We are humans, thank God, for we have the ability to suppress animal instincts. It is this nature to control raw flares of often unwanted behaviour that makes us human. Of the animal instincts most abhorred in our being, it is not the unnecessary and unheeded violent behaviour that I want to highlight; it has already been made the subject of many a films, articles and pieces of literature. It is instead the goldfish instinct in all of us, which we so ironically forget about, that we should visit today.
That sun-drenched afternoon, 2 days before the election, history repeated itself in Multan; like the Taseers’, a Gilani son got abducted. The public sentiments varied from the crude poetic justice to sagacious sympathy. Emotions ran high in the family and party supporters alike and desperate outbursts from the Gilani brothers graced the TV screens and disgraced law enforcement agencies yet again. To date, the young Gilani remains missing with a few credible leads leading to some arrests. This is marginally better progress than the Taseers’ case and infinitely better progress than most of us could have dreamt of seeing if we were put in a similar nightmare.
On the day, the clamour of this unfortunate event could have taken the whole city and eventually the whole election process into a downward spiral. The right focus from the media, the right nerve, the right note from PPP at that precise time and a whole lot of wrong would have entailed. Who is to know our Tehrir Square might have started from the sweet, loving people who converse in melodious Seraiki?
However, Gilani Saab’s prudent handling of the matter remains, to date, is his most desirable memory in the minds of most. We have all forgotten and forgiven what had come to pass for 4 years. For a father to lose a son in such manner is most painful. Spare a thought, as well, for the missing persons’ families going through similar ordeals without any closure for years. Our prayers go out to the whole Gilani family for now; to console them and to give them hope that no more wrong will happen to them. We appeal for the safe release of Ali Haider Gilani.
So, for the time being, let’s bow in to the goldfish instinct of short term memory and let our criticism of mediocrity be shrouded by the emotion of pity. We forgive you Gilani Saab but, in our next hour of need, please don’t ask us to leave Pakistan; remnants of that sinister smirk laden image of you still remain. I am quite sure you had better words of consolation for your bereaved sons on 09th May 2013. Yes, blood is thicker than water but you were, after all, a foster parent to an orphaned nation.
As if multitude of problems facing us; war, poverty, terrorism, unemployment, power cuts etc; was not enough, our buffoon leaders grasp every opportunity to embarrass the whole nation in front of the whole world. The nation which has produced best doctors, engineers, physicists and world record holders IT professionals, has to face further humiliation of becoming a laughing stock because of cowardly decisions and goofy viewpoints of the ruling elite. I wonder why we are condemned to be ruled by worst of the lot which leaves us humiliated time and again.
Mr. Prime Minister (my heart sinks while addressing you by this title), your latest interview to CNN was one of the many examples of the above. The body language, selection of words, and irrelevant and weightless answers would annoy anyone, let alone the interviewer. And when a Prime Minister of a country is spoken to, by an interviewer as to ‘Look me in the eye and answer me’, there is surely something seriously wrong in stance and policies of the state that he is representing. The lady should understand that this part of the world does not know what resigning on moral grounds mean. That is only why you had to rely on generalised patent answers. Every time this issue of resigning on moral grounds arises, it reminds me of David Blunkett the British Home secretary, who resigned by taking full responsibility of defaming his government due to his action of only fast tracking a visa application. But here, Mr Prime Minister you are actually standing firm as a scapegoat of an already defamed corrupt government like a stubborn child protecting an evil ‘friend’.
Your answer ‘Either choose democracy or dictatorship’, is a patent, prewritten formula for these interviews and talk shows. If one even thinks that this government is dysfunctional and corrupt, they are blasphemers, backed by the army, wanting big boots to intervene in the civilian territory. Oh no, Mr Prime Minister, not every question befits this answer. Not everything and anything is a ‘conspiracy’ against democracy. If the leading lot is corrupt, if the President has heavy accounts and properties outside the country the legitimacy of which needs to be looked into, it doesn’t mean we want dictatorship. Trust me, we hate it. That only simply means this is NOT democracy where people do not have the right to object and demand trials on corruption. You remind us of the will of people when you are told that according to a Gallup survey, 80% of the nation is frustrated and fed up with the dysfunctional parliament and civil institutions? Nothing can be more naïve than that. And you ask, why don’t the one third of the nation who wish to leave the country, leave then?
Let me answer you why. Remember the flood victim Mohammad Akram? A 30 year old man sick of his life who torched himself in front of your residence as he was frustrated to death because of unemployment? Remember, Kamran Ijaz Gul a child who topped his Class-VII examination and committed suicide because his poor parents could not buy him new school uniform.
Remember, only a few days ago in Multan, aone year old child died due to extreme heat in a bus stuck in a traffic jam caused by people protesting against loadshedding.
These people whose ‘will’ you talk about would leave the country if they had money and opportunity. But they haven’t seen a few thousands of rupees together, let alone millions of dollars that the leaders of this country have and deal with every day. Of course, your question, ‘who’s stopping them depicts your ignorance and apathy towards the nation you claim to lead. And of course, you wouldn’t know how painful it is to stand under the scorching sun at a bus stop with a hungry child in lap as you have millions of pounds to spend on your lavish and luxurious ‘Limousine’ tours. You wouldn’t know how a parent feels to see their child commit suicide. You wouldn’t know what it feels like to see your children prepare for an exam with no fan, no bulb and still shine. You wouldn’t know what it feels like to receive a bad news about a loved one, dying in a clash created for political/personal interests. And you wouldn’t know how it feels to see your loved one having a cardiac arrest in an ambulance when the traffic comes to a halt because of PM’s or President’s motorcade of Mercedes passing by. But trust me, Mr. Prime Minister you and your company are answerable for the herd of donkeys that you are leading. (16 crore, yeh gadhay jink a naam hai Awaam).
