The Journey of a People from Hope to Despair
By Shahid R. Siddiqi
Baltimore , MD
Pakistan faces a paradox. It is ruled by a party that enjoys good measure of support but both the party and the country are presided over by a man who is a subject of ridicule by his countrymen owing to his dubious past and lack of vision, political acumen and administrative ability.
Over a year in office, Zardari has failed to steer the country out of the political and economic morass that is partly his government’s own making and partly unaddressed due to its sheer incompetence. He violates the parliamentary system that he presides over by sidelining the prime minister and running the government with the help of sycophants and unelected cronies who capitalize on his insecurity.
Many of his decisions and policies made it amply clear that he is out of sync with reality. On occasions he had to be snubbed by the Army chief for taking a wrong stand on defense matters.
Domestically, his government has failed on all fronts. It lost its writ over most of North West Frontier Province at the hands of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, which continues to create an environment of terror in Punjab and Sindh. Its shaky grip on key political issues has strengthened religious extremism. After a relative period of stability under Musharraf, the economy is in doldrums. Investment has dried up, industry is shutting down, unemployment has risen steeply and run away inflation has caused consumer prices to spin out of control. Ironically, while the common man carries his cross, unsure of his next meal, politicians in power roll in luxury – thanks to rampant corruption.
He is disrespected for his submission to American diktat that has earned him the title of ‘American poodle’. His foreign ministry is ridiculed for being ‘On Her Majesty’s Service’ – a reference not to the British Queen but to the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Pakistan's all weather friends, the Chinese, disapprove of his blindly pro-AmBrit policies, which is why he failed to secure a meeting with senior Chinese officials on his last visit to that country.
Pakistan today is a dysfunctional state, in grave and imminent danger of collapse. Pakistan People’s Party that Zardari usurped after coercing it into submission on Benazir’s death is rapidly losing ground.
The newly energized Supreme Court seems to be moving in a direction that threatens the political fortunes of Zardari and his cronies. If the court continues to demolish actions taken during the twilight of Musharraf presidency, the country could face more turmoil.
An air of despondency and gloom has blanketed the country. People of all shades are extremely concerned about their present and the future. The worst has happened – they have lost hope and have resigned to their fate.
This is the Pakistan of today, Pakistan under Zardari.
This is in sharp contrast to the Pakistan of 1947 when fired by a hope and a dream, ethnically diverse Muslims of the subcontinent came together with the intent of forming a pluralistic society under the leadership of Jinnah - a man of principles, integrity and vision and believer in the rule of law. He accomplished the impossible, created an ideological state – and history.
Partition of the subcontinent was a nightmare of gigantic proportions that triggered the biggest transfer of population in world history (15m). A resource-less government in Pakistan dealt with monumental issues of governance, communal violence, rehabilitation of millions of destitute refugees, an empty treasury, lack of industry and infrastructure and an ill-equipped army fighting a war in Kashmir.
Despite such chaotic conditions the people and the founding fathers successfully came out of those dark hours and accomplished the Herculean task of building Pakistan from ground up through sheer hope, courage and faith in themselves. Another people might not have even survived.
Jinnah gave his life for Pakistan, dying on the roadside in an ambulance that broke down. Liaquat Ali Khan, the first prime minister, left only a few hundred rupees in his bank account when he was assassinated. Such were the leaders then.
And that was Pakistan then - Jinnah’s Pakistan.
In less than sixty years Pakistan made the unfortunate transition from Jinnah’s Pakistan to Pakistan under Zardari or politicians like him – a journey from hope to despair. The people who once controlled their destiny have now lost direction. Political institutions that Jinnah began to create but did not live to see take root stand dismantled. Those who grabbed power after the founding fathers passed away abused democracy, misruled the country and robbed the people.
