Self before
State: A Paradigm in Pakistan?
It is
true that at the time of its founding,
Pakistan’s offices did not even
possess pencils and paper and from that
trying period when skeptics thought
that Pakistan would founder and die,
Pakistan has come a long way. The template
or culture is set at the top though,
and having lost Jinnah and Liaquat Ali
Khan soon after its birth, Pakistan
has suffered one self-aggrandizing general
or civilian head of state after another.
Around the time of Pakistan’s
birth the trend of uncompromising integrity
could have been set, had not tuberculosis
taken Jinnah and an assassin’s
bullet Liaquat Ali Khan. The Pakistani
psyche has not seen self-sacrifice at
the highest echelons of power, only
self before state at all levels. This
culture of self above all has etched
itself in the Pakistani mindset. I can
almost hear protests about there being
numerous very honest people in all facets
of activity in Pakistan, and acknowledge
that there are. I even suffered that
honesty at the sudden death of my father
at age 52; for despite years of civil
and diplomatic service, he left only
a minuscule pension and provident fund,
forcing my mother to work to maintain
the standard of living that we were
used to.
Yet he was the exception that proved
the rule. And though we rush to Friday
prayers and 95% of the population claims
to be Muslim, the tenets of scrupulous
honesty and detailed accounting are
principles that adorn our scriptures,
good in theory, redundant in practice.
At least two if not three generations
of Pakistanis have learned this tenet
of self before all else and the paradigm
seems set and unmoving.
To some degree this paradigm has economic
and underemployment origins. A bit of
survival of the fittest Darwinism is
certainly at hand. Another contribution
is the brown sahib mentality or some
overflow of the caste system of superiority.
Regardless of the etiology the fact
is that processes and institution building
are sorely lacking and one would think
that after almost 58 years of existence
at least a fledgling framework would
have evolved.
Leadership is vital and charismatic
leadership works greater wonders. And
yet what is of much greater importance
is the building of processes such that
right from the level of a section head
in a government office up to the president
and prime minister, the acquisition
of office and mode of discharge of duties
should have a turnkey quality. Who acquires
office ought to be irrelevant and the
show must go on regardless. The foreignness
of this idea is apparent even to me
for everything in Pakistan seems so
personality-cult oriented. Our patriotism
it seems starts and ends with the notes
of nationalistic songs.
At the bottom socioeconomic conditions
undermine and at the top unscrupulous
leaders set bad examples. Ayub Khan
decimated the economic progress made
under his rule by trying to democratize
his reign and market himself as an elected
leader. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto caused the
fragmentation of Pakistan by not accepting
the overwhelming victory of Sheikh Mujibur
Rehman. It was unthinkable that the
Bengali-dominated East Pakistan would
rule the Punjabi-dominated West Pakistan
and for straight political greed on
Bhutto’s part, the east wing was
lost. Ziaul Haq in a twisted interpretation
of Islam left Pakistan in the grips
of a rigid, martial faith. Nawaz Sharif’s
rule saw distribution of goods and power
to family and friends and Benazir amassed
necklaces, estates and Swiss bank accounts.
To each their own fetish.
The collective national sigh of relief
at the advent of Musharraf is still
distinctly memorable. But why, oh why,
did he too have to prove my Kursi theory?
That even a Sufi on ascension to power
in Pakistan would attach himself to
the seat of power with super glue. NAB
was created to nab the naughty but with
time, dubious characters in regard to
NAB criteria have ascended to power
in Musharraf’s government in a
peculiar quid pro quo play. Worse pilgrimages
to Makkah have not just been done on
the people’s tab; brothers, nephews
and mothers-in-law have fulfilled spiritual
responsibilities courtesy the government
of Pakistan. Worst, the first son Bilal’s
in laws shall now be rolling in the
billions for shoring up ultra-lucrative
contracts. I must remember to keep these
added perks in mind when time comes
to marry off my daughters. Social Security
will probably not see me through my
senior years, why not choose well-connected
in-laws for my daughters; they get married,
I get happy in more ways than one!
Living in the West one gets hung up
on democracy and how important it is
for Pakistan. Anti-Musharraf ire tends
to get a life of its own and courtesy
his sham referendum and Shaukat Aziz’s
engineered win, nothing that they do
however worthy it may be, seems worthy
in the least. The wake-up call happens
though when you entertain the result
of free and fair elections held right
now. Enter Benazir. And then however
much you love democracy, the thought
causes acid reflux and Musharraf suddenly
acquires his original knight in shining
armor characteristic.
There must be a little Jinnah or Liaquat
Ali Khan II running around in school
somewhere in Pakistan. I will join in
celestial celebration years from now
as he is legitimately elected, shatters
the nauseating norm and is able to change
the paradigm to processes and institution
building. Till death do me part though
there is nothing but lament for the
pathetic array of leaders on offer in
Pakistan. And I look forward more and
more to that celestial celebration.
Mahjabeen Islam is a physician practicing
in Toledo Ohio. Her email address is
mahjabeenislam@hotmail.com
