July 28, 2005

If there is nothing in a name, as Shakespeare implied, why would the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) government form a committee to rename the Frontier province?

One answer could be that Shakespeare may have had, and still has tremendous impact on the lives of millions of people. But when it comes to the religious alliance ruling NWFP, the great playwright, for all his genius, was just another infidel who wrote to lead the Muslims astray. As such, the MMA people have on purpose avoided being touched by Shakespeare’s wisdom.

However, for all their naiveté, the MMA fellows are not so much under the influence of the full moon to form a committee to change the name of NWFP just to prove Shakespeare wrong. There is a method to their madness. It is part of a grand election strategy, not just for the local government, but for the expected general elections, as well. The Hasba Act just passed by the NWFP Assembly is part of this strategy. It is also a very dictatorial tool of social engineering.

The MMA has been in power in the province for a little less than three years now. Its leaders cannot stand up in public and recount their achievements because there are none.

They came to power thumping their election symbol ‘book’ as if it were the Holy Quran, and talking of the reign of the first four caliphs, implying that they would bring justice, peace and prosperity if they were elected. Now that they are in government none of what they promised has come about. It is to distract the people of NWFP from the MMA government’s failure to deliver that the religious alliance is raising non-issues.

The Hasba Act is a well crafted piece of document, not from a legal point of view but from a political angle. According to experts, there are fifteen instances where the act clashes with the constitution. It is hard to envision that the Supreme Court would stamp it with its approval. In case the Supreme Court declares the act as unconstitutional, which is most probable, the MMA leaders can go to their voters and say that they tried, but look how high-seated the conspirators against Islam are.

Of course, they will not say that lawyers in scores told them that it would not pass the test of constitutional legality if challenged in court. And God forbid, if by some miracle the Supreme Court were to declare the Hasba Act constitutional, it would put the people of NWFP on a very long march towards misery.

The Hasba Act contains all the equipment for any ruling group to put a stranglehold on the people’s freedom at all levels of government in the province. Since it is MMA’s government in this province, that group would be the clergy.

The chain of command would go down to the local mosque imams, by making them members of one committee or another. Since most imams have political affinity with political parties in the MMA, they would form the eyes and ears and be the local operators of the Mohtasib.

Also, the fact that the department of Mohtasib has domain over public morality, even of individuals in their private lives, the imams would be very useful in reporting ––- according to their understanding ––- un-Islamic activities.

It would be a situation where an agent of the Mohtasib’s department would be writing a complaint against someone, and investigating it as well. A district Mohtasib will decide the fate of the complaint. Once the Mohtasib registers a case, even the High Court and the Supreme Court will not be able to entertain an appeal if the accused were to feel unjustly prosecuted. You can appeal against a Tehsil Mohtasib’s decision in a district Mohtasib’s court and go further to the provincial Mohtasib’s court.

The furthest you can go is to appeal to the chief minister of the province against the Provincial Mohtasib’s decision. The chief minister, of course, is a political person and to top it, he or she is the person who appoints the Mohtasib. All these Mohtasibs and the officials below (the count according to some comes to about 720) would be graduates of Madressahs. Because of its overriding powers, the department of Mohtasib would leave the police department and local governments’ ineffective.

In short, there would be no recourse once the department of Mohtasib gets hold of you. Putting it bluntly, do as the mullah says or book yourself a cell in jail. As one can see, the MMA government will get political mileage whichever way the Supreme Court decides.

As far as the committee for suggesting a new name for NWFP, it is nothing more than taking away the issue from Awami National Party (ANP). It, however, is a very clever ploy. It could help MMA garner thousands of ANP votes and make up for the votes the religious alliance has lost because of misgoverning the province.

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