The greatest irony with autocratic, dictatorial and corrupt leaders is that they never seem to believe in their own mortality and the definiteness of death. They forget the Doomsday and accountability for their deeds before the Almighty.
Each and every problem being faced by Pakistan is like an insurmountable mountain. Look at inflation. It has broken the backs of the poor and the middle class. Petroleum products, electricity, gas, CNG, LPG, edibles – you name it – are commodities affordable only by the rich. The continuous increase in the prices of electricity, petroleum and gas has a direct bearing on the cost of everything else, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the middle class to survive. Continuous load shedding of electricity and gas has resulted in the closure of thousands of industrial units, resulting in huge unemployment and a drastic decrease in export earnings. Even such poor people as tailors and washermen are in trouble, unable even to earn a minimum wage to survive. Industrialists are tired of protesting, shouting and complaining to no avail.
Our rulers are deaf, dumb and blind to their troubles – they don’t hear, don’t speak about and don’t see the malaise in the country. Our biggest asset – exports – has been totally ruined. While on the one hand our government is pursuing this destructive policy, on the other hand it is borrowing billions of dollars on unfavourable terms. It is not that they are ignorant of the facts.
They are cunningly working on a foreign agenda to economically destroy this country. We saw how the Americans brought down the mighty Soviet Union. Not being able to destroy it militarily, they cultivated Gorbachev and Yeltsin and in no time the Soviet Union became a lame duck with the two leaders touring the USA and buying designer suits and ties worth thousands of dollars. Yeltsin went so far as to use tanks to bombard his own parliament building.
This very same policy is now being followed in Pakistan. Unable to physically destroy or take possession of our nuclear assets, they have devised a well-worked-out strategy and put in place leaders of their own choice to implement their agenda. They will turn us into beggars with no other choice than to get rid of our strategic assets for temporary boon.
Our rulers have set new records of “patience” and shamelessness. All they are interested in is minting money, destroying all important institutions and industries and ridiculing the judiciary. There is a Divine edict that says it is very difficult for people to join hands to do good deeds, but masses easily get together to commit wrongs. We have such examples in Hitler, Mussolini, etc., who managed to control and influence civilised and educated nations and commit heinous crimes. In our country there are many opportunists who join the rulers to reap benefits. They then blackmail the government, disassociate themselves for a short while, only to join the bandwagon once again, totally ignoring the problems and interests of the masses.
During communist rule, and in countries ruled by dictators, no opposition was allowed. It was simply not tolerated. Our cunning rulers have invented a new culture: lure all opponents into a coalition to rule the country and then plunder it together. All tactics, such as pressure, incentives and threats have been used to create this innovative culture. Such a large coalition or “grand alliance” should have resulted in good governance, a better law-and-order situation, the solving of the serious problems faced by the masses and dealing with national disasters more effectively. Nothing of the sort has happened. The recent surge in violence, the targeted killings and burning of property are all examples of total failure. The only slogan we always hear is “the president has taken notice of it” and “The prime minister has taken notice of it.” Each party blames the others and all join in blaming the drug and land mafias. Karachi is the Sarajevo of the early nineties. Some sole bread winners have been killed in cold blood and our interior minister, Rehman Malik, is only good for giving statements, nothing more.
Let us look at only a few of the calamities being faced by the public: absence of law and order, targeted killings, drug and weapon trafficking, load shedding of electricity and gas, shortage of CNG and LPG, inflation, deteriorated services of PIA, railways and public transport and, above all, the mega corruption scandals being disclosed by the auditor general and the Public Accounts Commission. This country is no better than any severely underdeveloped African country!
In one of my earlier columns I had emphasised that the root cause of all our evils is the present so-called “democratic” system. It has totally failed here and has resulted in families ruling the country. Elected representatives are there because of their hold on the poor masses in their constituencies. What we need in Pakistan is a presidential form of government – a president, popularly elected by the whole nation. He could have a free hand to choose the most competent, experienced people to run the country without any obligation to a single party and being prone to blackmail and pressures. Parliamentarians and senators should restrict their energies to proper and effective legislation. They should also scrutinise and approve all important postings, as is done in the US. This is the only way in which this country can survive and progress.
Under the present system the situation is definitely going to worsen with time, leading to disastrous consequences. There is need for a strong, neutral judiciary and election commission to ensure good governance. The services and expertise of skilled and experienced technocrats are needed to steer this country out of the current mess. Landlords and feudal chiefs have already turned this beautiful country, so full of resources, into a poor, starving nation carrying a begging bowl, and they will continue to do so. It is most unfortunate that the masses have resigned themselves to the situation and are unable to rise and fight for their rights. Only a miracle – Divine intervention – can bring deliverance to them. Meanwhile, they seem to sit quietly and complain.