The Bloody October

“Sacrifices, sufferings are not unfamiliar to my family for the cause of freedom, peoples’ rights and democracy.  My father Ayub Khan  had gone through the test and trials, incarcerations and sufferings at the hands of the British and later Pakistani dictators as a reward for being part of Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai’s freedom movement against the British Raj and democratic struggle after the partition. I personally experienced exile and travails for constitutional rights and democracy. You should be proud of the supreme sacrifice of your comrade for the cause of democracy.”  These were the remarks of Azam Jan, father of  Aslam Olasyar, to assuage Olasyar’s friends and comrades, prior to the  funeral  of young  Aslam Olasyar, who received several bullets in his chest for the cause of restoration of democracy. Olasyar’s sister, Spogmai was selected as MPA on reserved seat for women. Her selection, in recognition of her family’s contribution, was termed as nepotism by many implicitly accusing Mr Mehmood Khan Achakzai for inducting close relatives into the provincial assembly.

The same views and courageous spirit were exhibited by the families and communities of the other three martyrs: Mehmood Akka, Ramszan and Daud.

October 7, 1983, though relegated to oblivion on the national level, turned into bloodshed by the martial law authorities of General Ziaul Haq in Quetta.  That day, in support of the Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD), and to raise voice against the iron fist tactics of the dictator against the political workers struggling for the restoration of democracy, particularly in Sindh, the democratic forces in Balochistan came out on the streets of the provincial capital.

October 7, 1983 should be remembered as one of the watersheds in strengthening democracy

The procession emerged from the Jamia Masjid of Quetta chanting slogans, ‘down with the martial law and long live democracy’. The march was spearheaded by the Pakhtun Nationalist, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, chairman of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP)  subjected to unprecedented  repression by the martial authorities.

This daring act of democratic forces panicked the martial law regime that ultimately employed the indiscriminate use of state force by ordering direct firing on unarmed political workers.  As a result, four workers of PkMAP; Mehmood Akka, Aslam Olasyar, Ramszan and Daud were martyred, 10 injured and scores were arrested.  The martyrs and the injured received bullets in the upper part of their bodies that showed the wrath as well as panic of the martial law regime of General Zial-ul-Haq and his coterie.

Mehmood Khan Achakzai faced the brutal witch hunt by the martial regime and remained underground till the first elected government of Benazir Bhutto came into being after Zia death.

The encounter of October 7, between the unarmed forces of democracy and a despotic military dictator, was reminiscent of a long unending struggle for democracy.  So far, only politics and politicians suffered – not only physically, they were imprisoned, killed, exiled and disqualified. But politics and politicians were also the subject of ruthless propaganda and media trial even for the sins they never committed. http://winningw88.com

Though, politicians could not be beyond reproach after the 1980s, as some mainstream politicians compromised in the name of space and fell to patronage politics to counter clientele politics introduced by the military dictators to win legitimacy.

The debilitating effects on the Pakistan politics and democracy cannot be only attributed to the intrinsic ineptness of Pakistan polity or politicians. It is an outcome of the deliberate mechanisation of the undemocratic forces that control the state sovereign power.

If the creation of praetorian state is the function of weak political institutions, low social cohesion, personal desires and group aims frequently diverge. Within this constructed political setup, institutions do not develop readily or operate effectively; social control becomes ineffective reducing channels for communication. Most significantly, its survival also depends on sustaining such enabling factors.

The long spells of direct and indirect control of military on power has stymied political institutions through political engineering, creating clientele political groups and manipulating elections.  In the absence of unmanipulated control, the state power and institutions, particularly those engendering anti-establishment credentials, governance has become an Achilles heel of politicians.

Punctuated democratic spells have left a heavy toll on democratic forces by weakening political institutions. Additionally, a lack of sovereign decision making power regarding vital foreign and security policies and the inability to channelise state resources toward welfare project have maligned the politicians by negatively impacting the domestic economy.

After the 1980s, particularly following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, politicians mostly reared during military regimes, opted to become junior partners, relinquishing foreign and security policy to the security establishment.

The transfer of power from one civilian dispensation to the next elected government had created some silver lining on the horizon of democracy. Nonetheless the events from May 2014 till now have made democracy vulnerable.

In the face of current violence, stirred by the war on terror project, further restricted the options of political forces by making political mobilisation riskier as compared to the martial law eras.

October 7, 1983 should be remembered as one of the watersheds in strengthening democracy to protect the inviolability of citizens’ rights. Two decades later, democracy, or at least its semblance prevails. The agents of democratic forces need to remember that compromises might ensure their share in power but not genuine democracy which can intrinsically empower people to shape their destiny.