The Ghost of General Zia

IT would seem that regardless of the number of years that have elapsed since the dark shadow of Gen Ziaul Haq’s orthodox version of religion was first cast over the country, the legacy of the military dictator simply refuses to go away. Indeed, in many cases the mindset of religious obscurantism and self-righteousness was translated into hard and unfortunate policy which to this day continues to dominate many of our actions as a nation. What else are we to read into the reports that candidates hopeful of a seat in parliament are being subjected to cross-examination related to their knowledge of Islam? Leave aside for a moment the fact that questions based on religion are hardly an assessment of the decision-making abilities of the people’s future representatives. Focus instead on the distasteful exercise of judging a person’s piety — and it would seem that the underlying assumption is that only the overtly religious ought to run for office, and that the good character of a person is demonstrable not by his record of financial probity or integrity but by his knowledge of faith. It is shocking that the Election Commission of Pakistan has unnecessarily cited constitutional requirements for such an exercise — requirements that apart from being debatable in themselves, should be invoked, if at all, only when a contender’s integrity is challenged by a rival. Even in this case, such requirements carry the risk of making a farce out of the electoral process by going into ever finer detail of who is or is not a practising Muslim. The controversial Article 62(e), which requires that a member of parliament have “adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and practises obligatory duties”, has remained on the books. And the question to ask is, why despite the many constitutional amendments in the last five years, this clause has been retained, even if for reasons of political expediency. Has Pakistan given up even the pretence of aspiring to be a pluralistic society? The upcoming elections are crucial to the country’s future in more ways than one. It is vital that all actors, from the ECP to the political parties to the caretaker set-ups and all other stakeholders cooperate with each other in the build-up to the polls. The thorough scrutiny of election candidates is an exercise that must be undertaken in an impartial manner if Pakistan is to have legislators with integrity. But questionable practices must not be injected into the process. Reference: The ghost of Zia: Poll scrutiny questions 

Mr. Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, Election Commission of Pakistan, Chief Justice Supreme Court and several Urdu Language Newspapers particularly Jang Group have made a Joke out of Islam by making an issue out of Article 62 & 63 which if Literally applied then nobody in Pakistan would be able to escape the punishment that includes those who are mentioned above. For example Islamic Sunnah "Beard" Hijab Mr. Fakhruddin G Ebrahim and Mehran Bank Money - Cash paid to Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim 2,00,000 [he confirms having received the money from General Beg as fees and expenses for defending him in the contempt of court charge brought against him - 

The 1973 Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan: PART III(contd)The Federation of Pakistan Chapter 2. THE MAJLIS-E-SHOORA (Parliament) - [62. Qualifications for membership of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament):

(d) he is of good character and is not commonly known as one who violates Islamic Injunctions; 

(e) he has adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and practises obligatory duties prescribed by Islam as well as abstains from major sins ; 

(f) he is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law;

He wanted a secular Pakistan. He vowed to constitute himself as the "Protector-General of the Hindu minority in Pakistan." But "the fanatic tolerated Jinnah till Pakistan was achieved." Time and again he was made aware that he was an outsider." His famous speech of 11 August 1947 was allowed to be published in full only after Dawn's editor, "Altaf Hussain, threatened" those who were trying to tamper with it "to go to Jinnah himself if the press advice was not withdrawn." Dr. Ajeet Jawed's "Secular and Nationalist Jinnah" is another book on the same topic. And, as Singh's book shook the sangh pariwar in India, so Jawed's promises to jolt the rightist Muslims in Pakistan. Consider this sentence for instance: "Jinnah, who ate pork, drank whiskey, seldom entered a mosque, was ignorant of Islamic teachings, did not observe Islamic rituals, could not speak Urdu, wore high-class western suits and had come from Hindu Bhatia family..." But, a change occurred in Jinnah when he found that India would be partitioned on communal basis and to adapt himself to the changed situation, he adopted achkan, pyjama and cap. Reference: The Real Mr. Jinnah Written by S.G.Jilanee Thursday, 11 February 2010 14:09