What is Democracy? Public Speech at Charsadda, October 27, 1968

We are told that this is a democracy. What a strange democracy! They claim with pride that the country has a democratic constitution. What type of a democratic constitution is this? When the rulers deliver speeches special arrangements are made for them, but if we want to speak we are not allowed to do so. Many hurdles are put in our way. If they want to make the people hear their nonsense, why are we denied the right to speak? If they can go to the people, why can’t we?

If the rulers can come and accuse us, we have every right to go to the people and tell them the truth. We are not enemies of the people. We have served the country. We stand for the welfare of the country. We can lay down our lives for the sake of this country. The rulers say that we are traitors. History will decide whether we are traitors or they are traitors. The times ahead will bring in a verdict. When we oppose the Government, charges are leveled against us. When we supported them they praised us.

I ask the rulers what have you done for the people during the last ten years? You can see it for yourself. The whole country can see it. We acknowledge that a few families have prospered a lot but the people have not, the workers have not, the farmers have not. Governor Musa has said about my Hyderabad meeting that there were tongawallas, rickshawallas and labourers in that meeting. I am proud of the fact that these workers were at my meeting. You have only lackeys in your meetings. The workers are with us. The peasants are with us. The students are with us. You only have lackeys with you. You can also have your police with you. That we don’t mind. We stand for truth and for justice. They say who can challenge the Government? This is wrong. They should know that the nation can challenge the Government. If one stands for a just cause, one can challenge anyone. If they had done justice, nobody could have challenged them.

To the Government I say don’t try to frighten us or threaten us that we will be jailed, that you would institute cases against us, that you will issue statements against us. You are free to do anything you want. We are the least bothered about that. You can try to suppress us. You may even try to destroy us completely but we are going to stick to our principles. You are afraid of us. We can prove that. You are afraid of India, while India is afraid of us. You are afraid of the people. You cannot impress us. You can bring into the field all the might that you have. Also your wealth and your capabilities. I admit we have empty pockets. We don’t have any money but we shall defeat the wealthy. These poor people cannot be influenced by wealth.

The elections are coming and the rulers are preparing for the elections. A lot of money is being collected. Now the President himself is coming to address a meeting in Peshawar and he will tell the people that the country has progressed a lot. This progress is that sometimes there is no sugar, no water, no wheat, no food and they want us to believe that there has been progress all around They are very proud of having given us a Constitution. What is this Constitution? They do not understand it themselves. They do not follow their own constitution. There is a provision in the Constitution that if the President is unwell or goes out of the country, the Speaker of the Assembly is to act as President. You know when the President fell sick, the Speaker was dispatched to purchase carpets! This is how they respect their own Constitution.

Then they talk about political progress. What are their political principles? The political principle of the opposition is democracy but their principle is Basic Democracy. About economic issues, we hold that the people are the owners of national wealth while they believe that 22 families are the owners of this wealth. They tell us that bribery cannot be curbed as it is a very difficult problem. They advise the people to refrain from offering bribes. That is how they want to solve this problem. We know that they cannot solve this problem. It is impossible for them to do it because they will never arrest the high-ups in bureaucracy. The big officers whose wives have built bungalows in Islamabad are responsible for encouraging bribery. This Government is dependent on these officers. These officers are running this Government. That is why they can’t face the people.

I have extensively toured the country from Karachi to Chittagong. I have not noticed any sympathy for the Government among the masses. Nowhere are the people with them, neither here nor in the Punjab, nor in Bengal, nor in Sindh, nor in Baluchistan. Nowhere in the world can you find a situation similar to the state of affairs in our country. The people are not with them. The students are not with them. The poor are not with them. The peasants are not with them. Only a few officers are running this Government. They have these officers, these policemen and these Basic Democrats. How long will they suppress the people of this country? They have already tortured the people a lot. The situation in Bengal is that hatred is spreading against West Pakistan. It will go on increasing, if you curb democracy, if you don’t talk to East Pakistanis, if you go on ruling over them through your servants. How can they cooperate with you? How can they respect you? How can they have any regard for you?

Why is it that during this regime they put up the Six Points demand? There were no Six Points previously. If at all there has been a conspiracy at Agartala, it has been hatched during this regime. The situation during the past was that the leaders of this area, like Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, were elected from the other wing. It was because people there agreed with the previous Government, the country was independent and there was democracy in the country. Now the situation is that if you put one East Pakistani in jail, all of them consider themselves slaves. What have you done to Baluchistan? What tyrannies have you not perpetrated upon the people of Baluchistan? This Government should be ashamed of itself.

They say that they will construct a memorial in Karachi. What right do they have to construct a memorial? We shall construct a memorial in Karachi. We shall construct a memorial in Karachi to commemorate the martyrdom of the students who were killed by your firing during the demonstrations against Tashkent. You have no right to erect any memorial. Only the people have the right to build memorials.

A dictator brings destruction and calls it peace. He calls it stability. What stability is this? This is the stability of the graveyard.