Actions that Redeem or Destroy a Nation - 1
By Mohammad A Chaudhry
Pittsburg , CA
“If you turn back, God will substitute another people for you, and they will not be like you”. The Qur’an (47:38, 9:39)
It is a fallacy to believe that Muslims or any other nation, are indispensable for God. God is very Merciful and Compassionate in the case of individuals indulging in transgressions; but in matters of nations and communities that collectively and willingly adopt ways that result in “corrupting the earth”, or who deliberately compromise in matters of justice and fairplay, and stay adamant by refusing to “revive conscience” or the process of self-analysis and self-correction, God just seals the fate of such nations. “(Look out) the example of those (Messengers) we sent before you (O Muhammad) and you will find no change in Our law” (17:77).
In retrospect, let us look at some of the darkest moments that visited some of the modern developed countries, and see how they fared in such times of calamity. America stood at the verge of division on April 12, 1861 when the first shot got fired and the Civil War (1861-1865) started. A discussion is still going on as to what caused this rift in the Southern and Northern states?. David Von Drehle in his interesting article, “The Way We Weren’t”, Time, April 18, 2011, traces about five reasons:
- It was caused by the imposition of high tariffs,
- It was caused by the blundering statesmen,
- It was caused by the clash of industrial and agricultural interests,
- It was caused by the fanatics,
- It was caused by the Marxists’ class struggle.
Is there a cause needed for the start of a civil war in Pakistan that is not present above? Well, it has already started in the Middle East though the conditions there had been never as adverse as they are in Pakistan. Egypt was doing better in its economy; Tunisia was still a tourist resort and had been called a few years earlier by the Western countries as the “Switzerland of Africa”; Qadaffi could have been a mad man but he is still holding on and there are people or tribes that are still on his side. Is there is a person, except a few direct beneficiaries of the PPP’s largesse, who is not talking about a change, (a forced eviction of the government) in Pakistan! Heavy taxes only on the poor, criminal blunders of the politicians, closure of industries due to power shortage, and heart-wrenching sufferings of the rural people, Draconian upper hand of the fanatics in every walk of life, incessant loss of life in target killings, perks and rich rewards for the most corrupt officials, cronyism, and the boiling cauldron of hatred of the poor for the corrupt rich: in short, everything is there to ignite a civil war.
The PPP government in Pakistan can be likened to a man in one of Rumi’s stories. This man was passing through a jungle when a ferocious lion began to chase him. The man ran as fast as he could till he reached a point beyond which there was nothing but a deep pit. As he thought of descending into the ditch he spotted a poisonous snake, sitting coiled right in the middle of the pit, as if waiting for him. Luckily, he noticed a tree, hanging over the ditch. He climbed up the tree only to discover that a good number of white and black rats, were busy in gnawing at the very roots of the tree. Death appeared so imminent. It was at this moment that he noticed drops of fresh honey oozing from a beehive just above his head. He opened his mouth and began enjoying like never before the sweetness of the honey. The honey made him completely forgetful of the three-sided dilemma in which he was entrapped.
Replace the jungle with the country; the man with the people in power; the lion with death; the ditch with grave, the white and black mice with day and night, the snake with human acts and the sweet honey, with power, and the reader will see the relevance of the story.
There is an open talk of dividing the Punjab into at least four provinces, Sind and Pukhtunkhwa into two, not for any lofty designs, but for taking over the very resources that sustain the country, with a view to preserving them exclusively for their own posterity. Those who are talking about the division are already in the parliament. They have already taken control of the waterways of the country, such as the canals, and in many cases have established their control over the nation’s lake waters. River beds have become their ill-begotten farmlands with an overlooking villa for occasional carousal stint there. They are already powerful enough to divert the flood-waters to any area they deem proper in order to save their own lands. Pakistan has virtually become a tribal land, divided into different fiefdoms.
Baluchistan has already become a non-existing entity as it hardly ever figures out in the national media, nor does it appear anywhere on the central government’s agenda. Virtually, it is on its own. Formerly North Western Province and now the newly baptized Pukhtunkhwa is currently at the mercy of a party, ANP, that never had the vision to look beyond its own nose, and that remained obsessed, as it appears, to do only two things: one to don the red cap introduced by Padshah Khan, and the second to rename the province, again to appease his soul. Its leadership stands totally exposed while the poor, and hard-working Pushtuns suffer day and night in abject conditions.
The scribe of this article has witnessed the birth and the subsequent journey of struggle of Pakistan on the economic and political front from day one. And never have I witnessed a more corrupt, more inefficient and inept, more block-headed, more stubborn, and more slavish in mentality, and more brazenly clueless and arrogant a team of politicians in power or out of power as is the present lot of loonies governing or aspiring to govern the Quaid’s Pakistan. The question is why would the Commands of God as mentioned in the first paragraph of this article not become operative! Nations got destroyed for much miner transgressions in the past.
Add to it the worsening of the relationship between the US and Pakistan. There is a ‘deepening military rift between the US and Pakistan’, as highlighted by Ahmed Rashid, and there is no serious and strategic solution coming forth. The matters that need utmost attention and most serious focus as they pertain to the lives of over 170 million people, are being dealt with as if it were a ping-pong game, one side making a move and then waiting for the other side to do the same. Surreal issues are hyped up with a view to scoring a point, little realizing that they do leave behind their residue. (Continued next week)
