Pakistan: Present and Future
By Rafiq Ebrahim
Illinois, USA
For the last eight years Musharraf has been holding the rein of the nation. People have various opinions about him. Some call him a dictator, others believe that he is power-hungry and wouldn’t give up leadership till he is forcefully removed, yet others say that he has successfully steered the nation towards prosperity and development. Whatever the case, the fact remains that the nation is confronted with a crisis today. Pakistan is facing internal unrest, foreign pressure , threat from the fanatic extremists. How is he going to handle these dire problems?
To deal with some of the crises, he most unexpectedly imposed a rule of emergency on November 3,07, sacked most of the Supreme Court judges, including the Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhry, put restrictions on the media, got the protesting lawyers, journalists, political leaders, students, intellectuals arrested and began to issue ordinance after ordinance. There were big demonstrations in the country as well as in the USA and Europe against his actions, and it seemed that his end was not very far. Yet, in spite of all this, he survived, only because the poor masses who live from hand to mouth didn’t want to take part in the movement and lose their lives and belongings. By now they know that no government has ever done much or will do much for them. Their plight would remain the same, so why take a risk. Though not satisfied with the present government, they don’t have much faith in the tried and tested political opponents.
Then suddenly the most unexpected and sad incident occurred on December 27, 07. The most powerful opponent of Musharraf and the only pro-American leader after Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto was tragically shot dead in Rawalpindi after she had addressed a rally in Liaquatbagh. While the people of Pakistan were emotionally stirred, the world leaders and intellectuals praised the departed politician and expressed their grief. Thus, like her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, she too became a martyr in the minds of the masses.
What will happen in the promised fair and transparent elections on 18th February 2008?
The Future
Poverty-ridden masses, as mentioned earlier, are not very much interested as to who will come in power. They know their plight will persist, as such the turnover for voting is not expected to be large. Very few voters, mostly those who are directly or indirectly connected to political parties, will be seen at the polling booths. Elections, whether rigged or not, will not be a testimony to the wishes of the people. In all probability President Musharraf’s party will get the most seats and it seems that he is going to rule for a long, long time.
There is a slight chance that the tables could be turned by the Pakistan Peoples Party whose supporters may turn up in large numbers to vote for the party. But a PPP victory without its powerful leader may not signify a monumental change as we do not see any significant PPP leader at the helm who could make a difference.
There is also the danger that extremists may sway public in their favor by bringing religion to the fore and inciting people to do or die, as in spite of the much talked-about “enlightened moderation“, more than eighty percent of the people particularly in remote places and villages, are extremely religious. Being illiterate with a rigid mental make-up, they could easily be won over by extremist mullahs. Yes, in spite of all the odds, this is a possibility.
Another probability is that some conscientious, educated and intelligent leaders would emerge from the middle or poor class, and make people believe that the country could only emerge out of the mess by their sincere efforts and reforms and the peoples’ lot could only be improved if leaders from their own classes are in the government. This may result in a revolution!
From what we have seen in the past, those in power or those who have amassed ill-gotten wealth, seem to believe that Pakistan was made only for the politicians and the elite. Has the time come to shatter this belief?
