http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_7425758?nclick_check=1

San Francisco Chronicle -

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/10/BA9NTABPP.DTL

KPFA – 94.1 Bay Area

http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=23224 (our coverage starts right at 12minutes)

KCBS – 740 AM Bay Area

http://www.kcbs.com/Pakistani-Americans-Want-US-to-Pressure-Musharraf/1199199 (they didn’t do a good job of representing the key points I was emphasizing)

Daily Times – a leading newspaper in Pakistan

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C11%5C13%5Cstory_13-11-2007_pg7_19

Coverage on Jaiza – most likely GEO TV will show this -

Short Clip -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctPdEAwDsQ8

Complete Coverage -

http://www.jaiza.com/media/pkEmergency/SFRally.asx

InsideBayArea.com -

http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/localnews/ci_7426816

Pakistan Link -

http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/Nov07/13/13.htm

We are expecting coverage in Geo TV, Pakistan Link, Pakistan Times and Gulf Today. Stay tuned.

http://picasaweb.google.com/moid.akarachi/DemoAgainstMartialLawNov10 (Photos by: Moid  Alam)

http://community.webshots.com/album/561395355WYEWjL?vhost=community&start=12 (Photos by: Balaji Narasimhan)

November 10, 2007                                                                Ijaz Syed (408)838-0952

                                                                                                syedi@sbcglobal.net

Khurram Mahmood (408) 230-6784
khurram.mahmoodPTI@gmail.com                                                   

MEDIA ADVISORY

“STOP BUSH! STOP MUSHARRAF ”

San Francisco Bay Area community groups protest Martial Law and US support for military dictatorship in Pakistan

Decry announcement of elections under martial law

November 11, San Francisco:  On a wet, cold afternoon, over 100 people converged at San Francisco City Hall yesterday to protest the imposition of Martial Law in Pakistan and the US Government’s support for Musharraf’s military dictatorship.   People drove from as far as Sacramento to participate in the rally, carrying home-made signs.  For two hours, people stood in the rain, raising chants and slogans as they listened to various speakers. The organizers of the rally said that they hoped to build international support for their demands which include an immediate end to the Emergency Rule, withdrawal of U.S. support for the military regime, unconditional release of all political prisoners, restoration of the judiciary, reinstatement of fundamental rights, and an end to the curbs on news media in Pakistan.

Khurram Mahmood, a rally organizer, explained what the Emergency meant to Pakistanis: “If you are living in Pakistan today, you don’t have the right to free assembly, you do not have any right to criticize the government, and if you are found criticizing the government, you can be hauled to prison, and tried in military courts for treason.  General Musharraf can now single handedly amend the constitution of Pakistan in order to systemically remove the checks placed on the executive branch.”  Mahmood exhorted everyone to support the people’s resistance to martial law in Pakistan.

Ijaz Syed, another rally organizer, elaborated on the scope of people’s resistance in Pakistan: “Since the media has been banned, there is little news coming out of Pakistan of the phenomenal resistance that people have put up to the Martial Law.  However, phone calls, blogs, and the internet are being widely used to disseminate information about what is happening on the ground.  Human rights activists, lawyers, teachers, students have taken to the streets in unprecedented number.  Yesterday, reports from friends came in that all of Sindh had been practically shut down in opposition to the Martial Law.”  Syed also demolished the claim that the imposition of martial law was necessary to counter religious extremists in Pakistan.  “Just see who is being arrested today—thousands of lawyers and judges and opposition party activists have been thrown into jail, while not a single religious extremist has been arrested since the imposition of Emergency.  Instead, some of them have been actually released in the last week as Musharraf has been negotiating with the religious parties to build support for his government.  This supposed war on terror is a war on people and democracy.”

Mazda Majidi, from the antiwar group A.N.S.W.E.R., spoke about the U.S. support of dictatorship in Pakistan.  He told the group that over $10 billion had been given, mostly as military aid to General Musharraf, over the past five years.  “That aid did not go to the Pakistani people, who are an impoverished lot with low literacy and poor access to healthcare.  That aid went directly to General Musharraf, to equip him with better weapons, which he has now turned against his own people.”  The U.S. State Department has repeatedly declared that Musharraf is an “indispensable ally” of the U.S. and President Bush has reposed confidence in Musharraf’s intentions of bringing democracy to Pakistan. 

