The BBC Urdu service’s Masud Alam says a contempt for the law has always permeated throughout Pakistan’s ruling class.
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Senior government functionaries in Pakistan are fond of complaining, in private, that the nation they are serving is averse to following the dictates of law.
That if something does not work in this country it is because the common man does not follow the system.
Lack of education, lack of discipline and lack of respect for the law are just some of the misdemeanours on the part of a populace that hampers the pace of progress.
A section of Pakistanis – the so-called educated and those living abroad – also subscribe to this preposterous notion.
But in truth, things could not be more different.
It is the incompetence of the bureaucracy, the ignorance of lawmakers, the greed of the military for power and riches – combined with a glaring contempt for the law on the part of all three groups – that has created and then compounded the social anarchy that everyone is now forced to live in.
There is no law in this country that cannot be or has not been broken by the very people who made them, and those whose job it is to implement them.
Take the law banning alcohol, for instance. It was introduced by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the first elected prime minister and the modern, liberal and democratic face of Pakistan in the 70s.
Bhutto is also the man who publicly admitted that he did not mind downing a few drops after a hard day’s work.
Another prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, took the oath of office that emphasises the protection of life and property of every citizen.
He then proceeded to allow a team of American security men to raid a hotel in a Pakistani city, kidnap a Pakistani national, drive him to Islamabad, put him in a plane and fly off to the US.
The suspect, Aimal Kasi, was wanted by the Americans on charges of killing two CIA officials. The US wanted to bring him to justice at any cost. And the Pakistani PM was eager to please the Americans at any cost – in this case the cost was trashing the judicial system of his own country.
The same prime minister sent a team of party officials, including sitting parliamentarians, to storm the Supreme Court building and break into the court room where a petition against the PM was being heard.
The so-called National Accountability Bureau has in the past few years apprehended several high ranking politicians on charges of corruption, but if they agreed to join the military government – and almost all of them did – they were not only conveniently forgotten, some were made federal ministers.
Three times in the history of this young country, the army chief has led a coup against a civilian government. The constitution was on each occasion trampled under military boots, even though it defines such actions as acts of “high treason”.
Each military dictator seeks to pass on the baton to another, much like handing family treasures to the next generation.
The message that reaches the masses is: there is no law of the land and we have no rights, except what we can grab for ourselves.
The rulers, their coterie and functionaries, are the law. They will apply the writ when they see fit and they will overlook when it is wise to do so.
The people of this country have learnt to live in a system heavily skewed against them. They look for short cuts, they bribe their way, they use friends’ and family’s influence, they lie through their teeth, they plead and they threaten because there is no straightforward way to get things done.
To label these people “law breakers” is then adding insult to injury if the labeller is from the ruling class. Because in this country, laws are not made “for the people”, more often than not they are made to be used “against” them.
It is therefore only natural for people to break these laws whenever they can get away with it.
Conversely, if you provide an environment where the regulations aim to provide comfort and protection to the users, and the laws they produce are clearly communicated and fairly and firmly applied, the people of Pakistan will be as law abiding as any other people in the world.
This is the background that explains the relief and joy of the common man at the reinstatement of Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry as the chief justice of Pakistan.
For the first time the law has not sided with the law makers. For the first time, a powerful government headed by a serving general has failed to subvert the judiciary. And for the first time, people have come out on the street, in their hundreds of thousands, in support of the rule of law.
These masses were not motivated by some charismatic political leader. It was the unity of lawyers all over the country, and their objective of upholding the law, that got the attention of the people.
The Supreme Court’s landmark decision, striking down the presidential charge sheet against the chief justice, is indeed a watershed in the history of Pakistan.
It has proved conclusively that the people of this country want justice. They believe in the need for laws, and they are capable of respecting them.
It is the ruling class that routinely breaks the law and considers it a privilege. These are the people who, for a change, are now fearful of the application of law under an independent judiciary.
The people of Pakistan do not expect an overnight sea change in their circumstances at the hands of a born-again judiciary. It is the prospect of law finally catching up with the real law breakers, that they find so irresistibly sweet.
(for further comments, please go here)
August 9, 2007 at 5:16 pm
AssalamuAlaikum
May I just add in response to the last post (sorry I’m a bit slow).
Someone advised me once that once you find a teacher follow them everywhere – not literally. But attend every one of their lessons etc – EVEN if it is one you have sat through before or if its something you have studied before.
We should also familiarize ourselves with the etiquettes of seeking knowledge and in particular the etiquettes of asking questions and the dislike of asking too many, unnecessary and unimportant questions.
I think it’s also important to remember that our teachers have lives, families and responsibilities of their own and we shouldn’t be disheartened if they do not respond to us straightaway. Think about how many other people maybe calling them, emailing them etc. They aren’t super human.
I’m glad Brother Abu Eesa mentioned the Internet, It’s easy to see how the TV can be addictive but many of us are addicted to the net without even realizing it. I try to check my email once a day for about 5 minutes but more often than not 5 minutes leads to 15 minutes of browsing. Alhamdulillah I’m fortunate that my eyes get strained if I spend too long on the PC so it acts as a safeguard for me.
