Brief Analysis of Long March

I am in loss to understand the Long March Purpose: how they show representing the whole nation with few thousand party workers and ordering the mandated government to dissolve the assemblies and quit the government premises. They started their march on hypothetical grounds of bringing about change and the more funny things are that they talk about constitutional change and forget the constitutional procedure to bring change. These words are not of a common man but a party leader, law graduate and self defined Islamic religious scholar.

The march got full protection and possible support by the Punjab government to express themselves and show their power. The natural weather as well as political were fully in their support but even than they could not succeed to strengthen their purpose to start this long march. They were warmly welcomed by federal government they also respected their rights of freedom to assembly and right of expression. Now they also must show the respect to law and constitution and must keep them under the limits and remain peaceful.

Lets’ analyse their demands in real situations:
• They say they are representing the one hundred eighty million people of the country and only few thousand party workers are there in long march. Please tell us the criterion to understand the representation of one hundred eighty million people of Pakistan.
• Then they say they want to bring the constitutional change and on one hand give reference from constitution but on the other hand they totally ignoring the constitutional procedures to bring the change or make any amendment. Systems are to regulate the matters of state and regularize them and also define the procedures’ to make amendments. Party workers may be ignorant of the constitution but the part leader, being law graduate must be aware of the constitutional demands of two third majorities to make any amendment.
• What a joke that they talk about the democracy and then ordering the mandated government to dissolve the assemblies and calling on the army to help them to get hold on government premises. They believe themselves public assembly and the real representative government is the usurper one.
• Then they are using the name of Islam giving references from Islamic teachings: here question arises that whether only they are Islamic scholars or they have any support from other schools of thought or even from the same of school of thought. Why they forget that the majority of Islamic scholars even from same school of thought are not only apposing but challenging them.
• They express reservations that through current procedure of elections the same faces will come again and there will be no change. You are right but this is not way to stop them, the real procedure is that you are, in your view representing the people of Pakistan, you may appeal the public to reject them and elect the candidates those can represent better in your views. Don’t forget that the real power is with public and the better way to express their will is elections.
• They are demanding the change of the election commission of Pakistan who already have been appointed by the consensus of the all political parties of Pakistan. Therefore their statement doesn’t make any sense.
• If they have any other demand about the compatibility of the members of parliament they have ways to challenge them at the forum of parliament and constitutional courts of Pakistan.
• If we analyse the movement from the day of gathering at Menar-e-Pakistan. We see that their graph is continuously going down and many their collusion parties like MQM have left, for what so ever reason.
• If we survey about a single day people suffered a lot, because of traffic problem: they could not go on business, jobs, educational institutions, hospitals.

At the end I would like to suggest the Leaders of March that their demonstration has been recorded and they now should return their home peacefully. They have sufficient signs to understand the public support in their favor. They first of all should change their own mind set and perspective of thinking and then should try to work on grassroots level to convince the people to bring the real change. We are passing through transitional period and such like activities may hinder the development process. If you believe in democracy than must observe the demands of democracy and that are to uniform yourself with principles of democracy, human rights and rule of law.

To sum up, we should not be emotional on hypothetical slogans and forget the realities that without the active participation of people in development process we can’t bring change. We have the best systems but need to realize the people their rights and responsibilities to make them progressive citizens so they take active part in development process. This is the only possible solution of our contemporary issues. This is the true demand of democracy, human rights and rule of law that those, in government or opposition, striving for change since last five years or long period must be given chance to evaluate themselves through elections. We have constitutional ways to bring change and if we feel anything against the spirit of Islamic teachings or constitution of the Islamic republic of Pakistan we have forums to challenge them.