The Elusive Peace
By Hamid Maker
Karachi, Pakistan
A man, the elusive bird of peace, has become a buzzword for our leaders, politicians and TV talk shows.
Every day, the channels arrange lengthy discussions about how Karachi, once the City of Lights, is plunging into darkness. How its streets have been turned into the killing fields of death and how the citizens have become the sacrificial lambs and the dispensable pawns in this deadly chess game.
And to appease the citizens, the government keeps ordering meaningless inquires, judicial commissions, suspensions and transfers of senior LEA’s officers. But all this eye-wash, ineffective actions, have not been able to stop the slaughter of innocent citizens and establish Aman.
But instead of working together, as responsible leaders, to stop the hail of bullets that kill innocent citizens, our leaders and politicians are busy in playing to the galleries and throwing deadly punches at each other.
For the last several months, we had witnessed an uneasy calm in the turbulent and murky waters of Pakistan’s politics, as both our political leaders had refrained from their usual mud-slinging bouts. But at the recent birthday celebrations of the late BB in Naudero, President Asif Ali Zardari, came out of his corner with both gloves swinging and delivered deadly punches, some above, but mostly below the belt, at the opposition leader.
In a barrage of barbed taunts, AZ questioned NS’s mindset and accused him of an assortment of misdeeds and misbehavior and asked in an insulting manner, “How is your thinking any different from that of Taliban leader, Mullah Omar?”
And in his stream of rambling accusations, he even accused the media of being biased in its reporting of the power crisis in Pakistan, stating that there was load shedding in India and even England, so why not in Pakistan?
In retaliation, the opposition leader has also charged out of his corner, unleashing a flurry of punches, accusing AZ of being guilty of everything under the sun.
So, instead of the politics of reconciliation, which is the need of the hour, to establish Aman, it is back to the politics of confrontation. Both leaders seem to have abandoned the need to work collectively to stop the downslide into chaos and anarchy, establish the rule of law and address the issues facing the citizens.
Like Nero, who fiddled while Rome burnt, they are bent on beating the war drums, while the country faces external and internal threats and innocent citizens are being slaughtered.
However, for all his shortcomings, AZ has out-maneuvered and outsmarted all his critics, who have been predicting his departure from his ivory tower in the Presidency from the word go.
In my Straight Talk article, Going, Going, Gone, But not yet’, I had written, “AZ is still around and seems that he is here to stay.”
Both, foreign and the local press had started a media trial to ‘Get Zardari’, as not a day would go by without some news about his sins of the past and his mistakes of the present. Even the NYT had predicted his departure: ‘President Asif Zardari is so weak that his government seems near collapse.’
Whereas The Washington Post, in a report had said: ‘The administration expects Zardari’s position to continue to weaken, leaving him as a largely ceremonial president even if he manages to survive in office.’
The dice has been loaded against AZ, but despite the choppy waves and gale force winds, he has survived all the storms that have come his way and managed to stay afloat. He has the skills and the survival instincts of a man who has been living on the edge for over a decade.
In 2010, he had lashed out at the conspirators and the ‘hidden hands’, who he accused of undermining democracy in Pakistan and push him out of power. Now, a year later, AZ is once again, like the Great Ali, ‘floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee’, as he throws wild punches at his detractors.
And like last year, many feel that the president is deviating from his role as head of the country, who is supposed to be a symbol of the federation, a unifying force, rather than a hyper-partisan figure, fuelling conspiracy theories. They feel that he is doing a disservice to the Presidency with his aggressive and un-parliamentary language.
The anger and frustration reflected in his recent speech, shows that he and his government are feeling the heat. After over three years in office, all the promises made by PPP, remain broken or unfulfilled and the citizens feel that they have been betrayed again. Will the prophecies of the Ides of March come true next year or will AZ be able to swing his way out again, is the million $ question.
However, as long as he keeps whistling the Yankee Doodle and marches to Uncle Sam’s tune, chances of dislodging him from the Presidency are slim. Refreshingly, a ray of hope has emerged from the corridors of our NA, with the brave and courageous resignation of young Marvi Memon from the NA and her party. She has acted according to the dictates of her conscience and has refused to compromise on principles.
Will the other parliamentarians follow her fine example and also stand up against their party and refuse to accept the wrong policies of the government, which are destroying the nation.
Or will they continue to sit on the gravy train, with their self above all mindset and watch the nation slide into anarchy and chaos, only time will tell.
They should perhaps watch Charley Chaplin’s classic clip, The Great Dictator, in which the great comedian plays the role of Hitler and advises the troops to follow the dictates of their conscience and refuse to obey the wrong orders of their superiors. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IvPIWzQcUY).
But then, this is Pakistan and not many, in this land of the Pak and the Pure, have the courage to act according to the dictates of our conscience, as we too have been infected by the ‘self above’ virus, which has morally and intellectually corrupted us.
As to when will we succeed in finding and catching the elusive bird of Aman? Well, your guess is as good as mine, but definitely not in the near future nor under the present circumstances.
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