Then felt I like some watcher of the skies

When a new planet swims into his ken...

THUS wrote John Keats when he first read Chapman’s translation of Homer. All night he read it and so overcome with emotion he was that, without any sleep, he sat down and in a couple of hours had written one of the finest sonnets in English or indeed any other language.

The Charter of Democracy that Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto have signed is not Homer but — don’t laugh — I felt like a watcher of the skies when I read it. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that it is one of the most important and, despite its understated prose, the most stirring thing to come out of Pakistan’s confused political milieu in a long time.

It goes into some detail on how to strengthen democracy and curb military ambition, the legacy of which has blighted and cast such a shadow over our country. It deserves to be read widely and carefully.

Those who are saying, and there is no shortage of such people, that this is a plot by the two leaders to return to power show themselves in a bad light because they are missing the point of the whole exercise. The charter is less about gaining power than about retrieving from the ruins the lost meaning of Pakistan, the Pakistan envisioned by its founding fathers.

No doubt Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif have earned their share of discredit over the years because of their sins and failures. They squandered the opportunities they were offered and made cynicism the hallmark of the Pakistani nation. But by so addressing themselves to the future, by undertaking to do all that is inscribed in the charter of democracy, they have gone a long way to atone for their sins and set a new direction for the nation.

They may not succeed and authoritarianism may yet triumph again but at least they have tried to point the way forward. This is no mean achievement. If you want to reach for the stars you must first learn to look at the stars.

A truth and reconciliation commission: we must have it, not to pursue the politics of vendetta but to remove the veil from the follies and criminal misdeeds of the past which have dragged the nation down. The past can be buried only if it is first looked squarely in the face. Don’t we need a commission on Kargil, an accounting of the sacred and priceless blood shed in that foolish adventure? We do and the charter addresses this issue directly. A Kargil commission might sound like a pipedream now but at least the compass has been made to point in the right direction.

The mills of God grind slowly but, we should remember, they grind exceeding small.

No wonder there is nervousness in the halls of government. No wonder government loudspeakers are working overtime to denounce the charter, even Gen Musharraf losing his cool very early on and joining the chorus of denunciation. The loudspeakers protest too much. If there was nothing to worry about, there would have been no need to train such heavy guns at a mere scrap of paper.

Military adventurism has not only destroyed political institutions and made a mockery of democracy but also tarnished the fair name of the army and compromised its professionalism. Every nation worthy of the name holds its soldiers in the highest respect. So it is not a happy situation when the army as a whole is criticised for the actions of a few men at the top. The charter aims at reviving democracy. By implication if not directly, it also seeks to restore public trust in the army by rescuing it from the paths it was never meant to pursue.

Field Marshal Ayub Khan (field marshal for no wars or victories won) was the real father of Bangladesh, his eleven-year rule creating the conditions for the break-up of Pakistan and the birth of Bangladesh. Likewise, the real father of the charter of democracy is General Pervez Musharraf.

But for him and the shortsighted policies which have distinguished the last six and a half years, no other force in the universe could have brought Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto together. For this miracle the general deserves the nation’s thanks.

While it is for soothsayers and astrologists to read the future, a few things can be stated with confidence. If, inspired by the charter, PPP and PML-N can forge an election understanding — seat adjustments if not an outright election alliance — the present ruling arrangement will be in deep trouble. If Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif return to Pakistan sometime before the elections, as they have promised to do (no matter if they are arrested on arrival or sent back by the next plane), there will be more trouble for the government.

But the pre-condition is opposition unity and a broadening of the anti-uniform alliance. No one knows what Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who has a knack for being all things to all men, will do. If the democratic movement gains strength, he may join it. If it is weak, he will keep his options open.

Qazi Hussein Ahmed is marching to a different beat. Smarting under the accusation that the religious parties came to Musharraf’s rescue when they helped pass the 17th Amendment, he is now, if appearances are to be trusted, in a fighting mood. The Jamaat-i-Islami with its street power should be a part of any anti-uniform alliance if it is to succeed.

The PPP, because of its incurable pro-Americanism, may have reservations on this score (the Americans in the present climate mortally afraid of mullahs on the march) but if the democratic movement is to get anywhere, narrow prejudices will have to be tempered.

Indeed, if authoritarianism is to give way to anything better, if a Nepal is to happen here (another King Gyanendra coming to terms with the will of the people), the opposition alliance must be all-inclusive. The Jamaat-i-Islami, the Awami National Party, Balochistan’s anti-establishment sardars and Imran Khan should be a part of it. Imran is a leader without a following but he knows what should be done.

The responsibility for forging opposition unity rests primarily on the shoulders of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif who, whether we like it or not, command the most popular support in Pakistan. For too long they have excelled at parochial politics. Now they are called upon to don the mantle of statesmanship. The choice is theirs. If they don’t, history will not forgive them.

On the other side of the divide, Gen Musharraf’s base of support is shrinking. As the storm clouds gather, all he can rely on is his uniform, the fair-weather ranks of the Q League and, down south, the MQM. An army chief reduced to the necessity of consorting almost daily with a succession of district nazims and dubious Q League politicians is not a pretty sight. Imagine having to put up with the wisdom of the Gujrat Chaudries and such sublime examples of the political craft as Sardar Farooq Leghari. It must be deeply embarrassing.

But what is to be done? The Q League can’t risk elections not under the umbrella of the president’s uniform. Without this protection it will be decimated. As for the general, he won’t be in a rush to entrust his fate to a popularly elected assembly.

That is why the latest word from the presidential camp is that according to the Constitution, the present assemblies can elect the president for another five-year term. In the tragicomic history of Pakistan this would be the richest joke of all but it would have the merit of concentrating minds and leaving the opposition parties little option but to quit the present assemblies and boycott any elections, for president or parliament, conducted under the shadow of the president’s uniform.

Then what might happen, no one knows. As Antony says once he has fired up the Roman mob,

Mischief, thou art afoot,

Take thou what course thou wilt.