In Pakistan, we have been dealing with the result of a martial culture. Without making changes to military mindset, we will not be able to lift the barriers that have been blocking the progress of democracy in Pakistan. Asserting that the greatest gift a military can give to the people of Pakistan is for the people to rule themselves and for military to making a permanent pledge to not ever involving in politics again. Men like Washington and Lincoln, who formed one of the great democracies of the world, were themselves of military-backgrounds, but they are remembered to this day for the modern societies and democracies they helped form. While Pakistan was founded on the principles of democracy, that democracy is in fact trampled underfoot every day even now. No nation in the world ever has been able to achieve true civilization under a military tutelage.
I am the same age as the Pakistani Republic itself and even as a child, I was accustomed to being found to be strange by my close circles of friends because of the different and unique viewpoints I brought to various situations. Later, I decided to devote my life to explaining Pakistan’s and Islamic values to my friends and those interested to learn about Pakistan. I have often engaged in rational discussions to bring changes to some of the set beliefs imposed for years by official history when I also believe personally that Pakistan has taken some important steps towards democracy over the years. In this sense, I find the Western sermons about democracy to the world rather ridiculous.
I am still very optimistic. We must not forget that at its roots, our society has had a wealth of brain energy from Allama Iqbal and Jinnah, a desire to progress and a desire to express ourselves, all of which had been building up over the decades. I have seen very few societies with all these characteristics. What we have in true Islam and Pakistan, which has been scorned by the West for years, which history has struck out at, and some so-called Muslims including Pakistanis have allowed this to happen, although I have never believed these things. And I have personally made it my own goal to prove to others that Pakistan and true Muslims are not like that. I promised myself early on that I would go to the West to educate myself, see that my views are accepted wherever I go to express them and have my story of Islam and history of Pakistan accepted. I am not a racist. I also do not like radical nationalism or radical religious views. But I do have some deep-rooted insight and beliefs. I stand up for my people and the essential roots of our history. I have had kith and kin that had died to sacrifice themselves for the creation of the Pakistani state. Anyone with a past such as my own could be no different than what I am now.
The mainstream that will clear the way forward for Pakistan is democracy because it is democracy which allows people’s real abilities to shine, and by allowing these abilities through they allow the values of people to be underscored. Real freedom is not screaming and yelling in city squares or casting votes. These are simply vehicles of freedom and democracy. Democracy is built upon personality, upon people. So what democracy really does is allow people to become self-aware, to advance/evolve into maturity and to open up to the world around them. Going even further, democracy allows the people of a nation to choose how it will lead itself, through its own volition. And democracy recognizes no greater strength and power than the will of the people of the nation. As it is now, it was upon this principle of democracy that the Pakistani Republic was created. From the time of founding by Jinnah, it was understood that the people are to self-rule. At the same time, these principles have been around since the formation of the republic and which Jinnah believed in from the depths of his heart, are constantly being trampled.
The coup mentality has existed in certain circles of Pakistan for too long. It shows the existence of a train of thought that is focused on coups and at the same time the prevalence of the belief that we are better than everyone and we know better than everyone in these same circles. Of course, these are the kinds of thoughts that violate the basic principle of democracy.
It doesn’t really matter who is behind this because what it openly shows is that this mentality continued for long and may still exist. In the end, though, there is no doubt that this mentality is to the detriment of everyone. Those who embrace these sorts of ideas and act upon them are always hurt in the end. This is inevitable. Nowhere in the world has a society under military tutelage achieved civilization. And every military regime in the end collapses, giving way to democracy slowly but surely.
Because there actually is a martial culture and mindset which has been busy preparing these repetitive scenarios for us in Pakistan we are still dealing with the results of such a culture. Actually, what we really need to be focused on is changing this culture, which is so critical in nurturing progressive democratic stances. The basic roots of democracy do exist in Pakistan; however, there have been really no consistent steps taken to develop democracy; there is no system of education on this front. The educational system in Pakistan must be changed. You cannot lift the barriers blocking the way forward for democracy in Pakistan without altering the martial system of military, the mindset through education. This is just so clear. But this has not been ever a topic of debate in Pakistan to this day. There is no doubt that the most powerful institution and a political party in Pakistan has been the army. Well, of course, Pakistan’s strength is in proportion to the power and strength of its own military. But the military needs to be a military that is united with the people and serves them. And this is what consistent democratic process brings about. The world’s most powerful military exists in places like America. But this military never could say things like “I am going to manage the country.” To the contrary, in fact, the military always stands before the civilian management and asserts that it is subject to the will of the civilians elected by the people.
