Absurdity is used in existentialist and related philosophy according to the Wikipedia Encyclopedia to describe absurdly pointless efforts to try and find such meaning or purpose in an objective and uncaring world. In common usage absurdity is synonymous with ridiculousness. Thomas Hobbes discussed the two concepts as different, absurdity having to do with invalid reasoning while ridiculousness has to do with laughter, superiority and deformity. Plato described absurdity as very poor reasoning or conclusion from adopting a position that is false and reasoning to a false conclusion. Throughout western history absurdity has been used to describe foolishness and extremely poor belief to form reasoning.
Wikipedia Encyclopedia further says that the Doctrine of Absurdity refers to any strict implementation of something to the point of violation of common sense, ie emphasizing or observing exact rules or words but not its spirit. The Absurdity Doctrine, also known as “Scrivener’s Error” exception is a legal theory under which American courts have interpreted statutes contrary to their plain meaning in order to avoid absurd legal conclusions. Absurdity is contrasted in seriousness in reasoning, related to extremes in bad reasoning or pointlessness in reasoning. The problem with the “Doctrine of Necessity” is that in Pakistan it competes with what a perceptive colleague has called the “Doctrine of Absurdity”. How else can you describe how and why the govt in power in Pakistan retains legitimacy?
The Supreme Court (SC) judgment about the National Reconciliation Order (NRO) a black law if ever there was one, is not being implemented; the SC shows no real inclination to implement it either, it is simply kept hanging over the government as a judicial “Sword of Damocles”. Either the judgment should be implemented or the SC should back down. Not having the same qualms about the letter and/or spirit of the law as the SC, NRO beneficiaries applying their own version of “the rule of the law” for the foreseeable future, will prosper by looting the public till at will.
Once unthinkable, the possible inclusion of PML-Q (Zardari’s Qatil League) in the PPP-led Federal Cabinet, has made it desperate times for the PPP because of the impending Federal Budget. The individual leaders of consequence of the PML (Q) cannot hope to come on the national stage without the prop of either one of the major political parties or the Army. Their 50 MNAs would consolidate the PPP’s position presently teetering precariously at a bare majority of 172 in a house of 342. For the PML-Q the consideration of the possible loss of its 20 Senate seats in next year’s election looms large. Seat adjustments in a future election are being dangled as a carrot by the PPP, the ‘stick’ is provided Chaudhry Pervez Elahi’s son, Moonis Elahi, being entrapped currently in the NICL scandal.
NADRA received data of 81.2 million people eligible to vote in the previous election for verification and augmentation purposes to move towards developing error-free computerized electoral rolls. The NADRA exercise revealed that the electoral rolls used for the last polls contained over 37 million questionable entries thus undercutting the credibility of the 2008 general election. With only 44.02 million entries verified as valid, 37.18 million (nearly 45%) entries were deemed bogus votes. Will anyone hold the then Election Commission (EC) officials responsible for foisting this fraud in the name of democracy on us?
Hundreds of Parliamentarians in Pakistan could lose their seats because of fake degrees and possibly also face jail time. How incongruous that those involved in such forgery and chicanery now frame the laws that we have to adhere to. The verifying of degrees was handed to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in compliance with orders of the SC of Pakistan. HEC Chairman Javaid Leghari refused pointed suggestions to slow down the process for a year. Failing all sorts of crude intimidation, the govt decided to devolve the HEC to the Provinces in using the cover of the 18th Amendment utter disregard of the consequences, many scholars say these will be disastrous for the country. Those with fake degrees have a vested interest in derailing the enquiry process. In any case, one clause of the 18th Amendment makes the concept of democracy absurd, the party head has dictatorial powers to dismiss anyone from his party (and govt office) who does not listen to his (or her) diktat.
Once Musharraf had committed troops for counter-insurgency (COIN) operations into FATA in 2003 without proper military preparation, terrorism was poised to retaliate in the Pakistani heartland. Why no contingency plan was prepared escapes sound military reasoning, it borders on the absurd. The nexus of corruption and organized crime in the Pakistani heartland provides fuel for the terrorism that has proliferated since. Three decades is a long time for such evil to take a firm hold. Given a tremendous opportunity to eradicate all three evils when he came to power, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was a tremendous Musharraf initiative, the tragedy is that he himself destroyed the concept in playing politics with its potential in a vain attempt to remain Head of State forever. Whatever gains NAB made despite his motivated political meddling was ultimately irretrievably destroyed when Musharraf’s NRO foisted Asif Zardari’s version of PPP on us. Having acquired power through the money generated by corruption, there is no way the PPP-led govt is going to go after “organized crime”. Does it require nuclear science to understand why at the ground zero of terrorism, there is no dedicated Counter Terrorism Force (CTF)? COIN has been very successful under Kayani, young men have been sent into battle determined to make the sacrifices needed, what prevents the military hierarchy from insisting upon the obvious, a CTF that will eradicate the menace of terrorism flourishing in the heart land? While the politicians may have a motivated interest in avoiding such a campaign in almost every constituency, what is the vested interest of the military hierarchy? The military hierarchy cannot pretend to be deaf, dumb and blind to this circus of the absurd.
Today’s Parliament has legislators with fake degrees and almost all of whom have been elected on bogus votes, where is the legitimacy of that Parliament? What can be more absurd that not one of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s original PPP stalwarts (and almost no Ms Benazir loyalists) occupy PPP leadership positions in the country’s governance, indeed what is more absurd than Dr (of Monticello University fame) Babar Awan, who publicly distributed sweets celebrating Bhutto’s unfortunate hanging, is now born-again and leading the PPP charge to get their dead venerated leader exonerated by the SC. Talk about poetic justice, a PPP stalwart contends that such is Bhutto’s power, that even from the grave he has made Awan resign as Federal Minister and take up cudgels in his defence. One can be forgiven for accepting Aristotle’s reasoning describing the state of governance in Pakistan, “once the irrational has been introduced and an air of likelihood imparted to it, we must accept it in spite of the absurdity”. What indeed is the fail-safe line between the Doctrine of Necessity, and what we have currently in place in Pakistan, the Doctrine of Absurdity?
Courtesy: The News
