By  Mowahid Hussain Shah

June 28 , 2013

Gallows and the Throne

 

Politics in Pakistan has oscillated between the gallows and the throne.

In 1971, Bengali leader Mujib, while held in custody, faced the possibility of execution from the West Pakistan establishment. In February 1974, the same establishment saluted Mujib when he arrived to attend the Islamic Summit at Lahore as head of Bangladesh. After the secession of East Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto ruled the roost in the West wing and hailed the truncated Pakistan as ‘new’ Pakistan until he ran afoul of the military and was hung after a dubious trial and conviction. Zardari faced massive pelf charges and was scorned by the establishment until he landed in the presidency and became supreme commander of the armed forces. Nawaz Sharif faced treason charges and the usual sickening calls for capital punishment; after returning from exile, he was given a guard of honor on again regaining the office of Prime Minister of Pakistan.

This fickle feature of Pakistan polity has been a key de-stabilizing factor. Hero one day; zero another day. Yesterday’s traitors are the heroes of today. The ping-pong match between humiliation and adulation has soiled the national landscape.

Massive larceny and missteps of civilian despots have ensured that the praetorian dragon remains to be slain. It is a byproduct of a culture where artificial display and crafty manipulation are viewed approvingly.

In a letter to President Iskander Mirza, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto extolled him as a greater figure than the Quaid. Many similar accolades were showered on Ayub, Yahya, Bhutto, Zia, and Musharraf. In the chairs, they present themselves and are depicted as the paragon of patriotism. Out of chair, they are prone to be tarred and tarnished by trash talk. The constant immersion in these muddy waters has contaminated notions of honor and blurred the differentiation between right and wrong.

The idolatry of chair worship has much to do with it being perceived in permanent terms. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto literally described the throne being all-powerful shortly before he was dethroned. Power has its own fluctuating dynamics, yet is perceived in static terms.

The culture of “sifarish”, sycophancy, and back-stabbing intrigue behind closed doors ensures that the cycle of getting enthroned and being dethroned shall continue, with bouquets for the incoming rulers and brickbats for the dismounted ones.

Not enough attention has been concentrated on identifying what works and what doesn’t work.

There are self-defeating propensities. One is overreaching and grabbing more than one’s legitimate share of power. Another is thoughtless action lured by the immediacy of petty advantage without vetting and weighing of implications. Reflection can and does apply brakes against the accelerating reaction of over-speeding.

One way to break established patterns of self-imposed errors is to dig from the past and invite critique from wiser heads. It is easier to persist, however, with old habits even when they don’t work. The chance of trying a different approach is thereby missed.

Once on the stage, the rulers end up doing what they once deplored off-stage. The once-humble behave like mini-Pharaohs, falsely assuming immunity from karma. And, thus, the pendulum keeps swinging between the throne and the gallows.

 

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

 

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

Bitter Harvest


2001

 

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