But while this happened, the people of Pakistan watched from the sidelines as inactive spectators, often eulogizing the demolition squad comprising the politicians. After Pakistan’s dismemberment, they cheerfully allowed the architects of that tragedy to rule over them. And when the country reached the brink time and again, threatening their very existence, they took solace in the mullah’s assurance that manna will fall from heaven and a miracle would turn things around.
The ‘intelligentsia’ and the ‘visionaries’ were either too timid to stick their necks out or too busy collecting their own share of the booty to dispel the belief that miracles do not make nations, people do. They did not preach that without a change of thinking at the bottom, no change of behavior is possible at the top. Neither did the people appreciate that they, their leadership and the system of governance, like the legs of a three-legged stool, are equally important, none of the three being dispensable if the country is to move forward.
Therefore, while blame for this tragedy is rightly heaped on those who ruled, civil society and the system of governance are equally to blame.
The civil society failed on four counts:
- Firstly, the people failed to integrate into a nation despite having a territory, common language, religion and historical experience to rally around. They followed heterodoxy rather than develop a broad-based religious and ethnic homogeneity, a shared culture (retaining multiculturalism), common values, a political thought and, importantly, a unified national identity.
And when political and economic interests clashed on issues like hegemony and control of financial resources by one province or one group, ethnic blame game destroyed mutual relationships, clan identity became the key to political affiliations and regional nationalists pitched provinces and groups against one another. Religious affinity, often cited as the bedrock of Pakistan’s existence, receded in the background while parochial mindset took control.
- Secondly, members of the civil society failed to visualize and protect national interests. Despite awareness that politicians would only exploit and not deliver, they failed to bring about a change in the very complexion of political leadership by vigorously blocking the vested interests and throwing up middle class leaders. This was the only way accountability and sound political management could be ensured.
- Thirdly, the card of religion was overplayed. The premise that Islam, or any religion for that matter, could serve as a unifying and binding force in a society that is historically and deeply divided along ethnic, tribal, cultural, linguistic and sectarian lines is a fallacy. Socio-economic considerations, not religion, have always remained overriding concerns, particularly when people are struggling to survive. East Pakistan’s independence was one recent example.
This subcontinent was home to Muslims of all colors and creeds who either converged from other regions or locally converted, all carrying their own baggage. Except for limited interracial, intercultural and inter-sectarian integration among Muslims syncretism remained, suppressed for the fear of Hindu onslaught, and swept under the carpet during the freedom struggle. Once the Hindu threat disappeared after partition, the differences emerged and intensified.
Down the road when successive governments failed to address poverty and illiteracy, the illiterate and semi-illiterate mullah got a freehand in promoting intolerance, bigotry and extremism. Denied bread and butter and fed on religious slogans, the deprived lot succumbed to fanaticism, producing suicide bombers instead of skilled workers.
- Fourthly, Pakistan suffers from the curse of mass obsession with personality cults that inhibits sound political judgment by the voters. Pakistanis keep falling in love with charismatic politicians and keep returning them and their dynasties to power despite their lack of credentials and experience in statecraft. And when such heirs leapfrog into power, they generate chaos, corruption and inefficiency, which stymie political institutions. This must be checked.
With these deep fault lines crisscrossing the socio-political landscape the society has begun to pull apart. Collectively the people have failed to think or function as a nation even after 62 years.
The present system of governance is heavily flawed. It allows unbridled misuse of the state machinery by vested interests. Even the best of democracies suffer from some form of inefficiency, but when a political environment is marked by pervasive ignorance, incompetence, lack of accountability, indifferent civil society and a corrupt judiciary, democracy becomes a tool in the hands of the unscrupulous.
Pakistan now needs a revolutionary approach to resolve its problems of governance. Unorthodox and creative solutions that suit the genius and aspirations of the people that can root out inefficiency and corruption are urgently needed. Time is of the essence.
Pakistan cannot survive on life support system for long. Neither can change of faces make a difference. If the civil society does not bring a change now, either Pakistan will disintegrate or a bloody revolution engulf it. If people cannot keep their body and soul together, they have nothing else to lose, except their patience.
