Looking Back

An opinion piece I wrote back in 2002. Seems relevant today considering what's happening in Pakistan...

The Price of Silence

I am an argumentative person, I admit this freely, proudly in fact. I love a good debate, I relish the role of devil’s advocate, or the pricking spur in the side of heated discussion. Bring on the belligerents, I say, the quarrelsome class, and the bellicose. I welcome your pique. Your ire is the root of any democracy. Without it, we’re left with a tepid stew of mid-tone mush, no colour or flavour, no choice. We’re no better off than Pakistan.

In Pakistani politics, debate is a novelty. In a little over fifty years of existence, disagreements have invariably been decided through the barrel of a gun or in the secrecy of backroom deals. On my first trip to Pakistan in 1999, shortly after General Musharraf and his crew settled into the familiar saddle of military rule, I remember being struck by the indifference of people towards what, in Canada, would amount to a grand mutiny. On the streets of the nation life went on as usual, and people simply shrugged when asked about the recent turn of events, pointing to the ineptitude of Nawaz Sharif and the inevitability of his ouster.

The inevitability of a military coup. In Pakistan, resumption of military rule is like pulling on a favourite sweater – it’s old, worn out, tight in all the wrong places, but damn does it feel comfortable. Makes you want to curl up beside a warm fire and forget about the ills of the world. Pakistanis seem adept at forgetting, especially when it comes to the shortcomings of their political leaders. Not much more than 20 years have passed since Pakistan’s last military dictator unilaterally decided he was the best man for the country and held a sham plebiscite to validate his grip on power.

I’m back in Pakistan again and nothing much appears to have changed. India still breathes fire from its nostrils at the Pakistan border like a grotesque incarnation of Kalima, Pakistan responds in kind, and no one really cares. The ‘war’ in Afghanistan drags on while people talk about the recent thrashing of Sri Lanka by Pakistan’s illustrious cricket team. General Musharraf gallivants around the nation in a narcissistic rampage, shutting down public transportation so that buses can be used to truck in villagers to his referendum rallies and show the nation that yes, the people are behind him. Public demonstrations are banned. Television is state controlled

And people shrug their shoulders and go to work, or plough the fields, or eek out a meager living collecting cow dung to sell later for fuel. The newspapers, which have enjoyed more press freedoms under Musharraf than at any other time in Pakistan’s short history, jump head first into the referendum debate. Unfortunately, with an over 50% illiteracy rate, this doesn’t help the majority population stay informed. Instead, it makes a mockery of democracy, excluding over half of the population from the discussion.

The lack of public debate, the hijacking of the public forum by General Musharraf undermines the core principles of democracy and invalidates any plebiscite. I won’t pretend to know much about the ins and outs of Constitutional Law in Pakistan. The legality of the referendum is something best left to the High Court and Musharraf, to his credit, has taken the necessary steps to ensure this referendum doesn’t slip into the same laughable category as the last. But no matter how you dress it, the results of the vote will be a sham, more so on the international level than nationally. And what Pakistan needs most at this critical point in its history, is international recognition.