By  Mowahid Hussain Shah

January 25 , 2013

Loyal to Their Loot

 

Shakespeare has many memorable plays, which have made their mark across the globe. His words have provided comfort and inspiration to many, including dissident Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim, who read all the works in prison.

Among Shakespeare’s plays is Timon of Athens – perhaps his most obscure and yet a profound one. Washington just witnessed a single performance at the Shakespeare Theatre. It’s the saga of a generous man who constantly feeds and fetes his rich and powerful friends and ends up outspending his resources. When he finds his coffers empty, and calls upon his elite associates for assistance, they instead abandon and desert him. In disgust, Timon gives up on society and seeks solace in the wilderness.

When the train of good fortune is running full throttle, everyone wants to jump on to enjoy the ride; when the train grinds to a halt and needs help to get it back on track, then they all jump out.

The theme of beneficiaries constantly stabbing their benefactors in the back is a constant in Pakistani polity.

A thousand years before the advent of Shakespeare, Hazrat Ali had highlighted this fickle trait embedded in the human condition. Ingratitude continues to flourish. Just watch how many of the so-called sophisticates, who live the life of Riley, berate the Quaid for existing ills without striving to be better themselves and, in doing so, they put a lid on others’ just expectations. The lack of passion for statecraft is more than over-compensated by the passion for pelf.

The treasure, time, and energy of the state are again being expended for elections. But to what end? Past precedence provides ample evidence that elections are a tool to access power and to perpetuate power under the hijab of democracy. It serves the monopoly of the family franchise. It is this tiny oligarchy that turns out to be winners. A minority thus stultifying and holding the majority hostage.

While the dark shadows of Fifth Column terror, rampant inflation, and despair are lengthening across the breadth of the land, impostor leaders sit on the board and pretend to govern. When the hierarchy itself is dissipated, the protectors become predators.

Learn from Afghanistan, whose rotten oligarchy is responsible for its ruination. Left unsaid and unclear now is the end-game of its post-2014 position.

How does one explain when the leaders of an impoverished nation are far more rich than the rulers of the wealthy West? They are loyal to their loot because, without it, they have no independent stature.

It is a matter of common concern that the common person’s capacity to dream big is limited by what is in his pocket. Low self-worth is a consequence of weak community camaraderie. It is that which makes the young feel old. One may not be able to erase a demoralizing record but then one is never too old to feel young again.

If, against all odds, the Palestinians and Kashmiris can forcibly resist foreign military occupation, surely it does not take that much to try to resist the occupying power of big money. It is one way to re-energize the nation.

 

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PREVIOUSLY


Election 2004: Decisive but Divisive

Muslim Youth & Kashmir in America

The Big Picture: Wealth without Vision

Oxygen to Global Unrest

Punishing the Punctual

Change without Change

Don’t Be Weak

Passionate Attachment

The Confidence of Youth

The Other Side of Democracy

Campaign of Defamation

Pakistani Women & the Legal Profession

A Pakistani Journey

Farewell to Fazal

Mukhtaran and Beyond

Revamping the OIC

7/7 & After

Nuclear Double-Standard

Return to Racism

Hollywood – The Unofficial Media

The Sole Superpower

The UN at 60

A Slow Motion World War?

Elite vs. Street

Iqbal Today

Macedonia to Multan

Defending our Own

2006 & Maulana Zafar Ali Khan

Error against Terror

The Limits of Power

Cultural Weaknesses

Aggressive at Home, Submissive Abroad

Global Storm

The Farce of Free Expression

The Changing Mood

Condi & India

Xenophobia

Looking inward

Re-Thinking

A Tale of Two Presidents

Close to Home

Flashpoint Kashmir

The Spreading Rage

Confronting Adversity

The Illusion of International Law

Other Side of Extremism

Five Years after 9/11

The Educated Ignorant

The Decline of Humor

Icons

Six Years of Insanity

The War Not Being Fought

Munir Niazi

Compliance & Defiance

Counter-Message

Miscast

The Goddess of Wealth

The Meaning of Moderation

The Tora Bora of Fear

Clash of Civility

The Early Race

Challenge & Response

Will & Skill

Zealotry

Movie-Media and Pakistan

Hug with a Thug

Quest for Integrity

Unconquered

Vanity

Bringing Back the Past

Stuck in Iraq

Islam, Science and the West

Turmoil over Turkey

Leaders versus Leadership

Might Does Not Make Right

Kursi First

Vision & Will

Battle of the Billionaires

Assassination Alley

Extremism and Change

Rosy Expectations

Short-Term Gain, Long-Term Pain

Not Winning

Beyond Baghdad: Five Years after

The Hijab of Democracy

Hate, Fear & Hope

Weapon of Words

Hide N’ Seek

Yanking in the UN

Obama’s Breakthrough

Let Lahore Be Lahore

National Mood & Sports

Flirting with Fire

Trips Abroad

Georgia on the Mind

Duel for the White House

Zia to Zardari

Palestine: Avoiding the Unavoidable 

Not Working 

In the Ring 

Obama’s America

Smiles & Dreams

Quiet Deeds of Good

Crime and Indifference

Journey of Understanding

VIP-hunting

Terror via Counter-Terrorism

Umpires or Vampires?

The Long Road

Yesterday’s Reminder

Appeasement and the Real Threat

Israel’s Washington Agenda

New Challenges

Cairo and Beyond

Re-fighting Old Battles

America ’s Super Villains

Activism in America

Style without Substance

Overcoming Barriers

Ashes to Afghanistan

The Looming Change

Fear and Possibilities

What Is Not Debated 

Hired Guns

Rampage at Fort Hood

Manmohan in Washington

The Long Duel

Green Nukes

Vision and Division

Avoiding Why

Striving to Matter

Shame-proof

Anxiety and Opportunity

Putting Iraq in America

The Right Strategy

Looking Beyond

Rot at the Top

Strategic Folly

Daring & Caring

Over-Stepping on Turkey

Sudan : Perils of Provincialism

Old Fears, New Target

Europe ’s Stain

The US-Pakistan Enigma

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9 Years after 9/11

License to Steal

US Muslims at the Crossroads

Tumor of Terror

An Arab Voice

Disastrous Decisions

Double Game

Sticky Wiki

What Quaid Was Not

Money Conspiracy

Pharaohs & Pirates

Greed and Cricket

Change & Challenge  

Forty Years after 1971

Abandoning Our Own

Rewarding Failure

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Tsunami of Tolerance

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No Easy Exit

Nation to Non-Nation

10 Years after 9/11

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Professional Sycophants

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Soft Separation

Soft Poison

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The Arab Awakening

Ben Bella

At University of Gujrat

Good People Behaving Badly

Playing Over-Smart

Do Less

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Home-grown Havoc

Salutation to the 65 th Year

Plague of Provincialism

USA Elections 2012

Rage

Fight or Flight

Rift and Drift

Obama II

Me and We

Small Role or Small Actors?

On Losing

Who Will Guard the Guards?


2001

 

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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