Defending President Zardari does not imply that one is supporting all his actions. It’s about defending the life of the institution he is heading
Once again the swords are out of scabbard and the Pakistani army is all out to demolish the democratically elected civilian government in Pakistan. Though the Pakistani prime minister, Yusuf Reza Gillani, recently presided over a meeting attended by the top brass of Pakistani armed forces and he showered all praising words for the armed forces yet the gathering storm has not subsided.
After the Memogate episode, tension between the army and the civilian government is too conspicuous to hide. Sacking of Defence Secretary Lt Gen(retd) Lodhi, who was considered to enjoy patronage of General Kiyani, by the government has further angered the GHQ.
Exchange of bitter statements through media between General Kayani and Prime Minister Gillani has further triggered the coup speculations.
There is nothing new, however. There has been a power struggle between civilians and khakis since 1950s. Of course, the army has always been victorious. As a powerful and well organised institution, the Pakistani army managed to take over and run the country whenever it desired to do so.The civilian leadership has been weak while political parties too weak to resist the army.
The people of Pakistan now have to take a decision whether they will be going to support the army this time or not. Army rule may fix problems for a while but it leaves long-term structural troubles. On the other hand, democracy may be ‘bad’ but still there are chances to improve the functioning of the government. There are modes to bring down democratically elected leaders through various form of pressures like mass movement or taking away the support extended by the alliance partners. These privileges are not there when army rules over the country. Also the most important right which democracy gives to every one is right to dissent. This right is a boon for flourishing democracy. The military ,whenever and wherever comes into power crushes this important right.
Well the aim is not to give a lecture or two on benefits of democracy and ill-effects of army rule. Everyone in Pakistan knows about it. But still there are groups who support army rule so that they can benefitted from it. Unexpectedly, and also sadly the percentage of this kind of people is high. Even if President Zardari has earned himself the title of “Mr. Ten Percent,” still his government has to be defended at this critical point of time when once again army is all out to take over Pakistan. By defending him does not imply that one is supporting all his actions. It’s about defending the life of the institution he is heading. Once democracy is protected, he can be democratically sidelined or electorally removed from his position.
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Amit Ranjan is a PhD student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Email: |
