An interim set-up for free polls

EVER since the PPP voted for the women’s protection bill earlier this month, there have been speculations regarding the party’s attitude towards the present military-led government. The PPP has denied that the vote for the bill meant a shift in its policy towards the ruling party and insists that support for the draft law should be seen for what it is — a vote in favour of a piece of legislation that sought to rectify the anti-women clauses in the controversial Hudood ordinances enforced by Ziaul Haq. The latest cause for fresh speculation about the PPP’s policy is Mr Amin Fahim’s statement, made in New York, that elections held by the present government will be acceptable to his party. He qualified it by saying that elections should be transparent and that the election commission and the interim government should be set up in consultation with all parties. Shocked perhaps by what looks like a slight departure from the PPP’s previous stand on the issue, the PML-N spokesman did not believe that Mr Fahim had made any such statement, and if at all he did, he must have spoken in his personal capacity and not as ARD chief. The PPP’s version is that Mr Fahim did make the statement, but that he had said nothing new. According to the PPP spokesman, the ARD or any of its components had made no decision to boycott the general election next year, and for that reason Mr Fahim said nothing that ran counter to the ARD’s stand. What the PML-N is saying is that even if there were an independent election commission and an interim government, the election may still not be fair because President Pervez Musharraf will be there at the helm of affairs.

The problem with an interim government is that under the present civilian-military mix, it is the military that holds the rod, and an interim set-up, even if established by a consensus, will not be all that free to ensure a fair election if the generals do not go along. The military’s interests lie in a continuation of the present set-up in which Gen Musharraf is both head of state and army chief. This duality ensures the army’s control of the state’s civilian apparatus and the subservience of the elected government to it. In practical terms, thus, an independent election commission and an interim set-up will be of little value in ensuring a fair and free election unless the military and its intelligence agencies decide not to interfere with the electoral process and do not think it is their duty to ensure “positive results” and a compliant parliament.

The recent events in Bangladesh show how vital it is to have an impartial government acceptable to all parties. For the nation at large it does not matter whether the PPP and the PML-N have parted company or they are still together on the basic constitutional and political issues of the day. What it wants is a free and fair election that will give birth to a parliament that will truly reflect the will of the people. Only such a parliament will be able to do away with such constitutional aberrations as the National Security Council with the army chief as its head, article 58-2b, which allows the president to sack an elected government and dissolve the lower house, and the continuation of Gen Musharraf as both president and army chief.

Quality and low-cost drugs

PRESIDENT Pervez Musharraf’s appeal to the pharmaceutical companies to lower the prices of drugs will evoke a reaction from many quarters — though not necessarily from the manufacturers to whom it is directed. Those who will take note are the people, especially those for whom the cost of health care is increasingly beyond their reach. The fact is that the prices of drugs are so high that in many cases an ill person is forced to make a choice between modern medicine and quackery. What is intriguing about the president’s appeal is that it is the ministry of health that lays down the prices of most pharmaceutical products. In fact, it is supposedly looking into many aspects of the drug trade but has not been able to check many of the evils that afflict it today. The president’s appeal should have also covered the spurious drug manufacturers. They should also be asked to refrain from their unholy practice which is putting the lives of millions at risk.

The fact is that simply making appeals to the drug companies to be prudent is not going to make much of a difference. There is need to look into the factors that are contributing to the growing pharmaceutical market in the country, the pricing mechanism, the huge profits reaped by the MNCs and the unethical practices of some of the manufacturers. It is important to adopt a rational policy to achieve two major goals. One is to bring down the prices and the other is to improve the quality of drugs while eliminating the market of spurious drugs altogether. The Drug Regulatory Authority that is on the cards has yet to see the light of day. Moreover, it is not known how effective the DRA will be in securing these objectives, since its policy board is to be heavily manned by officials of the health ministry and health departments. The ordinance, which has not been out before the National Assembly yet, does not specify one of the functions of the DRA to be that of providing for quality drugs. All these issues will have to be addressed if the government is serious about ensuring good and low-cost drugs for the people.

