Pakistanis tasted their first dose of success when they challenged the might of Pervez Musharraf and got through elections and wrote a new chapter of freedom for themselves.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), riding on the sympathy wave of Benazir Bhutto’s death, has scored highest number of seats – 87. Pakistan Muslim League (N) has got 66 seats and PML(Q), nicknamed king’s party, could get only 39 seats. The tally of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, which is an alliance of religious parties, has come down to 9 from the previously held 66.
Independent commentators are of the opinion that, in spite of being supervised by handpicked persons of President Pervez Musharraf, the election was fairly free. The results prove that disillusionment of common man with the military controlled government was total.
It has been the tragedy with Pakistan that this country, created in the name of and for implementing Islam, was never allowed to function in the light of Islamic principles. The basic tenet of Islam, shura or consultative nature of governance, was continuously flouted with impunity. The country was under military rule for 45 years out of 60 years of its existence. This deprived the people of learning the art of self-governance, openness and transparency and more than that undermined their self-confidence. It was during the periods of long military rules that people’s freedom was suppressed and military increased its intervention in civil affairs. Thus the masses were deprived of evolving a democratic sense which is very essential for the health and development of a nation.
Besides military, USA had been always exerting its influence on Pakistan’s polity for pursuing its vested interests. Thus Islam was always given a back seat and never allowed a free hand to exercise its benign influence on the social, political and economic affairs of the country.
Even now the things are far from satisfactory. The US appears to be solidly standing behind disgraced Pervez Musharraf. If it decides to ditch him, it would support other equally discredited leaders.
The precarious situation demands that the PPP and PML(N), who are going to form the new government, must work with a spirit of reconciliation. They must take into confidence smaller parties whose cooperation is essential in shaping the future of Pakistan. The government must fulfil the aspirations of common people, fundamental rights must be protected, civil liberties should be restored and basic human rights must be protected at all costs. As the first step the dismissed chief justice and other 60 judges should be reinstated.
Above all, Islam must be made the basis of nation building. Islamic principles, in which the whole nation believes, must be brought to fore and sincerely implemented to build a cohesive, peaceful and prosperous society. Let us hope that Pakistan will overcome the present difficulties and move towards Islam in whose name it was created. This cannot be done impulsively. This requires a series of well-thought of, strong and permanent measures with firm determination to make Islam a living and thriving reality of collective life of Pakistan.