Yes there are good sites Alhamdulillah but how long do we actually spend at these ‘good sites’?
While I was pregnant with my daughter there were a couple of months during which my husband and I didn’t have the internet at home SubhanAllah. Both of us spend more time reading, going for walks etc and I think I focused on learning Arabic and memorizing Qur’an in those months than I have at any other time.
I was thinking perhaps we could all make a resolution to cut down our time on the net and use this time more productively, spend more time with our families, parents, children, visit someone in need and most importantly start preparing (if we aren’t already) for Ramadan which is not far away.
Also – speaking of teachers Alhamdulillah in Manchester we are fortunate to have not only the sheikh but also his wife who teaches us Tafseer. The class has been running for about 4 years now at Disbury. Any sisters interested email me at rival120@yahoo.com
Your sister Umm Maymoonah.
August 9, 2007 at 5:51 pm
“Alhamdulillah in Manchester we are fortunate to have not only the sheikh but also his wife who teaches us Tafseer”
I assume you’re talking about Sheikh Kehlan, not Abu Eesa? It sounds like you’re referring to Abu Eesa.
August 9, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Quote:Three times in the history of this young country, the army chief has led a coup against a civilian government. The constitution was on each occasion trampled under military boots, even though it defines such actions as acts of “high treason”. End Quote.
As someone once said: History never repeats itself except in Paksitan.
The ordinary Pakistanis can only get their rights through justice (ISLAM), the faces of the unjust ‘law-makers’ keep changing but the oppressive laws remain in force, (with the elite being above the law, and the rest beyond the law!) so under these circumstances how can we expect any changes and developments within Pakistan?
Why else would ordinary folk feel the need to turn to the local maulanas to rid the streets of evil and vice, and its simply because those in power will not listen to the pleas of the masses and instead encourage these things (massage parlours, music, zina etc etc) under the name of liberation and freedom. Ordinary Paksitanis do not want this, yet the ruling class shove it down their throats in the race of full ‘westernisation’.
The situation in Pakistan is so sad, i am still not over the massacre that took place last month, it was heart-breaking to put it lightly. Allama Iqbal dreamt of a country ruled by Islam, which elevated the Kalimah and look at the state of it, all we see is corruption and vice. May Allah swt make Pakistan a country which is just, pure and Islamic.
August 9, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Too many of our lands have been ruled with ‘cowardliness’ and ‘greed’. From Pakistan to the Middle East and beyond.
Nonetheless, our religion teaches us that our leaders will reflect the type of people that WE are.
Therefore, if we want our leadership to change, we must change first.
The problem is, people only care about their ‘own interests’ or ’self-preservation’ as I like to call it. It’s the same everywhere in our ‘native’ lands and everywhere else around the World.
The bitter truth is, it won’t stop until – the Major signs in the Hadith come to be, and we all know what they are.
Until then, all we can do is help each other, so that we create unity and reform ourselves in spirituality and character.
August 12, 2007 at 12:26 am
who is any1 to be a ‘law maker’ in d first place?isnt it part of tawheed to accept all of allah’s names and attributes as belonging only to him?i thought allah was the haakim so why the need for any other law except allah swt?isnt it a form of shirk to accept anything else as the law of the land?maybe if we sorted our tawheed out in this area as well as all other areas allah will bless pakistan.
maybe i am wrong
please correct me if so
August 12, 2007 at 9:39 am
RE: ANONYMOUS
If you carefully analyse the history of every ‘political’ nation; you will conclude that that God’s laws have been combined with the laws of man. Hence, we now have ’secular’ governments across the Globe. Whether the original laws of the country was Islamic, Christian etc.
From a political perspective, God’s laws bind a nation into ‘Moral’ leadership whereby greed and injustice are eliminated; and morality is encourages, practiced and policed. However, due to the greed of mankind, these laws were altered and in some cases eliminated, as it restricts governments. Leaderships do not want to be held accountable or to be subdued by any laws higher than theirs.
The only way to do that is to detach religion from politics. Then, to alter the rights of mankind with so called liberal ‘human rights’ and detach religion from the population; and to class it as some kind of ancient ‘cult’, by making it appear obsolete and incompatible with contemporary society. What is contemporary society anyway? ‘Contemporary’ are the new ‘norms’ of society, which have been deliberately designed to reject religion.
Our beloved Islam, has always been all-encompassing, catering for the political spectrum right down-to an individuals spirituality, and the rights of ‘mankind’ which includes the ‘unseen’.
Our Islam is timeless, there is no expiry date to it.
Unfortunately, our leaderships are weak and impotent; and as I stated in my previous comment; the type of leadership we get is a direct reflection on the character of its people.
We are easy to corrupt and this can be in many forms which are too vast for me to list right now.
If we were obedient to Allah (swt), through the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (saw), then no government or people could corrupt us; and hence we would only accept an Islamic government that would implement true Shariah Law.