Yousuf’s stunning performance

HISTORY was made at the National Stadium on Thursday as Mohammad Yousuf rewrote the record books, seemingly at will. There has been no stopping the Yousuf juggernaut this year and the Karachi Test against the West Indies was no exception, with one record tumbling after the other. The crowd cheered every single run on the morning of the fourth day, collectively willing on the master batsman, and Yousuf did not disappoint as he went into eraser mode. First to be wiped clean was Zaheer Abbas’s 28-year-old record for most runs (583) in a three-Test series, set against India in 1978. Then came the big one. An on-drive to the boundary took Yousuf past Vivian Richards’s tally for most runs (1,710) in a calendar year — a milestone that had stood the test of time for 30 years. Yousuf started the day 46 runs short of the record — when he was finally out, he had made 124. With his ninth hundred in 2006, he also broke his own record, set just three days earlier, for most centuries in a year.

Given the pace at which Test runs are scored these days, Mohammad Yousuf’s record may not stand for three decades, as Sir Viv’s did. That said, his heroics could not have come at a more opportune time for Pakistan cricket. Yousuf’s astonishing contribution to the cause goes beyond the fate of the current series, which Pakistan now appears poised to win. After the Oval fiasco, the captaincy charade, the Champions Trophy debacle and the doping scandal, Pakistan was in desperate need of a fillip that could somehow lift the team and its millions of fans. A home series win against a team ranked eighth out of ten in the ICC Test championship table could not by itself have provided that vital, galvanising shot in the arm. Yousuf, the champion, may have done just that.

Human rights in Islam

FROM time immemorial humanity has been torn into pieces due to vanity and self-conceit, based on race, caste or creed. In early times Greek hated the non-Greeks, the Romans despised the non-Romans and Arabs held the non-Arabs in contempt, calling them “Ajam” (meaning dumb). Similarly the Egyptians under Pharaohs, treated the Israelites as helots, reducing them to social and political serfdom. When the Israelites rose to power they tried to crush the Christians and other people. The Christian in their turn, left no stone unturned to eliminate the Jews from the face of the earth.

It is really one of the saddest calamities for humanity that in the present age, said to be an age of advanced civilization and culture, the evil effects of regional and racial discrimination are continuing unabated in different parts of the world. The UN which originally aimed at stopping the exploitation of the weak by the strong and ensuring fundamental rights for the mankind has poorly failed in its objective simply because some of its prominent members are still indulging in their old games of differentiating between the whites and the blacks and between high caste and low caste people.

Going back through history, the concept of human rights in Islam and its practical applications to human beings are neglected. However, Islam, with its divine dependence on Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) contains a message of human rights as its basic law and injects the values of interest, which fully normalise the claims and demands and needs in every society for which laws and provisions were made for the interest of individual human beings.

As we know rights and duties are correlated. One cannot have a right without duty or a duty without a right, so law had particular influence on rights and duties. The function of the law is to control illegal activities and safeguard the rights of other human beings. Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), the final messenger, worked day and night for the preservation of human rights. He acted very strongly against human rights atrocities. Moreover, after migration in 622 A.D., he introduced a charter in Madinah, which guarantees full protection of religion, life, and also safeguards property. After the conquest of Makkah, where many atrocities were perpetuated against Muslims, Prophet Mohammad showed forbearance and great statesmanship by forgiving everyone. Divine guidance guarantees these rights and obligations and has been conveyed to humanity ever since the origin of mankind.

The right to life in Islam is so much protected and emphasised that no one has the right to violate any one’s right to life in this regard. The Holy Quran says, “Do not kill a soul, which Allah had made sacred except through the due process of law.” (6:151). In another verse Allah Says, “Nor take life which Allah had made sacred except for just cause.” (17:33). The Holy Quran says, “If anyone slew a person unless it be for murder or

for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he had slewed the whole humanity.” (5:32)

Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), in his farewell address, said, “Your lives and property are forbidden to one another and to you until you meet your lord on the Day of Judgment.”(Sahi Muslim).

