By  Mowahid Hussain Shah

June 14 , 2013

Bitter Harvest

Both the Western World and the Muslim World are reaping the bitter harvest of bad policies, wrong priorities, and inept pilots at the helm.

My elder brother, Mujahid Syed, always told me that, in his lifetime experience, those who are overly cautious often get entrapped in the quagmire of their own timidity.

The West, now embroiled in boundless conflict, has yet to show the guts to tackle the Palestinian question, which has now metastasized and is at the heart of much of the turmoil that has unsettled and roiled Western-Muslim relations. The roots of the rage are being ignored. Inaction principally is because of fear of incurring the wrath of the pro-Israel lobby, which over-influences the direction of Western policy.

In much of the Muslim world, including Pakistan, the moneyed impact of the ossified Arab Establishment has blocked emergence of a vibrant and bona fide Muslim presence on the international stage. For example, how many now know the name of the Secretary General of the 57-member OIC?

But great leaders sometimes rise above their circumstances to leave their indelible imprint on the global stage. 50 years back, de Gaulle showed his class as a leader by recognizing that the French hold on Algeria was untenable and would devour France itself. King Faisal was the architect of the landmark Lahore Islamic Summit of February 1974.

Britain was pusillanimous in tackling the atrocity of apartheid until Mandela, and then de Klerk, showed the necessary reconciliatory statesmanship and pulled back South Africa from the brink of disaster. Today, one of the iconic figures of post-apartheid era is the great Hashim Amla.

Here, pseudo leaders, along with their progeny, have flourished on the basis of the platform which wealth alone can provide. It is a sorry reflection on our society, which has been a cradle of Sufism whose cardinal virtues of self-effacement abhorred the hoarding of riches.

Similar mindset with similar personnel does not suggest a sanguine outcome. Those who have emerged have not demonstrated a unique set of governance skills. The tendency remains to build monuments to mendacity. So much of the national energy is squandered to keep politicians alive and solvent in the public eye and imagination. What is required is a change of approach to achieve a different and better result.

Only the blessed few have the insight and depth of character to realize that they are (and have been) on the wrong track.

If the errors of the past are left unattended and uncorrected, then it is the nation that shall reap the bitter harvest.

Democracy number 2 has not worked and so much has been lost in the sustenance of this masquerade. Chameleons continue to enjoy the free ride while the rest pay the price. The subordination of public interest to super money has left a legacy of dismal governance and darkness. Those who expect a revolutionary change would be well served to remember Hazrat Ali’s admonition: “Power or wealth do not change a man; they only unveil him.”

Now is the time to take a strategic pause and reassess what has gone wrong.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------

 

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

The Status Quo Is Unacceptable

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

Osama and Obama

Tsunami of Tolerance

Representation and Presentation

Meek and Weak

Change or the Same?

No Easy Exit

Nation to Non-Nation

10 Years after 9/11

Shining India?

Big Power, Small Politics

Rule of the Gun

Proxy of the Powerful

Fight for Fairness

Republican Race

Actors or Directors

Speaking out

Professional Sycophants

More Provinces?

Too Much Information

Soft Separation

Soft Poison

Unemployment & Over-Population

Seize the Day

The Arab Awakening

Ben Bella

At University of Gujrat

Good People Behaving Badly

Playing Over-Smart

Do Less

Resisting the Resistible

Performance, Not PR

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?

Loyal to Their Loot

Prevail or Fail

Perceptions and Reality

Toll of Occupation

Re-think, Re-examine, and Self-correct 

The Washington Tribe

Voice and Vision

Moral Slump

Wall of Illusion

Under One Banner


2001

 

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
© 2004 pakistanlink.com . All Rights Reserved.