In its five decades of existence the Karachi Press Club (KPC) is the only place in Pakistan where elections have been held without a break, even defying the ban on electioneering in all forums in the country in the dark and dastardly eleven years of Zia-ul-Haq's regime. That defiance in it self was quite a marvel considering that even political parties lacked the guts to hold their party polls.
If today there is a lack of democratic practice or even an awareness of the importance of participating the democratic process, one must blame the gutlessness of political parties. How conveniently they gave in to Zia's ban. However, it is not surprising since political leadership has been in the hands of people with a feudal mentality, which is kin to dictatorship.
Unquestioning loyalty is demanded of party workers, denying them the right to choose, to bring in a new leader or throw out an old one by the vote. When there is no democracy in the heart of political parties how can they generate democratic practice among the people of Pakistan?
The KPC has paid heavily for its defiance. Military dictators have tried to destroy the club financially. It is largely dependant on grants from government, semi-government and other institutions such as large business houses and the national airline. Most of these grants were stop by dictators, so there were times when the club did not have money to pay the office and domestic staff. Zia's military regime tried to break up club membership by creating a parallel club, or at least attempting to create one. This attempt failed because there were few takers and no place cloud be found for a club house.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the club does not allow men in uniform to enter the gate. That includes the armed forces and police of course, but also such men as customs officers whose white suit hardly looks like a uniform. Any such person has to come dressed in mufti. And God help the governing body that breaks this tradition of the club. It is thrown out, but never arbitrarily. A general council is convened and the members vote for the ouster of the governing body. An ad hoc committee is appointed by the council to hold elections to bring in a new governing body. In short, the KPC functions on democratic norms which are written in its constitution.
Democratic norms are written into the Constitution of Pakistan, too. If democracy has not had a successful run in the country it is largely due to the absence of democratic practice among the politicians. Too many political parties have found military dictatorship preferable to the rule by politicians whose views were opposed to their own, even if the opponent had been voted in. This is the reason for the break-up of Pakistan and birth of Bangladesh, as well as the tragic end of Bhutto who refused to accept public verdict in 1971 and the aborted polls of 1977. Why blame military dictators for usurping power and destroying democracy? They could not have succeeded unless some political party supported them. If these political parties were democratic, the men in uniform could not have lorded over us. Take the example of the KPC. It is because of its democratic practice that men in uniform dare not enter the club.
The KPC has members of different political views. Some are very pro-religion, some pro-secularism, some pro-provincialism, pro-Mohajir, pro-Sindhi and what not. But these different points of view have not led to polarisation nor to the dominance of any one school of thought.
By and large the KPC polls throws up a governing body which represents a mixed bag of opinions. And no matter who is elected, members of the club recognise his right to govern and respect office holders whether they voted for the office bearer or not. In short, there is no enmity among members of different schools of thought. Such tolerance is the essence of democracy which is established only through regular polls.
Children who were growing up in the days of dictatorship had no idea what democracy means. To create an awareness among my nieces and nephews, I would take them to the club on polling day. They found all the hullabaloo of electioning very exciting. If this was democracy, they said, it was wonderful.
They would get into the swing of things by holding up placards or wearing a badge and join in, shouting "Vote for!" this one and that one with little concern that at the same time they were championing rival candidates. They would hold my hand and walk in, awed by the solemnity of the polling room. They would stand silently besides me in the polling booth and watch as I placed my "X" mark on the ballot paper. It saddened me to think about the millions of Pakistanis kids growing up without any love for or understanding of the importance of the vote.
My children were lucky to have an aunt who was a member of the KPC. But you know what? By the time they reached voting age they were still denied the right to vote as there was military man in saddle. Nevertheless, they enthusiastically exercised their right to vote in Musharraf's referendum. I disapproved and told them such a referendum was not democratic. They agreed, and said it was not Musharraf but the excitement of exercising their right to vote, which was the reason they participated.
They were not the only ones to participate in the referendum. Nearly all their friends did likewise, and for the same reasons. But this time a political awareness had been created among the youth of Pakistan through the world-wide coverage of Presidential election in the USA. Thanks to the media, Pakistani young men and women are now more politically astute and thorough going supporters of democratic practice. It is because of the attitude of these young citizens that I now feel Pakistan is finally on the road to democracy, and politicians as well as militarists per force have to adopt democratic practice.
In contrast to today's youth are the people who reached voting age during the military regimes. An example of attitude was a young KPC member who told me he was not participating in the KPC polls (this was some years ago).
I insisted he participate. He said he did not care for any of the candidates for office positions. I told him that was beside the point. Not to exercise one's right to vote is to allow unsavory persons from holding office. "Cast a negative vote," I told him. "Do not allow your ballot paper to go to waste." This is something few voters in Pakistan understand: every vote that an unsavory politician does not get is a indictment against him.
When leadership is decided by regular polls then the candidates seeking the vote are forced to deliver, forced to adopt measures which will win them support at the next elections.
The vote is the first step. The next is legislation. At the end of polling at the KPC the annual general council meeting is held where many decisions are debated and resolutions passed. One of the most significant resolutions ever passed at a general council meeting was limiting a person from holding the same post for more than two terms.
This was an important step towards right democratic practice. It ensured the infusion of fresh blood in the governing body and ensured a reasonably fair and democratic governance. If the same person is allowed to hold office endlessly, then democracy becomes a form of dictatorship.
Not every practice or project of the KPC governing body is ever entirely right. But the Democlese sword hangs over their heads: the fear that they may not be elected again. That is the only way of controlling wrong practices in a democratic set up, whether it is the KPC or the country.
It is the reason journalists hold their right to vote in the KPC polls as a sacred duty. Hundreds turn up. This year voting was 90 percent. I think they even rise from their graves to come and vote.
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