FINAL COPY

‘Democracy Eclipse’ Since 1947!

By Mohammad Shehzad

Those who rule out martial law live in a promised

land. Their opinion is predicated on the political
scenes of 1971 and afterwards: The country had lost
more than half of its territory (the present
Bangladesh). Pak Army was responsible for it. A
humiliating defeat had demoralised it. The
charismatic ZAB (Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) was the
populist leader with an ideal manifesto. He had
fired senior generals and there was no unrest in the
Army. The latter had accepted his supremacy.
Martial law in future was impossible.

To strengthen this hypothesis, ZAB ignored seven

senior generals to handpick Zia as the army chief,
thinking, he will not bite the hand that feeds. Zia
imposed martial law. He abrogated the Constitution
and through amendments after amendments
deformed it. He promised to hold ‘free and fair
elections’ within 90 days (from the day of the coup)
and kept on postponing it till 1985. His brand of
‘free and fair’ election was based on party-less
system. He ruled for 11 years in uniform.

Nawaz Sharif’s heavy mandate of 1997 went to his

head. After orchestrating an attack on the Supreme
Court, he thought he is the ‘Czar’. He ignored two
senior generals and handpicked the junior
Musharraf as the army chief repeating the same
move that checkmated ZAB. By then he had
emerged as the prime minister more powerful than
ZAB because he had sent an army chief home
(Jehangir Karamat). He was besieged by an army
of sycophants and lifafa (paid) journalists who
would croon day and night his most favourite
lullaby: ‘Martial Law Impossible!’ His crawlers
projected him as ‘Amirul Momineen’ (commander
of the faithful) and he was such a devout airhead to
believe it. He proposed the Shariat Bill to anoint
himself as Amirul Momineen. The sycophants had
succeeded in making him believe that a goat in fact
is a lion that can easily tear apart any wild animal in
the jungle kingdom. So, the mouse took on the cat
on October 12, 1999. Not even the smallest fraction
of the heavy mandate took to the street. However,
we witnessed people welcoming the coup by
distributing sweets. Amirul Momineen’s
companions deserted him, declared Musharraf a
Messiah and started dancing attendance on him.

Today’s the dwellers of the CITA Town (castles in

the air) believe that the ‘historic yarn’ of October 27
(joint presser by the DG ISI and ISPR) has put the
Army on the back foot. The revolution has come –
people can use filthy language against the Army in
public, something they did not do in private in the
past. Azam Swati and Imran Khan can openly sling
mud on the Army. Character assassination of the
senior army officers and political opponents is the
name of the game now. The youths have rote-learnt
the Magna Carta. Long gone are the days when a
grade-21 ‘clerk’ could have slapped the 220 million
people with the military rule. This is the age of
internet and social media. General Bajwa has
become too controversial. He has brought a bad
name to the Army. Thus, martial law is out of
question.

The 1971 had disheartened the Army. By 2022, it

has the strength of a triangle. It can impose martial
law whenever it wishes. The ‘sun of democracy’
never rose in Pakistan. The ‘monster of martial law’
has been covering it and we are witnessing a
‘democracy eclipse’ since 1947 – proclaimed or
unannounced.

Bajwa can’t and will not impose martial law. True!

But who can stop his successor? He will bear no
spots of controversies on his uniform. He will
receive a clean slate. Considering the crippled state
of economy and the current political stalemate (a
mess left by his predecessor), he can impose martial
law – for the 90 days like Zia or for an indefinite
period. The masses will welcome him. They have
had enough: change (tabdeeli), new Pakistan,
revolution, freedom march, etc.