By IANS
Chennai : Calling for restoration of democracy in their country, two eminent Pakistanis have expressed the hope that struggle for citizens’ rights will succeed one day.
“Without democracy, the basic rights of people cannot be guaranteed,” said Ibn Abdur Rehman, Pakistan peace and rights activist.
Rehman and fellow Pakistani Syed Adibul Hasan Rizvi, a surgeon and professor of medicine, are among a group of Ramon Magsaysay award winners who are meeting in Chennai this week.
Rehman was arrested in Lahore Nov 4, a day after President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency, but was let off three days later.
“At the moment we (Pakistani citizens) are engaged in a very serious struggle for restitution of the rights of the people to govern themselves.
“I don’t see any early end to our struggle. It is very difficult to believe elections can be free and fair in present circumstances,” Rehman told IANS here.
“It cannot be a real election.”
Asked if even a mock election could be a step towards democracy, the activist answered: “Such mock elections create interests that operate against general democracy.
“Restrictions on the media are also a big issue in my country,” he said, adding that without free and efficient media the country cannot go forward.
Asked to comment on anti-emergency protest initiatives by Imran Khan, former cricketer and leader of the Tahreek-e-Insaf (movement for justice), the Pakistani visitor said he “is saying all the right things”.
He, however, saw no chance of an immediate homecoming of exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Rizvi also argued for return to democracy.
“Even the worst democracy is better than dictatorship,” he said.
But he added, “Our politicians have not proved themselves capable of providing good governance.”
Rizvi has set up the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation in Karachi and received the Magsaysay award in 1997 for his work in renal care. He works with the government in providing healthcare to Pakistan’s poor.
Unlike Rehman, he is not so sceptical of elections held under the military rule. “Our best election happened under military rules, (for example,) when Bhutto was elected,” Rizvi told IANS.
“As long as there is no equitable distribution of wealth, there can be no true progress and democracy in Pakistan,” he added.
In a country where a person earns less than $600 a year on an average, “the challenge is to create a partnership between people and the government. For the delivery system, it makes no difference whether it is a military government or a civilian government, it must reach the people,” he added.
Taking a larger view, Rehman added: “Be it Nepal, Bangladesh or Pakistan, in much of South Asia, people have yet to decide on the nature of the state they want.
“You cannot decide on the nature of institutions in a country until the nature of the state is decided.”
Pakistanis have to first decide what kind of a state they want, Rehman said, adding that the people of India had decided the issue much earlier.