Speech made by SANA president at the guest speakers' session on July 1, 2007
The distinguished guests, ladies & gentlemen, good afternoon, Assalam Alaikum
and welcome to the 23rd Annual SANA Convention!
I am grateful to the distinguished guests, PPP-P president and ARD chairman,
Makhdoom Amin Fahim Sahib, information secretary, PML-N Ahsan Iqbal Sahib and
Mrs. Bushra Aitzaz Ahsan Sahiba for their participation in this session despite
their hectic schedules - especially in the current volatile and unpredictable
situation in Pakistan.
We at the Sindhi Association of North America (SANA), as other expatriates, have
a natural interest in the affairs of Pakistan, as we have our families and
friends living there. Whatever happens in Pakistan touches us here. That's one
reason why SANA has been very active since its inception in its support for the
struggle for democracy, rule of law, supremacy of the Constitution, justice,
fair play, independence of judiciary, freedom of press, provincial autonomy and
the basic human rights for every one especially the women, minorities and the
weaker sections of the society.
SANA actually came into being as a direct response to the military operation
against the Movement for Restoration of Democracy in 1983. Our folks here
believed that we had to show our solidarity with the people struggling against
the dictatorship. Since then, we have continuously supported struggle for
democracy in Pakistan. We have organized, supported and participated in numerous
rallies in USA and Canada, have initiated and participated in petitions and
letter writing campaigns, approached Congressmen and engaged in other similar
activism.
In the same vein, we have expressed our complete solidarity with the present
struggle for the independence of judiciary and democracy in Pakistan spearheaded
by the legal fraternity. We salute the courage of the Chief Justice of Pakistan,
Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and the members of the bar who have
valiantly carried on the struggle and have posed a serious challenge to the
military dictatorship in Pakistan.
I would say that the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the lawyers have set in
motion a peaceful revolution that would result in an unfettered democracy and an
end to any future military role in the civilian affairs. It is a great
achievement at a time when the military dictatorship seemed all powerful; it had
silenced the opposition and had created a coterie of opportunists; had allied
itself with the terrorists and the people with vested interests. They seemed to
have everything in their control and were planning to stay in power forever. But
just a no by a brave person, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, changed all that.
Now the rulers are virtually trembling in their khakis and their collaborators
have started deserting them and even the country.
We have great regards for the Chief Justice and the lawyers and the peaceful
revolution that they have initiated to liberate the people from the yoke of the
military dictatorship. I think the two – the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the
lawyers – should be nominated for the Noble Peace Prize. If anybody ever
deserved the Noble Peace Prize, it is the Chief Justice and the lawyers in
Pakistan. I hope the new government that we are sure to see very soon comprising
the party or the parties of the leaders sharing this stage with us today would
nominate the two for the Noble Peace Prize.
Thinking of honors and awards, I hope none of our next democratic governments
would present a "medal of democracy" to any general. The generals interfering in
politics and their collaborators should actually be tried under the article 6 of
the Constitution and not given any medals or awards.
While we talk of the present struggle for the independence of judiciary and an
end to the military rule in Pakistan, we should also talk of the plans to
forever close the doors on any future military role in the civilian affairs. It
is true that the military has ruled directly for most part of the history of
Pakistan since mid 1950s and indirectly for the rest of the period. They have
built an empire and have made inroads into all segments of the society and all
sectors of the economy. They have created a class of opportunists, Mafias and
terrorists that act according to the military establishment's wishes and
destabilize the political parties and the democratic governments.
How to end that?
Ladies & gentlemen, this is truly the defining moment as many have
said. This is the time to take hard decisions. More importantly this is the time
to take right decisions. This is not the time to make any deals with the
crippled regime and resuscitating the dying dictatorship. This is the time to
stand firm and demand that the power should be returned to the people. The
people should have the ultimate authority to run the affairs of the state, not
the praetorian masters, the military generals or the intelligence agencies.
I would emphasize one more thing: I think no good is to come to the country -
even after the democratic governments take power - until we end the
over-centralization of powers. We have to revert back to the 1940 Resolution. We
have to fulfill the promises made at that time. We have to give the provinces
maximum autonomy. We have to make them the owners of their resources. And we
have to give them the right to self rule.
We also have to drastically cut the military expenditure and spend more on
education, health, other social sectors and the infrastructure building. We have
to break the military commercial empire. We have to take back all the commercial
enterprises run by military personnel. We have to bury the doctrine of necessity
forever. We have to expand on the Charter of Democracy to include all that.
Another thing that we should do is that we should end the state of denial with
reference to the land, the culture, the languages, the nations and the people
that constitute Pakistan. The country that we have today is not the country of
the people of the Indus Valley and Gandhara civilizations or the Baloch. It is
not the country of the majority of the people that inhabit the areas and the
regions of the present day Pakistan. If it had been their country, their
languages, Sindhi, Punjabi, Siraiki, Pushto and Balochi should have been the
national languages of Pakistan. They would have had a say in the affairs of the
state and the decision making. If it had been the country of the indigenous
people, our brethren in the present day Bangladesh would not have separated from
us.
Ladies and gentlemen, the forces of history are at work again. Pakistan is in
the eye of the storm in the global war on terrorism and faces an explosive
situation inside its territory while dangerous situation prevails on its
borders. The one-man rule in the country lacks the legitimacy and the trust of
the people. It has weakened the federation and the disharmony and discord among
the people and the provinces are growing at an alarming rate.
The regime has been accused of having compromised the independence and the
sovereignty of the country. It is perceived to be biased and incapable of
handling the core issues facing the country. Its actions have resulted in making
things worse. The situation can't be allowed to continue as it is any longer.
Things have to change - and change quickly.
The way out is the immediate resignation of the government to be replaced by an
impartial interim administration to hold free and fair elections. The
unscrupulous and coercive action against the Chief Justice of Pakistan aimed at
subjugating the judiciary must be immediately reversed.
The Senate should be made more powerful and given the final authority over all
the federal subjects. It should have equal number of members from each
federating unit instead of its present lopsided composition. The Senators from
each federating unit should make a block and all the decisions should require an
approval by the majority in each block. The Senate should confirm all new
appointments to the judiciary and other important positions in the government
including the armed forces.
Ladies & gentlemen, the time is here to make the choice. We have to either say
good bye to the ways of suppression, denial of rights of the people, military
dictatorships, injustices or we would face unprecedented upheaval that may bring
disaster and misery for all of us. I hope we would make a right choice today.
Thank you.