I REMEMBER writing an article for a newspaper of Karachi a few years ago that ended up doing the rounds on the social media and led to some discussion about what it truly means to be patriotic in Pakistan. The idea was that the common man of Pakistan is suffering too much and can’t ‘afford’ to be patriotic. I had quoted Act 2 of Pygmalion where Pickering asks Mr Dolittle: “Have you no morals, man?” and he replies: “Can’t afford them, governor. Neither could you if you were as poor as me.”

Years later, stirred by the constant discussion of concepts like ‘due process’ , ‘fair trial, ‘democracy’ and most importantly ‘the Constitution’ (in the light of the formation of military courts) one feels something similar can be said about these concepts. Why? There are two reasons.

These concepts don’t belong to a nation where the constitution changes often. These belong to nations that have spent decades establishing and reinforcing their constitutions which are based on the principles of justice, due process, separation of powers and democracy.

It is with a heavy heart that I say this after having studied the basic concepts of law during my legal education in Britain and the US. Nonetheless, I am the first one to admit that Pakistan is not ready for these. For true democracy, and for true supremacy of the constitution.

The second reason has more to do with the enemy we are fighting, and the nature of the war. Most people fail to realise that the war on terror is not some vague war of ideologies without a tangible enemy. Make no mistake, we are in a full-fledged war with the Taliban. Thus the laws of war apply. Furthermore the enemy is not someone who is afraid of prosecution, imprisonment and everything else the justice system has to offer.

The enemy is fearless and brutal and is mocking the very concepts of justice and fairness that some believe should be applied when dealing with them. That is a bad strategy and one doesn’t have to be in the military to know that. This is the time when all the taxes the citizens of Pakistan have paid for ‘defence’ must be used to do just that. Defend the citizens.

The concepts of fair trial, democracy, supremacy of the constitution are the basics that build a nation. I hope someday they are a part of Pakistan’s foundation, but today is not that day.

Maham Durrani
Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2015

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