The Status Quo Is Unacceptable
By Mowahid Hussain Shah
Pakistan today is in the grip of a dual calamity – one inflicted by nature and the other man-made. The humanitarian carnage unleashed by nature has unveiled the reality of a government which just cannot govern.
40 years ago, a cyclone struck East Pakistan leaving, in its wake, a perception amongst the Bengali population of central government indifference to their plight. It ignited the flames of separatism and precipitated the loss of the eastern wing. Inept generals and opportunistic politicians were then in charge. Whatever their follies on the field, General Yahya Khan and General Hamid Khan did not die rich.
Today, the calamity is even deadlier.
In a divided nation, there is unanimous consensus on the character of its supreme commander, whose very presence in that position is seen as a supreme insult to the nation bequeathed by the Quaid 63 summers ago during the month of Ramadan. The martyrs must be turning in their graves.
An impartial audit can easily reveal the staggering amount plundered from the public exchequer of an impoverished nation.
A recently deceased president of Nigeria, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, did something which would be deemed unthinkable in Pakistan’s present-day circumstances, of unilaterally and fully declaring his assets. A former chemistry teacher, he was university-educated with a genuine degree.
To have those with fake credentials brazenly infest government and parliament makes a mockery of Islamic values of integrity and Ilm. It defies logic then to expect genuine results and public good from fake figures.
The issue is not just limited to fake degrees. It is now, as the floods have revealed conclusively, also of a fake governance.
Under the hijab of democracy, parasites are making merry. Can any nation afford this luxury at a time of calamity? Can Pakistan?
The time for strategic reassessment is long overdue. And the time for course-correction can no longer be postponed.
Meanwhile, ruling circles – so inactive on matters of public good – are over-active on perpetuating their rule by imposing despotic dynasties launched by family-operated businesses called political parties and rubber-stamped by puppet parliamentarians. Through the length and breadth of the nation hit by floods, the performance of a dummy “democracy” stands exposed. Partly due to it, donations are hard to come by and the international response has been less than robust.
While nature’s calamity may be harder to handle, for a man-made calamity there is always a man-made solution.
Leadership is not just chair-occupation or the putting up of staged appearance while being aloof from burning issues. It is about exuding vitality, inspiring hope and, through practical deeds, instilling confidence that things are going to get better, by showing a pathway out from the danger zone. And sending the message that no personality or party is bigger than the nation.
A single step is unavoidable: the culture of treating public office as an avenue for getting rich has to come to an end. For the nation to be saved, this money machine has to be dismantled first.
The status quo is unacceptable.
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