Dominance of Pakistan Military is an attack on Democracy

Democracy in Pakistan (PC - The New York Times)

“A democracy cannot long endure with the head of a God and the tail of a demon.”
- Josephine Silone Yates

Democracy under attack

According to the 10^th edition of The Economist Intelligence Unit & Democracy Index (EIUD) international survey, the fragile democracy of Pakistan does not score more than five out of ten. The indicators cover five broad categories including electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture and civil liberties.

On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents full democracy and 0 represents authoritarian regime, Pakistan scored 4.26.

Pakistan has witnessed a consistent decline in democratic health for the last three years as the country’s score kept declining after 2014; turning it into a failing state.

Dominance of Pakistan Military

What has marred the road for Democracy in Pakistan?

The rough road for democracy in Pakistan has been marred by the dominance and diktat of the military.

Pakistan, has been described as a military with a country, not a country with a military.

The state has been directly ruled by the military for more than half of its 71 years. Since its creation in 1947, the military in Pakistan has been an omnipotent institution and will continue to do so.

Though officially Pakistan is a democratic country, military sets the rules there and controls the government.

What explains Pakistan’s military dominance

From the time Pakistan got its independence, it regarded Kashmir an apple ready to be plucked. Pak Army regulars disguised as “Kabalis” (tribals) were dispatched to snatch and occupy vast tracts of Kashmir. The dispute that to originated gave a much needed handle to the Pak Army to demonise India and to perpetuate hostility in order to ensure its own pre-eminence as protector of Pakistan.

Pakistan and India went to war over Kashmir five times. As a result, the state had to allocate the military a mammoth 70% of the federal budget. Hence, the military snatched decision making power and reduced elected governments to a titular existence.

Furthermore, from 1951-1954, while the Prime Minister and it’s cabinet changed seven times, the military leadership under then military chief Ayub Khan, remained stable. This enabled the Army to portray the civilian side as weak and to further its own position as the important political player. Slowly and steadily, the military gained a complete control over the political system of the country and became “the state within the state”.

Since 1947, Pakistan has been run by military dictators three times. Each served as president for many years.

Pakistan, where dictatorship look like democracy

Civilian control over the military is a concept that was never absorbed and implemented in Pakistan. Whether directly or indirectly, Pakistan’s powerful military repeatedly reminds Pakistanis that civilian leaders are the bane of the nation while the army is the only savior. Defenders of military rule in Pakistan also argue that civilian leaders are thoroughly incompetent and cannot ensure security and economic development.

The brief democratic constitution of Pakistan however flawed, under the military has enabled too consecutive elected governments completed its five-year term and has led to a third after a general election held in July this year with cricketer turned politician Imran Khan was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Imran is an unabashed acolyte of the Pak Army.

Imran Khan, an Army puppet

As former cricket star Imran Khan stood victorious, he made some eye-catching promises starting from eliminating corruption from Pakistan in 90 days to creating 10 million jobs over five years.

While there is no denying the fact that there is much hope and expectation from the present government, but the real question is how much power does he really have?

His ability to act on his promises remain limited as the new government cannot stray from the confines set by the military.

“...the army is Pakistan.” - Imran Khan

Pakistan’s politics is a puppet of the moustache men. Time and again, it has been proved that the real power in deciding the direction of Pakistan regional policies continue to rest with the military and not with the Prime Minister. Civilian government in Pakistan is like a cattle tethered by a rope to a massive tree which is the Army. The cattle can move around given the length of the rope but can never break free from the tree.

A threat to democracy!

“Yeh jo dehsat gardi hai, is ke peechey wardi hai” (terror is backed by the military) a popular chant on democracy not taking root in Pakistan.

Pakistani Army - It's tough, efficient, audacious. 

In reality, it is delusional.

Rather than holding the country together, it’s singular obsession of getting Kashmir while subjugating Balochistan and Baltistan has led the country into several wars with India besides internal strike that it could never win.

The separation of Bangladesh was a stinging rebuke to the Pak military and the ruling Punjabi ethic.

The army's power exaggerated the existing power of Punjab province and caused conflict in other provinces such as Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunwa whose people resented the domination of both the military and of Punjab. The prolonged involvement of military has irrevocably weakened the political parties in Pakistan. Equally damaging has been the impact on the judiciary and civil society.

From controlling the media to rigging elections and compromising civil liberties, the all-encompassing army has shied away from nothing.

Today, Pakistan has fallen behind an independent Bangladesh in terms of human-development indicators.

Dominance of Military turned Pakistan into a failing state

The country looked much richer and modern than India in 1950, with Pakistan’s per capita income ($643),being higher than India’s ($619). But now, the dominance of the military in Pakistan has not only undermined democracy but threatened to turn it into a failing state.

“India had used the time since 1998 to emerge as a rising world power, while Pakistan had declined into a 'tottering' state, weakened by its absence of democracy.” - Former Reuters journalist and author Myra MacDonald.

Democracy not Dictatorship

It is only through democracy and shedding pointless hostility that Pakistan can truly set itself on the path to prosperity provides the military that is overshadowing the other organs of the confines itself to the barracks.