I fully agree with Juan Cole in his observations at Informed Comment on the situation in Pakistan given the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto. If Gen. Pervez Musharraf is to remain in power and keep the backing of the United States, he must restore the rule of law. This means restoring the Supreme Court Justices, including former Chief Justice Ifthikar Chaudhry now under house arrest, to their rightful judicial positions before he illegally dismissed them. This also means freeing the lawyers and judges that Musharraf locked up after their street demonstrations in favor of the rule of law. Further, it means Musharraf must acknowledge that he will follow and respect the Pakistani Constitution, something that he has trashed whenever it did not fit his political ambitions.
Writes Juan Cole:
"In order to get through this crisis, Bush must insist that the Pakistani Supreme Court, summarily dismissed and placed under house arrest by Musharraf, be reinstated. The PPP must be allowed to elect a successor to Ms. Bhutto without the interference of the military. Early elections must be held, and the country must return to civilian rule. Pakistan's population is, contrary to the impression of many pundits in the United States, mostly moderate and uninterested in the Taliban form of Islam. But if the United States and "democracy" become associated in their minds with military dictatorship, arbitrary dismissal of judges, and political instability, they may turn to other kinds of politics, far less favorable to the United States. Musharraf may hope that the Pakistani military will stand with him even if the vast majority of people turn against him. It is a forlorn hope, and a dangerous one, as the shah of Iran discovered in 1978-79. ' "
Friday, December 28, 2007
MUSHARRAF MUST REINSTATE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES ILLEGALLY DISMISSED
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Pakistan's population is, contrary to the impression of many pundits in the United States, mostly moderate and uninterested in the Taliban form of Islam.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid this characterization isn't quite correct. If by "Taliban form of Islam," Cole is referring to militant fundamentalism, I suppose I can concur – although again, depending on the particular geography under consideration.
For example, the argument just wouldn't wash in the volatile North-West Frontier Province, where the Taliban is resurgent.
I think we need to define "moderate" in the context of a discussion on Islam. I would argue that "moderate Islam" may be quite like "moderate Mormonism" – that is to say, it's not quite "moderate," if that word is taken to mean respect for the private nature of religious belief.
The notion of moderation in Islam is doctrinally different from the notion of moderation in other faith traditions.
The point I seek to make is that there are no quick fixes. Reversing what went wrong over the past few months will hardly change the fact that Pakistan always has been a pseudo-democracy. Real reform will require the support and cooperation of the military, the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Islamic establishment.