There was no mention, though, in the president’s appeal of the need to seek Allah’s mercy on our nation and country from the acts of terrorism, violence, injustices, corruption and other man-made disasters that Pakistan is facing. His focus was on natural disasters such as the heavy monsoon rains, floods, dengue virus and other natural calamities.
It is obvious that Zardari’s government feels confident of coping with the worldly problems and the political challenges on its own despite its repeated failure to provide protection to the life and property of the people and meet their other basic needs. No government in Pakistan has had the character and courage to concede its mistakes and this one is no exception. Such has been the sorry state of affairs that the PPP, ANP and other parties that have been part of the ruling coalition are finding it difficult to benefit from some of their achievements like the 18th Constitutional Amendment ensuring provincial autonomy and further devolution.
Babar Awan, the counsel for the federation in the suo motu case of target killings in Karachi in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq insisted during the hearing that the executive authority, or the government, had not failed at the federal or the provincial level in the discharge of duty to control the law and order situation. Only the most diehard supporter of this beleaguered government would concur with this view. Former law minister and ruling Pakistan People’s Party stalwart Babar Awan even cautioned that an admission by the executive authority regarding its failure to cope with the situation would have global repercussions at a time when Pakistan was in the middle of a war on its western border and most of the security apparatus was engaged in it. Whatever that means, his argument isn’t convincing because the widely held view in Pakistan and abroad is that this government has been a failure on most counts.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry spoke for many Pakistanis during the hearing of the Supreme Court case when he pointed out that 1,310 persons had been killed in Karachi but even then the government insisted that it hasn’t failed. He felt the court would have to intervene if witnesses weren’t available against the killers of 100 people, a clear reference to the suspected target-killer Ajmal Pahari who is described by the MQM leadership as a party worker coerced into giving the confessional statement. Just look at their names such as Pahari, Commando, Fauji, K-2, Chashmo, Policewala, Kaankutta, etc and one starts thinking that these strange titles and aliases haven’t been bestowed on them for nothing. One has to stand out to deserve such names! And yet no action could be taken against them by the demoralised and politicised police force and the fearful courts because they enjoyed political patronage.
That the discourse in the aftermath of the natural disasters in Pakistan has become religious was further underscored by the appearance of Maulana Tariq Jamil, the popular Tableeghi preacher, on prime-time television. He featured in Kamran Khan’s show on Geo TV to warn that we as a nation had earned Allah’s wrath on account of our many sins and were, therefore, being subjected to divine punishment and made to face one trial after another. Those who know something about the Tableeghi Jamaat are aware that the articulate and knowledgeable Tariq Jamil has a large following and is revered in the religious circles. His intervention focused attention on the corruption and other unsavoury things that everyone knows are happening in present-day Pakistan.
Religion was also pushed into the political discourse when both Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, the former Sindh home minister and senior PPP leader, and MQM founder Altaf Hussain, brought copies of the Quran while addressing press conferences in Karachi and London, respectively, and invoked the Holy Book to lend credibility to their claims and allegations against political rivals. Obviously, they felt that more people would believe them if they swore on the Quran. Or to put it differently, they thought not many would believe them if they didn’t swear by the glorious Quran. At a time when politicians suffer from poor credibility, Dr Mirza and Altaf Hussain could think of no better way to make their assertions believable! This triggered a new debate on the sidelines as the faithful felt the two politicians had belittled and insulted the Quran.
All this is happening when Pakistan is confronted with unending challenges including the new ones like the floods in Sindh and the dengue virus concentrated in Punjab and old problems linked to the religious militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, the low-intensity separatist insurgency in Balochistan and the violence fuelled by ethnicity, sectarianism and crime in Karachi. Add to it the economic problems and the political instability and we have a country that is both ungovernable and directionless.
That the flood situation in 23 districts of Sindh and five of Balochistan was critical was underscored by the emergency appeal for $356 million launched by the United Nations to initially undertake 91 projects in the flood-affected areas. This is the second year in a row that the UN has made appeals for international assistance for flood-hit Pakistan. While President Zardari was still abroad undergoing medical tests and tending to other work, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani too issued an appeal for public donations to a fund set up by him and made two quick, flying visits to the flood-affected districts in Sindh. The response by ordinary Pakistanis may not be generous considering the lack of credibility of the government, but privately the public is once again expected to respond enthusiastically to come to the help of fellow flood-hit citizens.
The recurring floods have almost brought Pakistan to its knees, though mercifully Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and most of Balochistan have been spared this year of the damages brought about by the heavy monsoon rains and flooding. However, other kinds of suffering and losses continue to ravage these provinces and contribute to the collective misery that has befallen Pakistan. It cannot be easy for the government and its many institutions, including the military, to focus attention on any one issue in view of the many grave challenges facing Pakistan. On top of it are the threats that the US, an ally that often behaves as an adversary, regularly issues to Pakistan with regard to its responsibilities and real and imagined failures in the ‘war on terror.’
In the midst of all these grave challenges, how should one look at the revelations made by the all-knowing Dr Zulfiqar Mirza about the MQM and the elaborate reaction to him first by Faisal Sabzwari and Mustafa Kamal and then their boss Altaf Hussain. In his by now familiar style, the latter appeared more of an entertainer than a mature politician as his long discourse lacked seriousness and failed to rebut the allegations made against him and his party by Dr Zulfiqar Mirza. Now that Altaf Hussain has reportedly withdrawn his remarks about the ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan receiving millions of dollars from the US, it would be difficult to take the MQM leader seriously. One is at a loss to understand that the same MQM and ANP leaders describing each other as liars and anti-state a few days ago could be now moving towards reconciliation. One heard from them demands for banning the MQM and the ANP despite knowing that banning political parties is futile. And now remarks are being taken back meaning that every allegation made earlier was wrong. Isn’t it Pakistan’s misfortune to have such politicians at a time when it needs someone of stature to bail out the country?