A revolution in the offing

Is it the beginning of the final scene or its end, only time will tell, but I have no doubt that the Long March spelt the end of dictatorship in Pakistan. I know that the sycophants will call me mad, the cynics, a day-dreamer and my friends, an incorrigible optimist. But I smell the scent of a Glorious Revolution of our own, one which will hopefully drop the curtain on military dictatorships in Pakistan and start the era of real democracy, "of a government of the people, for the people and by the people." I know it is simplistic to see similarities in situations which are separated by more than four centuries. The Glorious Revolution of England took place in 1688 and we are in 2008. There is no similarity between the two ages. But let us not forget that history tends to repeat itself, even though not exactly and not in the same sequence or in a copycat manner, but it does repeat itself, because human beings of all races, colours, and creeds, and through out all ages, since time immemorial, have remained the same. Same DNA is still at work in them, same basic instincts, egos and desires which governed them in the Ice age, the Stone Age, the Iron Age and all the others that followed until now, still drive them to good and evil, vice and virtue, love and hate, domination and submission, slavery and freedom and so on. All that has changed are the tools that humans have been inventing to cope with a hostile nature or a hostile neighbour to survive, to win, to live freely and to prosper. The human quest for freedom and dignity, equity and justice is also among those basic instincts which have remained unchanged, and though human beings have suffered long periods of slavery, suppression and deprivation, and still do to some extent, by and large, most of them have overcome them and created conditions of peace, prosperity and the rule of law. Man's transition from a primitive existence of a primates to post modern life of today in cities with high rise buildings almost touching the skies, reflects the triumph of his spirit over ignorance, superstition and slavery. And his irrepressible desire for freedom, justice and knowledge has continuously propelled him forward to create history. Hence there is no reason for us to be pessimistic, as many of our compatriots are today, that our condition will never change as if we are subhuman. If that was so, we would not have had a leader like Muhammad Ali Jinnah and could not have created a country in the teeth of opposition from powerful enemies. But in spite of that our more suppressed, poor and illiterate forbears created Pakistan so that they could live a life of freedom without being dominated by a hostile majority. Ironically, however, Pakistan was highjacked soon after its birth by the self-seeking military generals and obscurantist mullahs who had played no role in its creation. This happened because we unfortunately lost, very early in our history, our founding father and our first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, that left us vulnerable to the machinations of carpetbaggers and usurpers. But a change in the air is palpable otherwise 120 retired army generals would not have spoken out so openly and critically against one of their own who also happens to be the President of Pakistan. Similarly, 48 intelligent but docile and recluse former Ambassadors of Pakistan would never have passed two resolutions in support of the reinstatement of the judges and decided to join the Long March. The Pakistani media's courageous and unprecedented role in this struggle for the rule of law signifies its own determination to cast off the iron clasped jacket of censorship laws that it had been made to wear for the last 60 years. It was not an easy decision to take the huge losses rather than to bow before the will of the general who imposed a second Martial Law on June 3 and taken those channels off the air who had refused to sign the "good boy" agreement. But most of all the credit for the sea change in Pakistan's politics must go to Chief Justice Iftikhar M. Chaudhry, who dared to say no to a president in the general's uniform and the three other three star generals. His behaviour was in sharp contrast to that of his predecessors and a catalyst of change in the history of Pakistan. The credit goes to him because he had no idea what price he would be made to pay by the generals for his "no" nor of the kind of support he would receive from the lawyers of Pakistan. And to the lawyers of Pakistan, who have excelled all expectations and temptations in their determination to pursue the cause of the rule of law, supremacy of the constitution and equal justice for all, we must bow our heads in reverence and gratitude. If they had not acted as vanguards in this battle and given the sacrifices for it, we would have sunk into deeper stupor, exploited more ruthless and faced greater threat to our integrity by the very guardians of our political independence and territorial integrity. So one day when the history of Pakistan will come to be written, these lawyers of Pakistan will be remembered as the authors of the Glorious Revolution of Pakistan. It is because of their Herculean efforts and perseverance that we can dare to hope that finally we will have the rule of law and the supremacy of the constitution. That, in future no tinselled military ruler will so easily move the 111 and no chief justice will so readily endorse his treasonable act under the so called "doctrine of necessity." It is on these premises that I base my hope and my optimism of a better, more stable and people friendly Pakistan. The Long March to Islamabad that began on June 9, 2008, and the Train March as announced by president SCBA, Aitzaz Ahsan, may or may not bring the curtain down on the military ruler, but I believe that it surely heralds the beginning of the end of dictatorship in Pakistan. The writer is a former ambassador E-mail: manalam@hotmail.com