The Holy Quran places great emphasis on just dealings so that every one gets his due rights related to property and honour. It is written, “O ye who believe stand out firmly for Allah as witness, to fair dealing and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve, to do wrong and depart from Justice. Be just, that is next to piety, and fear Allah. For Allah is well acquainted with all that you do.” (5:8)

Justice is the real cause of Islam and Islamic judicial system is unique because justice is its core and no one can commit anything unjustly. We are directed in the Holy Quran to act justly with everyone, Muslims, non-Muslims and even with relatives and orphans and the poor.

The Holy Quran commands Muslims to respect human rights. Allah Says, “O ye who believe, stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves or your parents or your kin whether it be against rich or poor for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts of your hearts, lest ye swerve, and do not distort justice or decline to do justice. Verily, Allah is well acquainted with all that ye do.” (4:135)

“We have sent down thee with the book in truth, that thou mightiest judge between the people by that which Allah has shown thee, so do not be an advocate for those who betray their trusts”. (4:105)

In Islam the right to honour is also guarded and much significance is laid on it in the Holy Quran. Muslims are commanded to respect others and not to abuse others. In this regard Allah says, “O ye who believe, let not some men among you laugh at others. Do not defame nor be sarcastic to each other by offensive nicknames.... nor speak ill of each other behind their backs.” (46:11-12)

The Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), on his farewell pilgrimage, delivered a lecture at the pulpit of Kaba in which he said, “No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a white man have any superiority over a black man. You all are children of Adam and Adam is created from clay.” (Sahi Muslim)

Once a woman from a noble family of Madinah committed a crime of theft and was caught red-handed. The case was brought to the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and he was asked to spare the woman because she was from a noble family.

The Prophet replied, “the nations that lived before you were raised to the ground by Allah, because they punished only the lower strata of their society and forgave only their own crimes. I swear By Allah in whose hands is my life that even if Fatima (the beloved daughter of Prophet Mohammad had committed this crime, I would have cut-off her hands.”

Islam does not prohibit the right of protest against the tyranny of the government. The Prophet Mohammad has regarded protest against a tyrant to be the best form of jihad. (Abu Daud, Tirmizi) It is the result of prophetic and Quranic teachings that people openly criticized the caliphs and never hesitated to protest against any unlawful action. Once Caliph Umar called a shura to restrict the amount of dowry, an old woman openly opposed his acts on the basis of Quranic injunctions.

Islam grants freedom to all women whether they belong to Muslim Ummah or to a conquered nation. In all conditions Islam honours and respects their chastity. The protection of equal status for men and women is considered to be vital. One who violates the chastity of women has to face harsh punishment. Islam strictly opposes adultery. It is written, “Do not approach the bounds of adultery.” (17:32) Respect for the chastity of woman is found nowhere else as strong as it is in Islam.

Islam, from very beginning, has preserved the rights of the needy and directed those who are wealthy to take care of the plebian section of

society.

In the Holy Quran, Allah says, “And to their wealth and possession was acknowledged the right of the needy who asked him who was prevented (from asking). (51:19) This right was preserved for both Muslims and non-Muslims because in world affairs they have the same rights in an Islamic state.

The worst thing to occur in human history is slavery. Slaves were treated inhumanly and did not receive the respect that human beings need. They were made beasts of

burden through slavery. But Islam’s response was totally

the opposite of the response of other religions and civilizations. Islam taught Muslims that

freeing a slave means to get rid of sins. Freeing a slave by

one’s own will means that that person will be protected from hell fire.

According to the tradition of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), when he advised his companions regarding slaves, he said, “these are your brothers over whom Allah has granted you authority. You should feed them on what you eat yourself, clothe them as you clothe yourself and you should not set them a task beyond their capacity and if they are assigned something heavy and difficult, you should help them in carrying it out. (Sahi Bukhari)

Keeping in view the above facts, one can infer that the concept of human rights in Islam is so unique that it did not make any distinction on the basis of colour, caste or region. The laws of Islam have no parallel in human history. Islam transcends all geographical and racial barriers and eliminates all sorts of distinctions based on race, caste, creed or colour.

It not only guarantees equality of status and security of life but also preserves the chastity of woman without any difference between Muslims and non-Muslims. In Islam many ways of worship are allowed but the whole lifestyle under the moral and ethical scheme is immutable.