That is why everyone in America loves the military to a level that is unbelievable, because in a sense, it is America’s security guarantor. No one fears the military, nor do they really ever need to criticize it. What we have created in Pakistan is a dualism of the military on one hand and the people of Pakistan on the other. And everyone is harmed by this. We need to instead create relations between the military and the people that are based upon real love and respect.
I have read speeches by Jinnah. Jinnah at no point had ever said that this nation is to be managed by the military or mullahs. In fact, he always stated things to the contrary. Great men like Washington and Lincoln, who created great democracies, were oriented towards the military; but they are now remembered for the modern societies and democracies they set up. Look at what Napoleon, one of the greatest soldiers the world ever saw, left behind as his legacy. Napoleon was a military genius. But he ruined Europe and France. The greatest gift a military can give to the people of the nation is to allow them to rule themselves.
My main goal through life has been to gather constructive ideas that would help Pakistan and the Pakistani people. In the end, we are a people who believe in merit, and we accept and uphold everything that highlights justice, fairness rights, beauty and humanity. Sometimes we may kick up a lot of dust, screaming and yelling, but in the end, the water settles and becomes clear, and that which we really care about rises to the top and we accept it.
We will overcome the problems of these differences by talking about them. But the whole concepts of neighborhood pressure and alien dictates are really ridiculous. It is impossible in a society which has been changed so much. Of course, I am not trying to say that extremes don’t exist in Pakistani society. But the radicals really remain small in numbers but still cause so much commotion and chaos. They are a minority but still go on causing sabotage and killings. And the best system for proving that they are only a weak minority is through an ongoing process of democracy based on honest elections. We have watched people who used to get 20 percent of the vote in our elections dwindle away to only 2-3 percent of the vote.
Well, the truth is that over the past years, Pakistan has entered into a period of change on many fronts. Pakistan is slowly but surely tossing away its old, stultified forms and is about to take its real shape. This is true not only on the art front but also where science and politics are concerned.
Allama Iqbal gave a thought and Jinnah created Pakistan opening it up to real democratic foundations. Jinnah was the person who opened us up to liberalism and real democracy. Iqbal proved to us that he was not only a true Muslim but also a great poet and a philosopher of the East. At the same time Iqbal and Jinnah both also perceived the needs of people of the subcontinent, they understood the West/East and the world at large. They were the ones who did whatever was needed to be done for the good of Pakistan, the region and the humanity. They believed in science and technology, in institutions, in justice, fairness and personal freedoms and in Pakistan. From this perspective, they were examples of two “Muslim men-secular state model”. After Jinnah’s death, people who did not understand this model, and didn’t even have a clue of such thinking tried to lead Pakistan and failed miserably. I don’t even care to name who these people were.
And finally, through the experiences of the masses, and through a certain inner awareness taking place gradually, the Pakistan Peoples Party was voted as the leading party due to a matured and changed Benazir, who was unfortunately assassinated and there came an accidental president – Asif Ali Zardari. Nawaz also is a changed and matured politician and his Muslim League (N) was voted the second leading party. Today there is a new beginning of democracy in Pakistan that is different from what we have seen in the past despite the flaws of accidental president and the politicians. Despite increasing violence and enormous economic troubles, Pakistan will Insha Allah make its way through the crisis with the least damage. All of this is true. At the same time, there is growing true independence of judiciary and freedom of press. Islam, some say, is at risk but I do not believe True Islam is ever at risk .Islam is certainly compatible with democracy.
Pakistan, like Turkey is equilibrating today between secular and sacred. Turkey has been secular since its start and has been Islamizing while Pakistan has been secularizing from radical distortions of Islam. There are groups which have turned secularism or radical Islam into a flag for themselves and who aim to become political powers using this, but these two extreme groups at either end of the spectrum are not only not secular or Muslims, they are not really democratic, either.
