The
Chernobyl Syndrome
By Mir Mohammad Ali
Talpur
Sindh, Pakistan
Dictatorial and unrepresentative governments
can never be transparent and forthcoming on any
issue be it social, economic, military or political.
They intrinsically suffer from what may be termed
as the Chernobyl Syndrome; all must be remembering
the clumsy Soviet attempt to deny that the catastrophe
had even occurred hoping that the invisible fallout
wouldn't be noticed. The unrepresentative regimes
never acknowledge responsibility and try to sweep
under the carpet their disasters and sordid activities
in the hope that no one will notice them, not
realizing that the fallouts of these, as in the
case of Chernobyl, could be fatal and terminal.
The history of this country is replete with instances
of cover-ups of catastrophes, disasters, scandals,
scams and violations that include the catastrophic
debacle and atrocities in East Pakistan, the outrages
and injustices in Baluchistan, the Kargil disaster,
the freezing of foreign accounts, the writing
off of the debts of crony politicians and businessmen,
the allotment of plots, the Defense societies,
the dubious privatizations, the Ojhri Camp incident,
the questionable concessions to foreign firms,
the capitulations at a single phone call, the
enforced disappearances of people in Balochistan
and Sindh, the Damadola and Bajaur bombings, the
frontal assault on the Supreme Court in the last
dispensation and the present self-inflicted judiciary
crisis and so many more.
The list is long and shameful and no one has ever
been held accountable. There has been no self-examination
leave alone any reckoning for the crimes and misdemeanors
committed in the name of 'national interest' simply
because the people at the helm and their cronies
were responsible and were well beyond censure.
The other facet of this syndrome is that the government
thinks that if it refuses to acknowledge a problem,
the problem feeling insulted at not being given
due recognition will disappear into oblivion.
The problems however are as thick-skinned as the
rulers here and refuse to leave until shown the
door.
The problems of inflation, the suffocating poverty,
the galloping rich-poor divide, ubiquitous power-shortages,
the poor state of human rights, the lack of clean
drinking water, the illiteracy, the near non-existence
of health facilities, the law and order situation,
the rife and rampant corruption, the ever-increasing
internal and external debt burden, the increasing
Talibanization of society etc. are all denied
by the rulers in the face of overwhelming evidence
to the contrary.
Their logic is simple: if the Hamood-ur-Rahman
Commission Report is not published then probably
the Dhaka debacle didn't happen! If the denial
about missing persons is consistent then they
are not missing. If you say things are fine in
Balochistan then they are fine. If you say people
want the Kalabagh Dam then they want it, to hell
with resolutions in three assemblies.
The idea behind this stone-walling is that the
Establishment probably thinks that by denying
problems and catastrophes for they can make the
people forget and overlook the harsh reality they
have to live in and have to contend with in their
everyday lives.
If we seek the underlying reason for these illogical
and irrational denials of reality and refusal
to accept the responsibility, i.e. of the Chernobyl
Syndrome, all fingers point towards the illegality
of the rulers as the root cause. This illegality
emanates from being in power due to rigged elections
or simply due to the usurpation of power by brute
force of arms.
The dictators being insecure in their illegality
are more concerned with their survival and image
rather than with problems and their solutions.
This insecurity leads to a warped perception of
reality which compels them to increasingly depend
on a limited group of cronies and advisors. This
in turn completely divorces them from reality
and they begin to view reality as it is presented
to them by their spineless spin doctors. They
begin believing the 'mirror on the wall' that
they are indispensable and infallible.
The delusion that they are infallible and indispensable
makes them resort to further deception and falsehoods.
The denial of mistakes stems from their warped
assessment of their capability and importance.
The illusory misconceptions about their role and
status in Universe is responsible for all their
blunders, if it weren't so why would attempts
be made to solve problems of ME when unsolved
problems abound here.
The other equally dangerous perception with equally
disastrous consequences originates from the misconception
of the historical role and importance of the armed
forces here; they are seen in a historically glorified
form as the sole inheritor of the Glory of Islam
and as the bulwark of Islam. This is far-fetched
from reality as the armed forces have hardly been
able to defend the country’s frontiers.
Besides, this concept has nothing to do with the
conditions and needs of today.
The delusion that the armed forces are infallible,
invincible and indispensable has resulted in people
being burdened with unwanted and unwelcome military
dictators and in needless conflicts with neighbors;
both having disastrous consequences. This delusion
has led to an ever-expanding role of the armed
forces in the civilian and economic sectors of
life which has created an unfavorable atmosphere
for the establishment and development of democracy.
Although Chaudary Shujaat Hussain has demanded
the death penalty for 'abusers of armed forces'
and the undefined term 'abuse' is open to interpretation
in innumerable ways, one has to speak ones mind
about the armed forces because we are answerable
to our conscience and these threats will not deter
us from speaking up.
The military and civilian dictators have been
the major source of this blighted country's misfortunes
and it has been compounded by the active connivance
and collaboration of the timeserving politicians,
politicians of easy virtue professing promiscuous
politics, who change loyalties with the slightest
shift of winds of fortune. I need not recollect
the names of the pseudo dynasties and individuals
who have perfected this art and have thrived at
a great cost to the poor and the helpless.
Wherein lies the solution and how will the misery
of the people end is the question everyone asks
and demands an answer to?
It has no easy answers and no ready-made solutions.
The present set of rulers or those who wait impatiently
in the alleys to replace them or to join hands
with them cannot be expected to change the present
warped political system because they are the ones
who benefit and thrive in this system. They won't
sign the death warrant of their system.
The people will have to wake up from their indifference
and lethargy to challenge the present unjust system
and bring about a change in their own fate and
the fate of this country which certainly deserves
better rulers and a better deal than has been
its lot so far.
The people will have to struggle and strive in
a long and arduous struggle to set the long history
of injustices right. A complete revamping of all
state institutions will have to be carried out.
Unless the revamping is thorough and institutionalized
there can be no hope of any progress on any front
and this country will continue to wallow in the
quagmire of disasters and catastrophes.
Tail piece : Need I say that in this
country elections have hardly ever been representative
of the peoples' will and have invariably been
won by those who have the wherewithal, i.e. the
money, the clout and the backing from proper quarters(read
agencies) and also have the know how to manipulate
the electoral machinery.
I think that if the General President gets himself
elected by this very lame duck and wishy-washy
assembly and that too with the help of the 'democracy-loving'
Benazir then this election will prove to be the
death knell and will be long remembered as
"The Step-Mother of All Elections".
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