By IANS
Islamabad : A day after President Pervez Musharraf backed down from his threat to impose an emergency, the Pakistani media Friday said the draconian measure was beyond logic and would only have served as an escapist route for the beleaguered government.
Editorials in the Pakistani media were extremely harsh on the “justifications” being bandied in various quarters on the need for imposing an emergency, saying the measure would have put the country back by a decade and would only “strengthen those very forces and political elements the government is afraid of”.
“The question remains: does the declaration of a state of emergency serve the interest of Pakistan?” Dawn asked in an editorial titled “Emergency: an escape route?”
“Whether it also advances the interests of the military rulers is of secondary importance, though a relationship between the two does exist,” the newspaper maintained.
“The implications of such a move are profound and could shape the future of politics for a long time to come. In some ways, the emergency could prove dangerous for the state and strengthen those very forces and political elements the government is afraid of.
“In the case of the political elements, the judiciary’s newly found independence could help them re-enter the political arena with confidence and that is bound to upset the generals’ apple cart,” Dawn maintained, adding: “A declaration of emergency will have profound constitutional and political implications and throw the nation back on the freedom scale more than a decade back.”
According to the newspaper, the biggest casualty of an emergency would be press freedom, “which has been the most precious and laudable feature of the present political set-up.
“Also to be affected adversely will be political activity, especially the right to assembly.”
Dawn also questioned the government’s logic in wanting to impose an emergency to deal with the rising wave of extremist violence, especially suicide bombings, the kidnapping of, and attacks on, Chinese nationals in Pakistan, and the American threats to invade the tribal areas in the country’s north.
“It is not clear in what way the emergency will enhance the military-led government’s ability to meet these challenges more effectively,” it said.
Noting that the government already had “enormous” powers at its disposal “because the generals control both the military and the civilian apparatus of the state”, the editorial said: “If the combination of these powers has not helped the government meet these challenges, in what precise and practical way can the imposition of emergency come to the rescue of a regime perceived to be beleaguered?”
The decision to impose an emergency in the country cannot be justified on any ground: moral, legal or constitutional “and would only serve to destabilise the country”, The News said in an editorial titled “No grounds for an emergency”.
Noting that one of the reasons being cited for declaring an emergency was a statement by US presidential hopeful Barack Obama threatening to launch military operations against Al Qaeda elements in Pakistan if he came to power, The News said: “The logic of this is absurd to say the least.
“How can a step as drastic, and fraught with a multitude of dangers and repercussions for the country’s future, be taken because of something that an American politician – who has yet to gain his own party’s nomination for the US presidential election next year – has said”, the editorial added.
“Other than a sign of desperation, imposition of an emergency would be a death-blow to democracy,” The News maintained.
According to Daily Times, “an emergency will not work whereas the holding of free and fair elections will resolve the dangerous political divide in the country.
“High-handedness of the state during an emergency will alienate the people further and produce more anarchy than we see today. In short, the timing of the move is wrong,” it said in an editorial titled “Emergency will endanger Pakistan”.