Roshni Rustomji, a well-known writer and educator from the area, reminded people that the taxes paid by workers in the U.S. must not be used to support injustice or dictatorships anywhere, at any time. She reiterated the main demands of the rally – an end to Emergency and Martial Law in Pakistan, and speedy restoration of the judiciary, constitutional rule and democracy in Pakistan.  “I join people who are here today and people around the world who demand that students, lawyers, journalists, human rights activists … citizens … women and men, people from all walks of life—arrested, imprisoned, tortured for opposing General Musharraf’s Martial Law and his suspension of the Constitution of Pakistan must be freed.  We can not afford to forget that each and every one of these women and men has a human face and a name.”

James M. Thompson, a senior lawyer, addressed the rally as a close friend of Munir A. Malik, the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association who is currently imprisoned for opposing Emergency.  Thompson highlighted the central role played by lawyers in Pakistan in resisting oppression and protecting the independence of the judiciary.  He emphasized the importance of Separation of Powers as the model of governance of democratic states.  “The doctrine of separation of powers rests upon the recognition that the concentration of absolute power in one man or one body will inevitably lead to exploitation and tyranny,” said Mr. Thompson, quoting Mr. Malik’s speech at the Supreme Court bar association on May 26, 2007, where Malik noted that after usurping power in 1999, General Musharraf has been trying to undermine the judiciary in Pakistan: “The main danger facing Pakistan today is the tendency towards monopolization and concentration of all state power in one body. This lust for unrivalled power and ultimate authority destroys all those institutions that form the foundations of a modern civilized state.”

The speakers were cheered on by rally attendees spontaneously breaking out into loud chants, ranging from disgust at the authoritarian rule in Pakistan and its support from the US, to loud appreciation of the people who are at the forefront of the resistance in Pakistan today.  Placards supporting Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhary, human rights activist Asma Jahangir and lawyers Ali Kurd, Munir Malik and Abrar Hasan were prominent.

Even as the rally ended, news came that Musharraf had announced that elections will be held at the end of January, but has not committed to lifting martial law before the elections are held.  Reacting angrily to this announcement, Ijaz Syed said, “Elections under the Emergency Rule are just a meaningless exercise, meant only for international consumption. We unequivocally denounce this attempt to muzzle the democratic movement and will not accept anything short of full restitution of the Constitution NOW.”

The rally today was organized by many groups—among them are Friends of South Asia, a community-based organization in the Bay Area that works towards a multicultural, pluralistic, and a hate-free South Asia; Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, a broad based pro-democracy movement for change in Pakistan whose mission is to create a free society based on justice and self-respect; and A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition, which has campaigned against U.S. intervention in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia, and championed civil rights and social and economic justice for working and poor people inside the United States.  Other endorsing organizations included Code Pink, South Bay Mobilization, San Jose Peace Center, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Pakistani Muslim League and Silicon Valley Pakistani American Council.

One may disagree with a supreme court’s decision but one must respect it as long as it is according to the law and has strong legal arguments to back it.  This especially after the whole nation is euphoric that we, the people, have finally freed our courts of government intervention.  All might look bleak but at least as long as we have independent courts, there is hope.  SC had further reassured the nation by taking some really bold decision in past few months.

I would normally be whole heartedly accepting this decision by the SC but what muddles the waters and leaves a sour taste in my mouth is this comment from Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar who was part of the bench that delivered their decision.  Justice Khokhar argued, “We must be sensitive at this juncture that power has to be transferred from military to civilians”.   This is a political statement, law must be interpreted regardless of what the perceived ground realities are.  Justice Khokhar’s statement has the easily discernible stink of the abominable doctrine of necessity that has been used several times to legitimize military rule in Pakistan.  The so-called doctrine of necessity has made a mockery of Pakistan’s judicial system and is commonly believed to be one of the main reasons why army has ruled the country directly or indirectly throughout its history.  After all that transpired between March 19th and July 20th, are we still looking at the skies for miracles? Too early to decide, the arguments given by the court to support their latest decision were nevertheless disappointing.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place
by: Imran Khan

Fanatics to the left of us, fanatics to the right of us, with Pakistan caught in the middle. There are two minuscule fanatical groups, the influential liberal fanatics and the religious fanatics, at either end of the spectrum. Trapped and held hostage in the middle is the moderate majority, from westernized liberals who are genuinely tolerant of others’ views to the genuinely religious with open minds who believe that there is no compulsion in religion. There is also plenty of ignorance and as a result plenty of confusion, especially amongst the youth.

