of this vehicle is around 30 million rupees
(US$179,000) or more.
Since Asim
Bajwa is acting as an adviser to the PM and is working directly in a political
role, one hopes that he will provide a money trail of his assets and that the
authorities who are questioning the brave and honest Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s
family about their assets will treat him in the same manner.
In fact,
Mirza Shahzad Akbar, the man who is busy in the “accountability” witch-hunt
against the opponents of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and who was
unable to get even a single penny back from the property tycoon Malik Riaz or to
charge him even after Riaz’ settlement with the UK authorities for financial
wrongdoings, will also provide a money trail on his assets and those of his
wife, as she owns an apartment in Spain.
Since
Serena Isa’s property in London was challenged by the government and Shahzad
Akbar wanted her to provide a money trail, perhaps now is the time that the
higher courts should order the same inquiry against him and his wife. After
all, at least the law should be equal to everyone.
Likewise,
criticizing an individual like Asim Bajwa is of no use, as anyone who knows the
hierarchy of the establishment can easily tell that the generals are given
agricultural lands and a lot of other benefits. As well, there is a business
empire run by the establishment that it is said to be worth billions of
dollars.
From
construction to selling cement and from selling sanitary napkins to wheat rice
and fertilizers – you name the business, and it is being done by the
establishment in the name of charity for the welfare of armed forces personnel.
This
multibillion-dollar empire has benefited many generals but it has never been
audited by any neutral authority, so those demanding a money trail from Bajwa
should instead demand the accountability of the entire business empire.
An audit should
be done by a genuine parliamentary committee comprising dignified and brave
politicians like Raza Rabbani, Farhat Ullah Babar, Javed Hashmi, Shahid Khaqan
Abbasi, and Mushaidullah Khan. Only when every single institution is held
accountable and accepts the constitution as the supreme authority and
parliament as the only force that rules the country can progress be made and
change happen in Pakistani society.
Since I
have crossed the red lines and do not want to meet the same fate as Saleem
Shahzad, that is enough for now. Let us talk briefly about the second
development that happened on Monday.
The Supreme
Court of Pakistan in a detailed judgment regarding the bail petition filed by
senior members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Khawaja Saad Rafique
and Khawaja Salman Rafique grilled the National Accountability Bureau. Justice
Maqbool Baqir wrote about the NAB: “Its conduct throughout this case is a clear
manifestation of utter disregard for laws, fair play, equity, and propriety.”
Justice Baqir
also wrote about the witch-hunt and controversial use of accountability laws by
stating, “These laws were successfully employed as tools to change political
loyalties, for splintering and fracturing political parties.”
Pygmies
were selected, nurtured, promoted, and brought to prominence and power. People
with notorious backgrounds and criminal credentials were allowed to rule us in
various capacities, with predictable results. This observation has not come
from the mouth of any opposition leader or a dissenting journalist, but a top
judge of the highest court in the land.
So, it does
not take rocket science to understand how a thrice-elected prime minister was
ousted through a controversial decision and was jailed with his close aides who
stood by him by manipulating the accountability laws in favour of Imran Khan by
the establishment. This witch-hunt was always bound to backfire, as it is
impossible to suppress the truth much longer.
Now when
even Khawaja Saad Rafique, a close aide of Nawaz Sharif who stood firm with his
party, has been given a clean chit, will the NAB publicly apologize to him?
At least
the chairman NAB must apologize to Saad and many others like him for detaining
him without any charge proven against them and should resign, as no man of
dignity would carry on his job after such a judgment given against his
institution by the court.
However,
this is Pakistan, where for many, dignity or credibility means nothing. But
then there are judges like Isa and dissenting politicians like Saad and Javed
Hashmi who put everything at stake to save their dignity and credibility.
Constitutional
and democratic supremacy remain a dream in Pakistan, but there are people who
have stood on the right side of history, and perhaps in the future, many of
today’s “traitors” and “corrupt dissenting voices” will be hailed as heroes.
For now, it
may be dark, but the growing dissenting voices among journalists, politicians,
the judiciary, and the masses are the beginning of a long revolutionary process
where at the end constitutional and democratic supremacy will finally revive
Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Pakistan, which was stolen by the dictator Ayub Khan and
is still being hijacked by the invisible forces.
Imad Zafar is a journalist and
columnist/commentator for newspapers. He is associated with TV channels, radio,
newspapers, news agencies, and political, policy and media related think-tanks.
Original
Headline: Two more steps toward restoring Pakistan’s democracy
Source: The Asia Times
URL: https://newageislam.com/current-affairs/constitutional-democratic-supremacy-remain-dream/d/122443
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