The rules of the game

TH E government has introduced an Amendment Act for the Election Laws 2017 which has set the PPP against the amendment to Section 230 of the Act That section deals with the powers of the caretaker government, and the amendment proposes that a caretaker government be allowed to exercise the powers of an elected government After the candidature of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for the caretaker Prime Ministership, this raised suspicions that the caretaker government is not expected to just come in and hold elections but may well stay beyond the 60 or 90 days prescribed in the Constitution It must be remembered that a longer tenure would require a government that could go beyond the limited mandate of a caretaker government The excuse doing the rounds is that the caretaker government would have to take steps that go beyond the legal restraints it presently has if it is to carry out the promises made the IMF by the present government which are not yet clear If by any chance the caretaker government was to overstay, it should not be forgotten that the current Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF is for nine months Is the caretaker government to be empowered to make any agreement beyond that?

The imposition of a caretaker government was intended to prevent an impasse like 1977 which ended in Martial Law There is a facade of constitutionalism but the reins of the caretaker government will be in the hands of the establishment There will be no military dictator at the fore, but there will be no hiding who really runs the show Elections will have to be held sooner or later, but then that has been how the last two Martial Laws have ended The country is heading towards yet another extraconstitutional departure

Unfortunately at this point the judiciary does not offer all that much hope It has been seen as partisan, and is afflicted with infighting among judges with the controversy over suo motu cases and benches being merely a manifestation of a deeper malaise Perhaps worse, the Supreme Court’s failure to ensure the Constitution was followed in the holding of elections to the Punjab and KP

Assemblies means that if the remaining elections are not held when due the precedent exists That too resembles bouts of military rule: the courts have validated martial laws If elections are delayed whatever the excuse that will mean the Constitution has been abandoned

Founding Editor

TH E concept of Islamophobia dates as far as the inception of the religion itself The Prophet (PBUH) had to undergo the most inhumane treatment; physically and psychologically From being heckled by the Quraish to being called names, all indecencies were termed fair, and the Prophet (PBUH) bore it with the utmost patience until he triumphed over the same people who disowned him The threat perception of Islam therefore is not a novel phenomenon and dates back 14 centuries

The advent of information technology coupled with globalization gave people a newer, farreaching voice One which was not bound by the laws of physics and proximity but one which could be heard thousands of miles away Communication as it was perceived had become easier and much more widespread Unfortunately all advancement in technology has a downside

Thus, the Western governments should make the effor t to stop such incidents from happening

The Muslims account for more than 2 billion souls or a quar ter of the entire world population, and ever y hear t that beats in those chests carrie z ero tolerance for blasphemy Allowing the burning of the Quran or publishing irresponsible caricatures of the Prophet (PBUH) is not as much allowing freedom of speech as it is being accomplice in provoking the Muslim World

FINALLY after 75 years there is a realization that the state structure in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has serious faults It has badly failed to serve the people While the world has progressed, Pakistan has regressed In San Francisco the Lombard Street is considered to be the world’s most crooked thoroughfare Then in Victoria Island in British Columbia there is a Crooked Garden where nothing is straight but the Leaning Tower of Pisa is unmatchable in its tilt It is still considered to be a wonder of the world Historians are not sure whether it was by design or accident that the imperfection took place Engineers now struggle to save it from a fall Millions are spent to save the historic monument from collapse There is a folklore that it was built to highlight the decline of the times and some other structures around are also tilted When I went there for the first time in 1979, tourists were allowed to climb the tower The sloped balconies were very scary as one had to climb slowly and carefully The walk around was not easy

Unfortunately the state of structure in Pakistan has insurmountable slopes for the public to climb The fault lines are serious Like the Leaning Tower billions are spent to support and preserve the inbuilt crookedness of the system In Rawalpindi the Badmash (Ruffians) are called Dinga (Crooked) And they are required to walk in a certain way to prove their Dinga-ness

Ever since the seat of power has moved to the ‘Dinga land’ the walk around has become increasingly difficult for the public at large While the few insiders flourish the majority outside suffers Such a system is bound to collapse; no engineering can save it The founding fathers were aware of this crookedness of the system and tried to straighten it but the inertia of status-quo prevailed The Punjabi saying;

“ Khoti Rahe Borh Thalay “ (The donkey remained in the shade) aptly describes the prevailing situation

The USA won freedom from the British colonizer over two centuries ago It was a great military victory

The ragtag Militia force led by George Washington defeated the Royal Army As President he led his country for two terms (eight years) and then went home leaving behind a constitutional democracy that has risen to be the sole superpower The entire state structure left behind by the colonial masters was totally dismantled Anything British was considered un- friendly anti-people and was rejected

They even decided to drive on the opposite side of the road (right hand) Spellings were also simplified (color, program) Today the system in the oldest constitutional democracy of the world has no negative energy The state is meant to serve not rule No one can dare to go against the constitution Donald Trump the sitting President could not stall the count of the Electoral College to replace him Richard Nixon as Commander-in-Chief was advised by his Chief of Staff General Alexander Haig to declare emergency and sack the Congress before his impeachment as President Instead he decided to resign and go home Rule of law prevailed over individual power and interests Bangladesh also won its freedom about half a century ago after the surrender of the troops led by Lt Gen A A K Niazi Compared to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan the People’s Republic of Bangladesh has marched forward in leaps and bounds Their target for exports in 2024 is $72 billion

They have even succeeded in controlling their population growth rate

In the 1956 constitution of united Pakistan they conceded their majority today we are a downtrodden majority

The freedom movement was started by them with the formation of the All-India Muslim League in 1906 at Decca Yet they decided to move on and drop anything that was Pakistani The legendary Allama Inayat ullah Khan Mashriqi founded his Khaksar Movement to snatch freedom for India and restore Muslim rule The Khaksars were also a militia force that marched with their weapon of peaceful protest and defence, the spade They were also called the ‘Bailcha (Spade) Party’

After finishing his Tripos from Cambridge University in Mathematics Allama Mashriqi travelled to Germany to study the Nazi Party while Jinnah and Gandhi came to India as Barristers to practise law Gandhi started his movement for Peaceful Protest for freedom of India, Jinnah advoctaed a seprate homeland for the Muslims After the partition of the Sub-continent Allama Mashriqi was sidelined He lies buried on