Because to liberal fanatics modernization means westernization, they have to perforce look down on their own culture and religion. Lacking a proper understanding of Islam they see the religion through western eyes, convinced that it is a retrogressive, primitive creed of ancient desert folk. Resultantly they are convinced that Islam impedes Pakistan’s progress, meaning westernization. Thus though the mullah has never been part of our effete and corrupt ruling elite, he is blamed for Pakistan’s current crises. To the liberal fanatic secularism means being anti-Islam, as in Kamalist Turkey. Lacking respect for and an understanding of Pakistan’s history and culture, their every solution to Pakistan’s problems is imported. Hence liberal fanatics have variously advocated Marxism, women’s liberation, market economy, and other western beliefs which are being boosted by a particular lobby for a western-specific purpose at a particular point in time. Only free minds can have the original ideas so desperately needed by this country.

Liberal fanatics credit India’s recent economic success not to the country’s better education system but to the ‘westerness’ of Indian culture as falsely portrayed by some of their TV channels by attempting to remove all Indianness from their characters. They don them in Western clothes, give them American accents and, most shockingly, white skins. Indian looking caricatures are objects of ridicule while the hero or role model is always fair and totally westernized.

These people have only to study colonial history of the past two centuries to realize that wherever an alien culture was imposed on an indigenous people it caused mass upheaval, disruption and destruction to their way of life. From the Aborigines of Australia to the Indians of the Americas and most of Africa the local people fell between two stools in the name of modernization. The societies that have been success stories have all used western knowledge but developed in the context of their own culture and environment like Japan and China. Desi liberal fanatics preach secularism, yet they don’t fully understand the evolution of secularism in Europe. Martin Luther’s movement was to free religion from the stranglehold of the church, not to get rid of religion altogether. The Desi secularists have been heavily influenced by Marxism with its anti-religion and anti-family message and American secularism. After the bitter Scopes court case in 1925, the secularists turned fiercely anti-religion and after a hard fought campaign won a huge victory when in 1963 the US Supreme Court actually disallowed the teaching of religion in state schools. Martin Luther, who was a God fearing man, would be turning in his grave at the thought of where the movement that he began to break the tyranny of the church has ended up. Unfortunately our liberal fanatics are bent upon imposing western secular values on a country where the vast majority’s entire way of life is influenced by religion. Their arrogance arises out of a feeling of ‘superiority’ that westernization bestows on them.

When our liberal fanatics talk of women’s rights it is not from the Islamic perspective but a western one. Again the struggle of western woman for emancipation is within the context of their history and culture, totally alien to the Muslim experience. Hence when the real liberal Mohammed Ali Jinnah was addressing the Aligarh students in 1938, he appealed to them to work for the emancipation of the Muslim woman: “This is essential; but I do not want to ape the evils of the West.” Similarly, the other great Muslim liberal Allama Iqbal always kept stressing to the Muslim youth to find their own way and not “tread on others’ paths.” Iqbal was an original because by having in-depth knowledge of the Quran, Islamic history as well as European philosophies he was in a position to critically evaluate Islamic as well as western civilization. If only we had a scholar of Iqbal’s calibre today he would have questioned the direction western civilization has taken; e.g. in its exploitation of women, as in beauty contests, in advertisements where half-clad women are used to sell products, or where fashion forces women to display their bodies. He would certainly have commented on the proliferation of public immorality in the name of freedom and its role in the breakdown of the family. And, its impact on the devaluing of the role of the mother, a role so highly regarded in Islam. Iqbal would certainly have questioned homosexual marriages and gay couples adopting children.

Liberal fanatics overlook such issues because westoxified minds are in no position to critically analyze the direction in which western civilization is headed. The irony is that in the Victorian age, the peak of British civilization, public morality was much higher than in most of the Muslim World today. Indeed, the Victorians thought Islam a permissive religion. Consequently, and not surprisingly, the family system and values were strong. If the liberal fanatics had their way we would destroy the only institution that is keeping our society from completely falling apart, our family system. Already satellite and cable TV are causing tremendous frustration amongst our youth and putting a great strain on our social system.

