The Farce Election of Pakistan

Pakistan held its 12th national general elections on February 8. Nearly half of the country's total population cast votes for the new National Assembly and provincial legislatures. The National Assembly will have 266 members elected through the first-past-the-post method. Additionally, 60 seats are exclusively reserved for women and 10 seats are reserved for non-Muslims.

With a storyline that could match the most thrilling Bollywood films, the political climate in Pakistan has taken a dramatic turn, capturing the attention of people, who were eagerly awaiting the elections held on February 8th. This high-stakes contest promises to be a riveting blockbuster, featuring a series of surprising moments, heart-wrenching rejections, and a diverse cast of characters that could easily compete with the best of Bollywood's screen legends.

When analyzing Pakistan's elections, India tends to closely observe the distribution of power between its civilian government and military. Officials in South Block view the replacement of the Army Chief as a significant change in power dynamics within Pakistan, which is different from the peaceful transfers of power that occur in democratic nations.

The Pakistani Army holds significant influence in the country's political affairs and is often accused of interfering in elections to secure their favored candidate's victory. During the last election cycle in 2018, the Army handpicked former cricket star Imran Khan as the replacement for Nawaz Sharif, the PML(N) leader. Following Nawaz's conviction, Imran assumed the position of Prime Minister, despite being allowed to depart the nation. After six years, Imran, who is now 71, has been sentenced to 14 years in jail for an illegal gifts case and 10 years for leaking secrets. His absence is now the centre of the elections.  After bravely opposing his former mentors in the country's powerful 'establishment' - a term used to describe the armed forces' extra-constitutional political power - he was apprehended without just cause and his party was relentlessly targeted with both legal and extra-legal tactics.

However, PTI supporters who are fond of drawing sweeping historical parallels are mistaken when they assert that their performance or their persecution was unparalleled. While allegations of bias are legitimate, they do not represent drastic departures from historical norms. Before the 2008 elections, the Musharraf administration and its suspected allies committed violence against their opponents, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, including Benazir Bhutto. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) killed party supporters and abducted the son of former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani during a campaign event in the 2013 elections. TTP first targeted and then assaulted the campaigns of three parties (PPP, MQM, and ANP). One may argues the persecution that PML(N) leaders and candidates endured in 2018 was on par with what the PTI is currently facing.

The Greater Fallout:

OIC summit was arranged in Lahore by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1974. The OIC meeting was the first step towards Pakistan's belief at the time that it could lead the Muslim world. Due to his captivating leadership, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto gained attention from the world's media. A few years later, in 1979, he was put to death in a murder case by an Army dictator. Zia ul Haq, who took over Pakistan through martial law in July 1977, had larger aims. The United States of America saw Pakistan's proposal to join the war in Afghanistan as a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Pakistan believed that if they were successful, they could build their strength, reputation, and worldwide presence. Together, the CIA and ISI overthrew the USSR in Afghanistan. The world is aware of the lengthy account of what transpired thereafter.

Population imbalance, Kalashnikov culture, increased radicalism and militancy, Military and ISI becoming a state within a state accompanied by erosion of constitutional state institutions, and drug proliferation were all results of the Soviet-Afghan conflict. While steering the nation as a frontline state at the time, the power brokers did not consider the deep underbelly of developing monsters. The current mess is the outcome of decades of such wrong policies and undermining the statutory processes and institutions. The complex ultraorthodox and conservative self-serving personal ambitions of the Military-Madrassa and Mullah Complex dragged the country into the problems it finds today.

Pakistan and its power brokers never understood, and ignored every indicator, sign, and index of their downfall right from the beginning. Just after 25 years of creation, Bangladesh was formed, owning to the muzzling of the popular mandate of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. As rightly put forth by a Bangladeshi political analyst in a recent post on X (Twitter), “Today, you can understand why Sheikh Mujibur Rahman couldn't form a government despite having 160 seats, and how Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto became Pakistan Prime Minister with only 81 seats. Now you can understand the history behind the creation of Bangladesh. From 7^th Dec 1970 to 8^th Feb 2024, nothing has changed Pakistan.”

Similarly, the disassociation of the Afghanistan Govt. and its affairs from the inference of Pakistan and its elements is a classical example of how the people, even the hard-core Islamist Taliban regime have realized the true nature of Pakistan as a dysfunctional political state i.e., banana republic. The killing, Kalashnikov culture, increased radicalism, militancy, and decimation have their limitations, and people across races, cultures, religions, and ethnicities are fed up with such destructive narratives.

The disservice and devastation of the Kashmiri community in the name of religion and its principals, which they have murdered in broad daylight now and then, for the last three decades is an eye opener for us Kashmiris to look inwards and introspect about the lost generation of youth and its impact on the future generation at the hands of a nation fighting its freedom even after seven decades of Freedom. From the tribal invasion of 1947 to Operation Gibraltar of the 1960s, the Liberation of Bangladesh, the Hanging of Bhutto and its fallout here and throwing the youth into the death trap of armed militancy and whatnot. The Mamlikat-i-Khudadad has lost the moral, ethical, and religious ground to misguide the people of Kashmir, long ago and it is now upon us to comprehend the indicators and indexes for the betterment of ourselves. The baiting, mulling, rallying, and misguiding of the gullible youth must stop now. The parents, teachers, civil society leaders, and intellectuals shall come forward to give a deep academic and intellectual ground for the new discourse, to pay back long due debt we owe to the current and future generations. The time has gone when it was an Indian and Pakistani narrative in Kashmir. The Pakistani narrative is morally and intellectually bankrupt as the basis of its ideological ground has been dusted to ground in mainland Pakistan by the institutions themselves, who promoted it i-e Army and ISI. The youth of Kashmiri is not cheap, to shed his life and blood for the lavish and morally corrupt lifestyle of an army general of Pakistan. The burning and bloodshed in Kashmir hardly matters for the Pak Army rather it is a means of relevance and maintaining its status as a major power player in the greater power brokerage of Islamabad.

History gives chances to every nation and community to move in the right direction and choose the right course for future generations. Communities, that are deeply obsessed with the past, neglect the current times, and don’t adapt to the changes conditions, and circumstances are bound to fall or perish. History is replete with the stories and events of how nations have risen from dust by siding with right side of history and how nations have fallen from grace just because of negligence and ignorance. From a historical and ideological point of view, Islam has taken birth in the Arab world, and such countries are in the strongest terms of relations with our country realising the fact that India has a major role to play in world affairs in times to come.

The nation countries are fast moving into new realities and relations based on national interests and common goals. As people of Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and Arabs (even people of Pakistan struggling against the tyranny of its army) have realized and decided their future course based upon the current geopolitical dynamics, national interests, and cultural and civilizational ethos, so shall we collectively as Kashmiri Quom start a new discourse in social, academic, and political life shedding all the conflict in private and public life and come on a common ground of clarity and remove the traces of confusion. The youth of the current generation shall be nurtured within the environment of lucidity, explicitness, and straightforwardness that their future lies within the constitutional realm of the Indian and shall pursue it to realise it.

By MM Hussain