The country has already suffered from the worst brain drain and your indifference is making it worse. The lady asked you, ‘Who is running the country in your absence?’ We really want to know, who runs the country even in your presence? The nation is struggling to survive on its own with nobody to look up to for help and hope in your team. My question to you Mr. Prime Minister and company: you have money, properties, palaces, and friends outside Pakistan and you have the opportunity more than anyone else in the country. If we are going to Stone Age even after your ‘country friendly’ policies and getting nothing from you, why don’t you and your team leave the country alone? And your question, ‘who’s stopping them (to leave)’ further disconnects the tie, so let’s do it. No one would stop you, I promise!
Though the much awaited detailed verdict handed down by the seven-member bench in the contempt of court case against PM Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani fell short of the expectations of many, but the verdict has at least cleared the mist of confusion on the political horizon, putting the Prime Minister in the irreversible process of disqualification.
However, the PPP would be getting their planned design of lingering the legal course till final conclusion of the on-going legal battle is successfully executed, courtesy the lengthy and tedious legal process. But the detailed judgment in the contempt of court case had sealed the fate of the Prime Minister who would hardly avoid disqualification as member Parliament.But the Prime Minister’s “sacrifice” surely would buy some more breathing space for the ruling coalition to sail through the troubled waters by successfully presenting the fifth and final budget, which would be the only constitutional obligation to be met by the ruling coalition.
The decision of going in appeal against the judgment was already made by the PPP leadership, even much before the handing down of the short order of the court on April 26. Some senior party leader, who did not want to disclose their identity, said that the conviction of Prime Minister in the case was obvious and that was the reason they had already decided that they would exhaust all legal and constitutional remedies in the on-going battle with the superior judiciary.
Some insiders in the party said that the legal brains of the party would file appeal against the verdict in the case for which right now the court has not requisite strength to constitute a larger bench to take up the appeal. At present out of the nine available judges apart from the seven members who had convicted the Prime Minister in contempt of court case, three had expressed their inability to sit in the larger bench leaving the court with just six judges. So in given circumstances the court would be requiring at least two more ad hoc or additional judges to constitute a larger bench to take up the appeal of the Prime Minister.
The determination of the Prime Minister to go into appeal could be judged well from the fact that he did not even wait for landing of his plane in London and gave statement on-board his special plane that he would file appeal against the court judgment for which instructions had already been given to his counsel Barrister Ch. Aitzaz Ahsan.
Under the law, the Prime Minister could file an appeal against his conviction, which could ultimately lead to his disqualification as member of the Parliament, till May 26 as the 30-days time would be counted from the day of handing down of the short order by the court. In the meanwhile, the Supreme Court would initiate the legal process of getting the court order implemented by sending the copy of detailed judgment simultaneously to Speaker National Assembly and Chief Election Commissioner.
Speaker National Assembly, under the rules of business and procedure, is bound to forward the reference against Prime Minister to Chief Election Commissioner within 30 days period for action while the Chief Election Commissioner would have 90 days at maximum to de-notify him as member of the Parliament which would automatically remove him for the slot of Prime Minister.Pakistan People’s Party wants to have breathing space for another couple of months to successfully present the fifth and final budget and then the Prime Minister could even resign portraying that the PPP has great respect for the judiciary and try to mould the public opinion in their favour.
Anyone from the party would step in his shoes as Prime Minister to again defy the court’s direction in the NRO implementation case and could drag the matter till the holding of next elections and establishment of the caretaker set up. By the time they would successfully exhaust the premature campaigns being launched by some of the political parties with Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) as the forerunners. Political and legal analysts watching the situation were of the view that Mian Nawaz Sharif had made some hasty decision after the handing down of the short order of the apex court convicting the PM and should have waited till the detailed judgement. Similarly Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf and Jamaat-I-Islami have to follow PML-N and as they were not prepared for it their shows in support of the superior judiciary were off-colour or they could not leave some marked impact, which would definitely have some sort of impact on the judiciary as well.
These analysts were of the view that contrary to the political players the judiciary was playing safe and were not in haste in getting their orders implemented and that was the reason the judges of the superior courts were adopting judicial restraint in their decision and handling of various cases. Even in the detailed judgment in the contempt of court case against Prime Minister the seven-member bench could have given some clear-cut direction to Chief Election Commissioner for disqualification of the Premier but the court had once again showed judicial restraint, leaving the matter of Prime Minister’s disqualification to be executed through the laid down legal and constitutional process.
The legal and constitutional experts are of the view that despite the provocative statements and sarcastic remarks coming from PPP leadership the Supreme Court of Pakistan has not taken any hostile posture against the rulers while dealing with cases of sensitive nature and adopted judicial restraint to avoid clash-like situation to save the institutions as well as the on-going political process.
With all this battle and political tug of war going on the masses remain an irrelevant entity, busy in sorting out load shedding, protesting in the streets, committing suicides, selling their children while the convicted Prime Minister is on a lavish and luxurious ‘official’ trip to UK with a big team on Tax Payers’ money representing a poor and war stricken nation.
We are humans, thank God, for we have the ability to suppress animal instincts. It is this nature to control raw flares of often unwanted behaviour that makes us human. Of the animal instincts most abhorred in our being, it is not the unnecessary and unheeded violent behaviour that I want to highlight; it has already been made the subject of many a films, articles and pieces of literature. It is instead the goldfish instinct in all of us, which we so ironically forget about, that we should visit today.