At the other extreme we have religious fanatics whose numbers are growing by the day. The main cause of religious extremism is injustice: the growing gap between rich and poor, with the majority of the population being denied education, employment, health and justice. With no stake in the system, militant Islam becomes appealing to the dispossessed. Add to this the injustices against Muslims in Kashmir, Chechnya, Bosnia, Palestine and so many other places. Eighty percent of all refugees in the world are Muslim. It is not hard to see why the idealistic and romantic amongst us are driven to take up arms. In the last century such European romantics fought in the Spanish Civil War. There are, of course, religious zealots who through sheer ignorance decided to force their uninformed version of Islam through the barrel of the gun. Such bigots have done tremendous damage to Islam as they have failed to understand that Islam is a battle for conquering hearts and minds. The Quran repeatedly says that there is no compulsion in religion. The Messenger (PBUH) was told by Allah in the Quran that his job was simply to proclaim His message, the real meaning of Iqra “Proclaim the Word of God who created Man from a clot.” Whether people converted or not wasn’t Muhammad’s (PBUH) business. There are yet others who have killed fellow Muslims in the name of their sect, doing the greatest damage to a religion that constantly preaches tolerance and rejects sectarianism, tribalism and clannishness of any kind other than the ummah, the universal brotherhood of believers on One God. The worst of the fanatics are those who have actually made Islam a business proposition. Then there are those who have become fanatics as a reaction to their religion and way of life being threatened by western culture. This is because of little understanding of western culture due to a sub-standard education system in which everything western is regarded with suspicion, part of a western or a Jewish conspiracy. This group is not only anti-west but is also anti- all the westernized Pakistani elite.

As to the question about how a country deals with the complex issue of religious fundamentalism, the liberal fanatics have only one answer, one very close to Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’: they want the army to take them on. The same group that, quite rightly, preaches dialogue with India, has the most illiberal solutions for its own countrymen.

In fact liberal fanatics are not equipped to hold any dialogue with religious fanatics simply because they are not armed with sufficient knowledge of Islam. In any case religious fanatics consider liberal fanatics (with some justification) as toadies of the West. We need an Iqbal to fight religious bigotry for the only weapon against fundamentalism is enlightened Islam. Fanatics need to be told about Islamic history, how other religions and other points of view were tolerated in days when Europe was ruled by bigotry and ignorance. Islam never knew the savagery of the Inquisition where people were put through unimaginable tortures in the name of religion. As early as the 9th Century AD Muslim scholars were debating the rights of the child. The sophistication of debate was such that a scholar, before putting forth his point of view, would start by saying, “it is possible that I may be wrong.” It was this freedom of thought and the spirit of inquiry that created the intellectual atmosphere that enabled the Islamic World to produce all the world’s top scientists for 750 years. Had it not been for the sacking of Baghdad by the Mongolians in 1258, and had the autocratic Mongolian mindset, that stifled debate, not taken over the Muslim world, it would not be in such a sorry state today.

It was scholars like Jamal-ud-din Afghani, Mohammed Abdu and Iqbal who talked about the movement of thought through Ijtihad. Iqbal argued that just as the European Renaissance and Reformation were triggered off by the acquisition of knowledge from the Muslim universities of Spain, and the Middle East during the Crusades, it was high time that the Muslims used western knowledge to “reconstruct religious thought.” The reason why even today Iqbal is regarded our greatest scholar is because he was able to give the Islamic perspective on contemporary issues of the time, like democracy, socialism, and capitalism.
To end fanaticism both religious and liberal we need to gather genuine Muslim scholars from Pakistan and abroad and hold debates on TV and radio. Pakistani youth needs to know the relevance of Islam to their lives in the 21st Century. We need to find “our own way” rather than importing ideologies that have no relevance to our lives and have failed to deliver. A modern day Ijtihad done by genuine Islamic scholars (and there are plenty of them in the world) will not only give us a common vision and values, it will also marginalise the extremists at both ends. Above all our ruling elite might finally break the shackles of mental slavery and find homegrown solutions to our problems.

The hidden risks of the photo op

What remains to be seen is whether this verdict can be used to further support the case that Imran has filed against MQM in a London Court.

Islam, Heart and Governance

On my way back from Orlando a few weeks ago, I was just going through the various conversations that I had had with different people and groups at APPNA last week.

