On the 12th of June, 2004, the Action Group of Physicians of South Asia (APSA) organized and sponsored a seminar on the “Prospects of Democracy in Pakistan”.

The event happened in Washington D.C. and was quite an interesting event, owing to both the title of the seminar and the views espoused by various participants on the subject of democracy in Pakistan.

A country, which owes its origin and existence, largely to the vision of one individual, Md. Ali Jinnah, Pakistan has had a testy and stumbling relationship with democracy. Jinnah’s secular beliefs and his democratic mindset were lost after his death, and the Constituent Assembly passed the “basic principles resolution” declaring Pakistan a “religious democracy”, an apparent contradiction between democracy as a rule of the people, on the basis of laws established by the people, and religious laws and principles which have little or not intellectual contribution from the people, at large.

An overwhelming feudal and religious structure inherent in Pakistan has resulted in the ruling-class feudals and the religious priests establishing an implicit alliance, favoring both these strata of society. It is against this background that the issue of democracy in Pakistan has to be looked at.

Dr. Zafar Iqbal moderated the seminar session. The participants were Mr. Aqil Shah (a political analyst), Senator Tariq Azim Khan (for the Pakistani Governement), Mr. Ehsan Iqbal (for the Nawaz Muslim League) and Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan (for People’s Party). Participants made a 10-minute presentation of the opinions on democracy in Pakistan.

Mr. Aqil Shah was of the opinion that democracy did not survive and thrive in Pakistan due to repeated military interventions. Freedom of expression is an ideal that exists de jure but not de facto. He said that the military, which tries to remedy corruption by takeovers, denies provincial autonomy and the sustenance of a parliamentary system of government. Political maturity, and not military takeover, is the remedy for the existent corruption.

Senator Azeem opined that the people in Pakistan were unfit for democracy, who did not understand it, did not make an informed choice and just voted for symbols. According to him, a lot of the furore over General Musharaf’s militaristic rule started only after he nominated Mr. Jamali as the Prime Minister, and that had to do with those same protesting politicians nursing ambitions for the Prime Minister-ship. The military only came in because the people, left on their own, would not be able to make the correct choices.

According to Mr. Iqbal, a self-sustaining democracy needed the participation of the people. He said that the reason behind the inability of democracy to survive in Pakistan had much to do with the loss in self-esteem of the Pakistani people, and their subsequent withdrawal into closed cocoons. Inefficiency and corruption cannot be reasons for the demise of democracy in Pakistan, said Mr. Iqbal, giving examples of countries that were almost as corrupt and inefficient as Pakistan but which still had a democratically elected government in power. He said that the development during military regimes owed a lot to geo-strategic factors (Russia in Afghanistan, the war on terror post 9/11) and the subsequent foreign aid, rather than any inherent superiority in the so-called military organization.

Mr. Ahsan argued that a paradigm shift from a welfare state to a security state happened during Ayub Khan’s regime. During this period, the military developed the philosophical grounds for national security, and the army gradually morphed into the defender of faith rather than boundaries. The alliance between the “Mullahs” and the military was put I place and it became stronger during the time Yahya Khan and Zia-ul-Haq. Musharraf, though a seemingly secular leader could not unravel the alliance. Mr. Ahsan was of the opinion that the people of Pakistan have to stand up for a civil society threatened by religion and the military, and break that alliance.

During the question-and-answer session that followed, a few interesting thoughts were thrown around. Mr. Ahsan stated that democracy was a learning process and people needed to be trusted, likening the learning process to a flowing stream of water. The session was highly instructive and highlighted some of the problems affecting Pakistan. Members of APPNA (Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America) were a part of the audience, as well as correspondents from Pakistani newspapers like Nation, Dawn and Jung, alongwith Amy Goodman.

The following recommendations were presented by the APSA, at the end of the seminar:
1. Unfettered participation of political parties is essential for restoration of democracy in Pakistan. Political parties should introduce internal democracy to ensure their credibility.
2. The President should be elected by the Parliament.
3. An independent election commission is essential to restore confidence of the Pakistani people in the electoral processes in Pakistan.
4. All civil and military intelligence services should be brought under parliamentary oversight.
5. The National Security Council should be abolished and the article 58(2)(b) (which gives the president of Pakistan the authority to dissolve the National Assembly, thus triggering new elections, and a possible change in the Prime Minister-ship) should be withdrawn.

Jinnah, on 11th August 1947 said, “You are free, free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the state.”