| March 23, 2003 | Sunday | Muharram 19, 1424 |
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The other casualties of war
FOR the first time in three years, Pakistan Day is being celebrated when the Constitution stands fully revived. Yet it would be inaccurate to equate its revival with a return to democracy. As it stands today, the 1973 Constitution is not what it was on Oct 12, 1999, when the army took power by removing an elected government. This abruptly stalled this country’s democratic evolution — such as it was. Arbitrary amendments by the military government have changed the character of the Constitution. This circumstance and the way the elections to the two houses of parliament were conducted have disappointed the country’s fond hope of a smooth and genuine transfer of political power.
The Legal Framework Order has mutilated the Basic Law beyond recognition. Among the most abhorrent of its features are the creation of the National Security Council and the continuation of General Pervez Musharraf as both head of state and Chief of Army Staff. The LFO owes its birth to the power given by the Supreme Court to the president to amend the Constitution. Under that document the Supreme Court alone has the authority to interpret the Constitution but no power to re-write it in its discretion. When the delegation of the amending power itself is controversial, how can the exercise of that power in the shape of the LFO be above controversy?
There is a foreboding feeling that all is not well with the political system that is in the process of being born. The government and the opposition are poles apart on the very fundamentals of governance. With basic unity on a working hypothesis of political rulership altogether missing, an oppressive air of frustration has hung over the country. This at a time when the region Pakistan is situated in is entering a dangerous phase of internal turbulence and foreign intervention. To the east we are locked in a dangerous confrontation with India, our big neighbour, with no hope of an early respite from tension. To the west we have a politically divided war-torn Afghanistan which has known no peace for a quarter century and where the Americans and their allies are engaged in a seemingly unending war against terrorism. Developments in Afghanistan have profoundly affected Pakistan and continue to do so. Further to the west, the US-British attack on Iraq and the devastation it has wrought on Baghdad have shocked Pakistan and a large part of the world. The future seems dark because no one is sure what the victors will do to the people and to the geography of the country. Pakistan truly faces a dangerous geopolitical environment.
The political problems we face on the home front have got to be addressed with clarity of vision, with a sense of common purpose and without loss of time. This is crucial if we want to safeguard our sovereignty and fundamental interests in a region which is passing through troubled times and is faced with grave uncertainty. It is most vital therefore that we get our political act together and regain our sense of direction. It is in democracy that our future lies. This is what we promised ourselves as we waged the struggle for Pakistan under the peerless leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam. We must see to it that this promise is fulfilled.
AFTER months of agonizing uncertainty, the people of Baghdad are finally witnessing and experiencing the sheer, awesome horror of war. On Friday night, the Baghdad sky was lit up with flames as hundreds of missiles rained down on the Iraqi capital. Large parts of the city were reduced to rubble as the bombs targeted presidential palaces and government offices. Frightened citizens huddled indoors even during the daytime, with once bustling markets wearing an eerily deserted look. While there are still no official casualty figures, reports from the capital suggest that the death toll is likely to be high given the terrifying ferocity of the attacks. The ‘shock and awe’ assault on Baghdad, which the US hopes will force a hasty surrender by the Iraqi regime, has clearly begun. Meanwhile, the ground assault by US and British forces continues from various directions in the south of the country. The allies are believed to have captured the key port city of Umm Qasr, where they encountered some resistance, and are steadily heading for Basrah, the country’s second largest city. The Americans are confident that they will soon reach the capital and expect the Iraqi resistance to crumble. Whether or not this happens is something only time will tell. However, it is not just the ancient city of Baghdad which could be reduced to rubble following this avoidable war.
Away from the apocalyptic scenes of the battlefront lie the ruins of many a vital institution and alliance devastated by the unilateral and pre-emptive nature of the US-led attack on Iraq. The long-term damage to key institutions, particularly the United Nations, cannot be overestimated. The UN has watched almost helplessly as the Security Council was contemptuously bypassed by the US and Britain before launching the campaign. The world body today looks increasingly impotent in the face of US might. Another casualty of the war is the concept of European unity. The European Union, long considered a potential counterweight to US military and economic might, has been split down the middle by the war, with Britain and Spain openly siding with the US against the wishes of France and Germany. It will take years to heal the deep split suffered by the EU and to restore its status as a credible and humane alternative voice. NATO, the once powerful pro-US military alliance, finds itself similarly divided over Iraq as do a number of Arab countries. To add to this volatile mix is the position of Turkey, which has already dispatched troops to the Kurdish north of Iraq to protect its interests in the region, much to the dismay of the US. The very real fears of the war triggering a broader regional upheaval as well as a redrawing of the map of the Middle East may well have already begun.
Whatever the fate of the Iraqi regime, the war has weakened the writ of the UN and international law and paved the way for nations to settle their disputes through force rather than negotiations. If the war is a prolonged one, it could well lead to the toppling of various governments in both the Middle East and Europe. Despite all the prevailing pessimism, however, there are also some signs of hope. The principled resistance to US unilateralism by Russia, China, France and Germany could create the nucleus of an alternative bloc which could stand up to the arrogance and unilateralism of the US on key issues. In addition, resistance to the war has provoked an unprecedented mobilization of ordinary people across the globe. If this normally silent majority aligned itself with the dissenting bloc of nations on crucial issues, the world could soon see the emergence of a powerful moral alternative to Washington’s current policy of brazen unilateralism backed by brute force.