One conversation that really stuck with me and has been revolving in my mind for the last few days was about the involvement of religion in the politics of Pakistan. This debate about the system of governance in Pakistan has been around for the last 6 decades. Should it be secular or should it be religious. Was Jinnah a secular man or a Muslim who believed in the “Pakistan ka mutlab kya” slogan? In the same conversation I was also advised that I should try to control my emotions when speaking because as a politician I should be able to control my emotions. Well, the answer to the second question is quite simple…Emotions fuel passions and if I was not passionate about what I was doing, I would not be doing it. I strongly believe in the “Politics of Change” . And “Politics of Change” is all about passion compared to “Politics of Power” which is all about practicality and deal making.

Now I am going to try to touch a deeper philosophical and spiritual thought pattern, something that I think is relevant today in our realization of reform stage.

With my two cents being the fact that no movement is worthwhile without a burning passion and all our passions begin and end with Mohammad (SAWW), his progeny and his life-style, thus true Islamic concept being the building block behind every force or reform.

In Islam is what we are born in, in Islam is what we live, in it we die. Whatever our concept of that might be since there are as many dimensions to Islamic thought as there are ways to rational and intellectual thinking. Islam to me is more a religion of the heart than mind. The beauty of Islam is the fact that all points of divergence have to ultimately come to a point of unity and conformity. That all truth seekers no matter which path to spiritual enlightenment they come from, reach a phase in their lives where they are able to see through themselves and hence self-analyze and self-reform…thus attaining the different levels of “Khudi” as illustrated by the great Iqbal. Self- realization is the first step to the ultimate understanding of Allah and our relationship with Him. Of course once again this process of self-analysis and inner reform might or might not come ones way.

The deeper I go into it the more I understand the importance of the heart in all of man’s endeavors. Nothing is possible with an empty heart…if you do not feel it throbbing in side of you like a living volcano when you say “Takbeer”, then all the rest is just mockery. This volcano also erupts in the form of tears when you see your countrymen suffer in natural disasters as the Asian earthquake , the recent floods and similar catastrophes. It explodes in the form of anger when you witness atrocities being committed, specially by the state resulting in the death of innocent lives. All of the above scenarios have one thing in common. They all generate energy that needs to be channalized accordingly otherwise it turns into pure anarchy and chaos , as we see it in our midst today.

This also makes me come to another point and i.e. that Islam is not just a set of rituals, beliefs and sects but a condition of the heart. Our hearts will be weighed on the Day of Judgment and that will be our test. Quran in Surah Fajr says… O Purified soul in complete harmony with his Lord..

So either you are in that self-aware state or you are not. For many people this statement is as clear as life itself. Any intellectually capable person who does not at one point in his life come to this open conclusion has not been given that level of consciousness and hence must be really unfortunate.

Quran also says,” We have enveloped their hearts and they comprehend not…”

To quote Imam Ali “I wonder at the man who observes the Universe created by God and doubts His being”

In the same vein if the teachings of Islam do not touch a heart , they fail to create in it the desired change that revives and rejuvenates the spirit. To quote Iqbal here would be so relevant:

When sons, lacking their fathers worth

Are neither skilled nor sage,

With what deserving can they claim,

Their father’s heritage?

The honored of their times, they lived

For theirs was true iman,

You live disgraced for having left

The paths of Al-Quran…

So to be in true Islam our hearts need to be in a certain medium to reflect and absorb His light. Once in-tune with this light we rise to the spiritual realm that is promised to those who persevere, each according to the longing in his heart.

And for all this to happen, you need passion. Therefore, coming out of the depth and re-surfacing to essentials again, question remains the same and i.e. Why are we so scared of Islam? I have asked this question to many a friend and foe but till today have not heard a satisfying argument. My limited knowledge has come to only one convincing answer. We have been brain washed…OR SHOULD I SAY WE’VE BEEN HEART WASHED. We agree that Islam is a way of life but we still want to question its authority…we agree that in Islam lies our beginning and in Islam lies our end but we are still searching for a way of alternative governance.

In my humble opinion, one needs to look beyond the fearful “Shariah Law” to understand Islam. Islam is practiced and is part of governance in every First World country without these countries being Islamic in themselves . They may not achieve spiritual gains out of it, as we might because of our faith, yet they have implemented every possible fundamental principal of Islamic governance in their system. And we Muslims, who through our Prophet (SAWW) established the First Welfare State in the history of man in Medina, alongside the Jews, are still speculating, contemplating and experimenting where to go today. We need to do some serious soul-searching here.

