Don’t ask me about the politics of my country because it’s like a whore surrounded by many customers. This can be the simplest description of a country’s political scenario where corrupt politicians, incompetent bureaucrats, ailing judiciary, languishing institutions and opportunist electronic media disappoint masses at every level.
Sadly enough, this is a country where insincere politicians keep on sitting and waiting like hungry wolves during winter season to devour the one who becomes drowsy while at the moment, all deceitful politicians are eying on the drowsy masses to rob them of their resources in the name of nationalism or religion. Institutional weaknesses of this sort invite the most powerful institution of the country namely army to govern the public against their will.
The imposition of emergency by President Pervez Musharraf was also the result of the same vicious cycle which the county has witnessed many times after its independence. The so-called independence of the country had just been a change of masters- from British rule to the U.S dictations. The struggle to attain power revolves around the few while the day-to-day activities of the masses suffer as a result of the unrest spread by these contestants.
The imposition of emergency has also affected the general public a lot. First of all, they were deprived from the free flow of information, but why? Because some private television had become a party against the government and they had kept aside the principle of objective reporting like the Geo. TV and some others. It’s a bitter fact that such television channels, for the sake of their revenues were sometimes supporting government’s campaigns and sometimes facilitating its opponents.
For instance, the Chief Justice’s issue was vigorously highlighted by these channels on a 24 hours basis for which there are reports that some elements were funding these channels to aggressively push the issue. There are also reports and online groups of intellectuals routinely send emails to masses that Geo T.V is being sponsored by the U.S in order to promote frustration and the future can be mapped as they want to project in the minds of 50 percent illiterate population who can’t read – but can see.
These online groups also claim that none of the international media depict headless bodies after some bomb blast coverage then why Geo TV kept on hyping such things time and again. They also quote example of our neighboring country India’s private channels which never gave coverage to the Muslim massacre of Gujrat by hands of extremist Hindus.
Secondly, new sanctions have been imposed on journalists of print and electronic media organizations which has an impact on those journalists who accomplish their duties in an objective manner. One reason behind the new sanctions is the media cross-ownership which is abundant in Pakistan; though, disliked globally, such media cross-ownership had given the media gatekeepers an additional power which they exercise to exploit other power players.
Thirdly, the active participation of lawyers in the political affairs have affected the access of people to justice as lawyers frequently boycott courts proceedings in protest that afflict justice seekers.The lawyer’s community has emerged as a new power-player in the political arena of Pakistan in favor of political parties and the judiciary. However, there is no one to ask them that why in the past or at present they have never vigorously campaigned for the legal rights of the common man.
The common man who usually dies in quest for justice because the age-old judicial system of the country and the obsolete infrastructure of the courts lingers-on the cases and it becomes unaffordable for poor people to knock the court doors in hope of justice. The deposed Chief Justice who became a hero after the campaign launched by lawyers and paid by politicians did nothing during his whole service to enhance the judicial system of the country, however, he still hopes for justice for himself from any up-coming civilian government. But he does not know that the purpose of the politicians has been accomplished and now he is nothing more than a tissue paper for them.
The imposition of emergency is a consequence of the continuous tug-of-war among all the key power players of the political scene of Pakistan which will be lifted on December 16, 2007. But there is no denying the fact that it has weakened the democratic institutions of the country and empowered the ruling lot to a great extent. At the same time, its worst victims are ordinary people who are sometimes brutally beaten or disappear forever after detention by law enforcement agencies.
Traffic mess on roads due to the protest rallies and political power demos never allow people to reach their work places. Many patients die on roads while breathing their last in ambulances. The mystery of suicide attacks is never understood and the misery of average man increases when handicapped survivors’ families suffer and some families permanently lose their bread earners. Resultantly, instead of providing protection to common men, the security agencies of the government remain on high alert to protect VIPs and so the ratio in of street crimes has increased manifolds.