General Ziaul Haq. PHOTO: FILE
The ghost of General Ziaul Haq and his drive to turn Pakistan
into a theocracy continues to haunt us. Under immense pressure from the
courts and clerics, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is
seemingly undertaking a purge of politicians who may not be ‘righteous’
under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.
These articles emanated from the desire to create an Islamic
legislature where only the “sagacious”, “righteous and non-profligate,
honest and ameen” could hold public offices.
How can we define these
vague terms, which are open to interpretation and abuse?
Articles 62 and 63 also suggest disqualification if a candidate is
deemed to be against the ‘ideology of Pakistan’. Sadly, that very term
was coined under the influence of Jamaat e Islami and General Yahya
Khan’s comrade Gen Sher Ali contributed to its adoption for cynical
reasons. History is a witness to Gen Yahya’s own conduct and the utter
disdain he had for his Bengali subjects. The genesis of this term
therefore is self-serving and purely hypocritical. Soon, the same junta
trumpeting the ideology of Pakistan led an army action against
Pakistanis and the events of 1971 remain a blot on our collective
conscience.
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