Now to touch on a little about the past and recent “religious suicide attacks” in our country, understand that extremists don’t become extremists over night….you just don’t wake up one day and say ok I am going to blow myself up….this nuisance is here because of decades of wrong policies of our political and military leaders. You want to fight extremism we must address the core issues. We need to start investing in our people. Start developing infra structure in their areas instead of GHQ’s, start investing in books and libraries instead of guns that are used to kill our own people. Invest in education, invest in hospitals, invest to get the judicial system in order so they can look to the courts for justice, invest in human development, invest in technical institutes, invest in small business loans and invest in welfare projects.

Is this not what Islam teaches us?

Shame on us or shame on them?

Let there be peace!

Let there justice!

Ali Zaidi

Member CEC/International Coordinator
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf

(Movement for Justice)

Right now it’s about mid-night in Lahore and there is a festive atmosphere,I just came back from dinner at Gymkhana where everyone was just talking about the Supreme court decision. The whole day, all the shops and restaurants had their TVs and radios on at full volume waiting eagerly for the decision. GEO and ARY were live at the court the whole day. Most of the people are really happy with the decision and consider it a major step towards the independence of judiciary.

Here’s the congratulatory message from our party’s.

Friday July 20th 2007 marks the happiest day in the history of Pakistan since Friday August 15th 1947 – the day muslims of the subcontinent had woken up a free nation, albeit only physically. It is only today, after 60 years, that the process of achieving freedom in spirit shall begin.

Tehreek-e-Insaf was founded 11 years ago to achieve judicial independence, for we believed that if this one institution is set free the entire nation and its future will be secured. Today, a most important battle has been won and we congratulate every Pakistani on behalf of Tehreek-e-Insaf and Imran Khan! We wholeheartedly thank and congratulate the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, and the Chief Justice’s lawyers for helping us see this day of justice. But the war is not over yet.

As the movement for rule of law wins its first battle, flames of terror engulf Pakistan. Allah, in his infinite wisdom, has placed both heaven and hell in front of the Pakistani people. Heaven represented by a country where everyone’s rights and freedom are protected by the judiciary, and hell represented by a nation governed by the force of gun.

This is the point nations choose their destiny. We urge you to engage yourself fully in politics to establish a democratic Pakistan protected by the constitution, not a self-appointed messiah. Elections are not far, if we do not ensure that the right people are elected – today’s historic victory faces reversal down the line.

Only if good people are engaged actively in Pakistani politics can we expect good representatives in Pakistan’s parliament. We urge you to get active in your local or international PTI chapter, but first we urge you to offer nafl prayers to thank God for this day of insaf.

Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Army is supposed to protect our borders not run our dear country to the ground.  The following excerpt from Dr. Iqbal‘s analysis shows how deep the problem is -

The range of fields  where military officers are working on civilian posts encompasses every sector  of human endeavour including communications, education, diplomacy, water and  electricity management, information, post office, jails, local bodies, think  tanks, industrial production, shipping, minority affairs, population welfare,  health, agriculture, railways, highways, housing, labour and manpower, social  and women development, law and justice and sub-sectors of sports from cricket to  hockey.

A close look at the figures shows that these military personnel  occupy 13 posts in the cabinet division, 5 posts in the commerce ministry, 98 in  communications ministry, 113 in the defence division, 52 in the defence  production division, 9 in the education ministry, 16 in the establishment  division, 24 in the ministry of foreign affairs, 6 in the ministry of food,  agriculture and livestock. There are 88 military officers working in the  ministry of interior, 2 in the health ministry, 6 in the housing and works  ministry, 29 in the industries and production ministry, 3 in the information and  broadcasting ministry, 58 in the ministry of Information Technology, 25 in the  Kashmir affairs and northern affairs ministry, five in the labour and manpower  division, 17 in the ministry of minorities affairs, 39 in the ministry of  petroleum and natural resources, just one each in the ministry of population  welfare, the planning and development division and the ministry of religious  affairs. There are two military officials working in the revenue division (CBR),  21 in the ministry of science and technology, 72 in the ministry of  railways/railway board, 37 in the ministry of water and power, 5 in the ministry  of women development, 6 in the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsmen). There are  another 37 officers who have been inducted under the military’s 10 per cent  quota in civilian posts over and above these appointments.

