CERTAIN friends of mine, after reading my October 29 column in which I related how President General Mohammad Ayub Khan had assured that Pakistan’s mullah-maulvi fraternity would spot the Eid moon on the identical evening so that the entire country could celebrate Eid in unison on the next day, have asked me to realign my sights. Ayub did this by issuing the necessary orders as to how to handle the bearded brigade to his handful of generals in the various cantonments.

The thing is that in those far gone balmy days, no army general sported a flowing beard. President General Pervez Musharraf today would hardly dare risk giving a similar order to his hundred-odd generals. Our tails indeed have grown longer.

Last week I was presented with an original publication, a copy of the ‘Speeches of the Quaid-i-Azam in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan (1947-1948)’ published by the Governor-General’s Press outfit in Karachi in 1950. His famous August 11, 1947, address has been split into sections by the editor and given sub-titles, some of which read: ‘Maintenance of law and order,’ ‘Suppression of bribery and corruption,’ ‘Freedom of religious practice.’ ‘Equal citizenship for all in Pakistan’ — all of which have an air of an all-pervasive spirit of toleration and secularism.

The not-so-well-known speech given by MAJ on August 14, 1947, is also reproduced and contains the passage: “The tolerance and goodwill that the great Emperor Akbar showed to all the non-Muslims is not of recent origin. It dates back to 13 centuries ago when our Prophet (PBUH) not only by words but by deeds treated the Jews and Christians handsomely after he had conquered them. He showed to them the utmost tolerance and regard and respect for their faith and beliefs. The whole history of Muslims, wherever they ruled, is replete with those humane and great principles which should be followed and practised by us.”

The tragedy is that the men who followed our founder-maker have one by one, more and more discarded and ignored Emperor Akbar and his tolerance and goodwill. We have tumbled swiftly and surely down the line to where we are today — a suspect state nurturing and disbursing suicide bombers, terrorists and terrorism. However, all is not lost. We have had worse days and worse leaders than our present one who insists that he will always and forever abide by the Constitution of this great country. But one must ask: is he conversant with the origins of the Constitution he so highly holds?

It was drafted and redrafted during 1972-73 and finally promulgated on August 14, 1973. During the promulgation ceremony, the maker of the constitution, already declared prime minister of Pakistan, had in his pocket a presidential order. Four hours after the Constitution was promulgated and came into force, he produced the order, put in front of the already declared tame and acquiescing president, Fazal Elahi Chaudhry, and asked him to sign it, which of course he did without demur and probably without bothering to read and digest it.

The order is reproduced for the information of all. Why was it necessary? Well, its teeth had to be drawn. Bhutto had already jailed his friends of the Awami National Party, Wali Khan & co., and various other political nuisances, and to keep them safely behind bars and out of his hair, he needed to prolong the state of emergency and to suspend certain of our guaranteed fundamental rights (they remained imprisoned until President General Ziaul Haq freed them after throwing out Bhutto). Now, was this an act of moral honesty? Was this Constitution not made and promulgated with intentions mala fide?

It has, throughout its life, been amended and tailored to suit the leaders of the day, and it has been an unlucky document that has brought the country no good, no stability, and has never ushered in progress or tolerance or peace. Here is the first bit of historical constitutional hanky-panky:

“The Gazette of Pakistan, Extra, August 15 1973, Islamabad: No.F24(1)/73-Pub.-The following Order made by the President on the 14th August, 1973, is hereby published for general information:

“Whereas Article 280 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan provides that the Proclamation of Emergency issued on the 23rd day of November, 1971, shall be deemed to be a Proclamation of Emergency issued under Article 232 thereof;

“And Whereas clause (2) of Article 233 of the said Constitution provides that while a Proclamation of Emergency is in force the President may, by Order, declare that the right to move any court for the enforcement of such of the Fundamental Rights conferred by Chapter I of Part II of the Constitution as may be specified in the Order, and any proceeding in any court which is for the enforcement, or involves the determination of any question as to the infringement, of the Rights so specified shall remain suspended for the period during which the Proclamation is in force;

“And Whereas the aforesaid Proclamation of Emergency is in force; “Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by the said clause (2) of Article 233, the President is pleased to declare that the right to move any court, including the right to move the Supreme Court, vide clause (3) of Article 184, for the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights provided for in Articles 10 (safeguards as to arrest and detention), 15. (freedom of movement), 16. (freedom of assembly), 17. (freedom of association), 18. (freedom of trade, business or profession), 19. (freedom of speech), 23. (provision as to property), 24. (protection of property rights), 25. (equality of citizens), and 27. (safeguard against discrimination in services) of the Constitution, and all proceedings pending in any court which are for the enforcement, or involve the determination of any question as to the enforcement, of any of the said Rights shall remain suspended for the period during which the said Proclamation is in force.

Signed: Fazal Elahi Chaudhry, President. Counter-signed under Article 48(3) of the Constitution: Shah Nawaz Khan, Joint Secretary; Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Prime Minister.”

This should come as no surprise. Bhutto, even before he managed to get hold of his power seat, had every intention to rule with the proverbial fist of iron and to go on ruling for as long as he could — the plan was probably for life. This point is amply illustrated by Air Marshal Asghar Khan in his book We’ve Learnt Nothing from History:

“In the beginning of 1970, when my friends and I had not yet launched our political party, Bhutto had asked me to join the Pakistan People’s Party...He told me that he was sure that if I joined hands with him and if we both set off from Karachi, he to Dadu and Larkana and I to Hyderabad and Nawabshah, meeting at Multan, then to Lahore, and so on, by the time we reached Rawalpindi Yahya Khan would be at the railway station to receive us. ‘We can then rule together,’ he had said. I had asked what his programme would be after he had been installed in power. He had laughed at this enquiry and replied, ‘The programme is to rule. The people are stupid and I know how to fool them. I will have the danda (stick) in my hand and no one will be able to remove us for 20 years.’ I was grateful to him for a frank expression of his views...”

We will remain supine until the mindsets of the majority of the now estimated 170 million are drastically changed and they are educated in the profound sense of the word. One day, this should be possible. So, my friends, nil desperandum. Plod on in hope.

Note: An error was made in last week’s column in which I misnamed the Shams-ul-Ulema who long ago taught us young Zoroastrians of Karachi the meaning of tolerance. He was not Dastur Dr Nariman Maneckji Dhalla. His correct name and title was Shams-ul-Ulema Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla.

Email: arfc@cyber.net.pk