T

here are occasions when all politicians from all parties should respond in a united manner when national interests are at stake. The recent “Memogate” scandal that has blown up in Pakistan is one such example.

Whether Husain Haqqani really helped write that memo, and if he did, whether he acted on his own initiative or was instructed by his superiors from Islamabad, is not clear.

But what is clear is that help was sought from the US military to pressure the Pakistani Army chief and ISI chief so that they wouldn’t get carried away by the negative image they “earned” when they were caught napping on the night of May 2, when the American SEALs came stealthily to eliminate Osama Bin Laden in his house in Abbottabad, just a short distance from the Pakistan Military Academy.

Whether Zardari or Gilani instructed Haqqani to do so is beside the point. The relevant question is if what was requested of then US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mike Mullen was in the interest of Pakistan or not.

Democracy has just returned to Pakistan and can be easily crushed in this nascent stage.

Pakistani politicians are just learning to run their country under a democratic system. Indian politicians are also still learning to govern effectively in a democratic system even after more than 60 years of (almost) uninterrupted democratic rule. So it is unfair to compare their performance with the more mature democracies of the UK or the US.

Most of the democratic governments in Pakistan have been dismissed by Pakistani Armed Forces when an excuse was available to them. That is what happened when Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia Ul Haq and Musharraf grabbed power. So it is in the interests of Pakistan to strengthen the institutions of democracy by asserting themselves when the Armed Forces have been weakened by their own negligence.

Muhammad Ziauddin, in his column in Express Tribune on Nov. 23, 2011, appreciated how all three branches of the US government closed ranks and came to the defense of Raymond Davis with one voice certifying his questionable immunity of a mole known to be a CIA contractor. I feel that all senior Pakistani politicians including Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and others should also close ranks and support President Zardari today against the common adversary of democracy vis a vis the Armed Forces and ISI.

From Indian perspective, it is very important that democratic rule stays in Pakistan, because India and Pakistan are coming closer than ever before. In fact, the Indian Prime Minister went as far as calling his Pakistani counterpart a “man of peace”, something the Indians took with a pinch of salt.

I appeal to all Pakistani democratic parties to support the democratic government in power instead of creating problems for it.

K.B. Kale
Jakarta