Let’s see what these two articles actually say. Here is the text of article 62 from the constitution of Pakistan -

[62. Qualifications for membership of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament).

A person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) unless :-

(a) he is a citizen of Pakistan;

[64B][(b)

he is, in the case of the National Assembly, not less than twenty -five years of age and is enrolled as a voter in any electoral roll in- (i) any part of Pakistan, for election to a general seat or a seat reserved for non-Muslims; and (ii) any area in a Province from which he seeks membership for election to a seat reserved for women.]

(c) he is, in the case of Senate, not less than thirty years of age and is enrolled as a voter in any area in a Province or, as the case may be, the Federal Capital or the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, from where he seeks membership;

(d) he is of good character and is not commonly known as one who violates Islamic Injunctions;

(e) he has adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and practises obligatory duties prescribed by Islam as well as abstains from major sins ;

(f) he is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate and honest and ameen;

(g) he has not been convicted for a crime involving moral turpitude or for giving false evidence;

(h) he has not, after the establishment of Pakistan, worked against the integrity of the country or opposed the Ideology of Pakistan

Provided that the disqualifications specified in paragraphs (d) and (e) shall not apply to a person who is a non-Muslim, but such a person shall have good moral reputation; and

(i) he possesses such other qualifications as may be prescribed by Act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament).]

 

This is quite interesting, has to be one of the most ridiculous pieces of legal text I have ever come across. Besides the fact that more than 75% of the elected members of the Pakistan parliment will get disqualified if this is ever applied on a massive scale, this is too vague, personal and undemocratic to be included in the constitution of a state that claims to be a democracy. Let’s especially look at parts d,e and f.

1. Part d says that the person has to be of good character and is not commonly known as one who violates Islam.

Firstly, how does one define good character. Do Muslim scholars have any agreement on what good character is? Secondly, a person who is commonly know as one who violates Islam may be the most righteous one around. Can we judge a person’s piety by what others say about him? It is thus possible to disqualify an elected member of the parliament by creating a perception that s/he violates Islam. If people of Pakistan are giving the person their vote of confidence in his capabilities and character by electing him to the parliament, how can some vague notion of character be used to disqualify him? That is an insult to the people of Pakistan

2. Part e states that the person must have adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings, practices obligatory duties prescribed by Islam and abstains from major sins.

This again is deliberately kept vague so that it can be opportunistically used for political purposes. “Adequate knowledge of Islam” – who is the judge of that? Islam by its very nature is a democratic religion, Islam does not have a pope, everything is between you and your God. The idea of having one individual or a set of individuals assigned to assess righteousness in others goes against the very spirit of Islam.

3. Part f says that the person in question has to be “sagacious, righteous and non-profligate and honest and ameen”.

In the 32 years of my life (21 in Pakistan and the rest in the US), I have yet to meet even a single individual who meets this criteria. How can such personal and highly subjective qualities of a person be proven or disproved in the court of law. Remember, the purpose of the constitution is to set the basis of legislation, how can any precise law be derived from this article.

We must ask how did such articles make it into our constitution. As expected, it was the same person who arguably caused more harm to Pakistan than any other individual in its history – General Zia-ul-Haq. These preposterous articles were included in the constitution on Presidential Ordinance No. 14 of 1985. Remember this was the time the general was busy courting the religious parties. Now let’s look at the article 62 from the original constitution of 1973. It reads as follows –

“62. Qualifications for membership of Parliament.– A person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Parliament unless:
(a) he is a citizen of Pakistan,
(b) he is, in the case of the National Assembly, not less than twenty-five years of age and is enrolled as a voter in any electoral roll for election to that Assembly;
(c) he is, in the case of the Senate, not less than thirty years of age and is enrolled as a voter in any area in a Province or, as the case may be, the Federal Capital or the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, from where he seeks membership; and
(d) he possess such other qualifications as may be prescribed by Act of Parliament.”

Notice the precise language, this is what our constitution was before the military dictators, first Zia-ul-Haq and then Musharraf tarnished it to the point that it has ceased to remain a constitution at all.

I urge all Pakistanis to campaign to revert articles 62 and 63 back to their original form as they were in the 1973 constitution. They were inserted into the constitution to pacify the religious extremists and have no place in the constitution of a democratic or an Islamic republic. Every time I read our constitution I get bewildered by so many things that just do not make any sense at all. Most of them can be traced back to Zia’s regime.