The detractors of the Supreme Court denounce any criticism of the kind of democracy we have in Pakistan today as an assault on democracy itself. They insist that their democracy needs time to take hold. But the Supreme Court, far from trying to uproot democracy, is playing a role of strengthening and sustaining it. In a democracy everyone should be answerable to law, even if it is the prime minister. Democracy needs effective checks on illegal practices even by the executive. “Self-regulation” is a myth, just as it is a myth that democracy develops by itself if it is left “unhindered” for two or three cycles. This is like advocating the planting of weeds. Weeds spreading in a lawn stifle the growth of the grass. At this rate goodness only knows what a mess we would be in if the same rotten lot continued unchecked for another few years – allegedly for the sake of democracy.
Lahore, June30.
