15 Dec 2007

Emergency lifted: good news indeed...


The protests and oppositions and the hue-and-cry finally gave way and emergency was lifted in Pakistan today. Good news indeed for the supporters of democracy and all. As the news-editors would put it in tomorrows newspapers (this in fact the first time I am writing prior to the newspapers writing on the news) this would be linked as the outcome of constant international pressure and internal turmoil boiling down in the streets of Pakistan. But I would disagree. Disagree only to agree that this is not all. Events have to take a long course till democracy can be realized in long sense.

Pakistan has now been under a semi-dictatorship for long and have been kept devoid of democracy since they have had a military President, rightly or wrongly. I have chosen the state-of-affairs as semi-dictatorship for various reasons. First and foremost, democracy requires the people themselves to formate the rules of the game and fair-play and govern accordingly. It does not contemplate pre-conceived rules being placed by someone who is not governed by the system completely and who determined and can quash the coming into power of those whom he does not like or support.

Secondly, national policies necessarily contemplate subsidiarity for a democracy to operate. However, devoid of subsidiarity, national policy necessarily tend to get modified and tempered with when flowing from a top-to-bottom model of national governance instead of being the reverse bottom-to-top model.

Thirdly, international rules of recognition reflect a fair bit on the qualitative aspects of governance in the national context. The reguar in-and-out (mostly out) of Pakistan from various international leagues such as SAARC, commonwealth, ASEAN etc. on the grounds of mis-handling of national affairs and suspension of international recognized principles of good governance etc. has also indicated the extent to which the quality of democracy values have taken a back-lash in Pakistan.

Clearly and perfectly I welcome this lifting of emergecy, something which had been acting as a scar on the national but then I feel the nation itself, along with the people it supports, has to go a long way to establish a self-regulating system which takes it away from being susceptible to dictators or semi-dictators and guarantees a constitutionally regulated state of affairs which not only ensures political maturity and independence but also validates and takes ahead the case for economic growth and prosperity not only in the region but also along its northern and eastern neighbors, which tend to have a high degree of influence on its national and local governance mechanisms. The question of when and how if what I cannot answer, though. It is only for the people of Pakistan to determine and lead on these ends. But surely and quickly is but I can hope for.

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