In my article, ‘Pakistan’s future: we
must learn to live with Zardari for long’, published in THE NEWS dated 10 March
2012, I had attempted to predict the short-term political landscape of
Pakistan, purely based on my assessment of the current situation, standing, as
well as, relevance of major stake-holders and our national psyche developed
over the centuries. While most of the readers who sent their feedback on given
email address found my conclusions a realistic appraisal, few also raised an
important question, which I am sure is agitating everybody’s mind today, “Is
there hope or a way out?” and asked for solutions to alleviate the prevailing
despondency. My simple answer is, “yes, there is hope and there is a way out,
however, with many ‘ifs and buts’ and the change has to come from within –
change in people and functioning of the system”.
The people; PM Gillani, the other day
in a speech glorified his family traditions by saying that for generations they
have shown ‘loyalty’ and that he had no intention to change that tradition now.
Loyalty to whom – Zardari now, General Zia, when he was in power or if we
further go back, I am sure, it would be British and so on. This is our dilemma
as a nation, “we take pride in loyalty to those who matter, not loyalty to the
motherland”. Thus, we can hope for betterment if, somehow, we can bring about
change in our national character, mindset and psyche as enshrined in sura Al
Ra’ad verse 11 which reads, “God does not change the condition of any people
unless they themselves make the decision to change”. Unfortunately, as of
today, we neither have the kind of leadership nor a viable education system to
bring about the required change. We, however, now have a vibrant Media, both
press and electronic, which has the wherewithal to undertake this gigantic task
single-handedly at least in the short term, but does it have the unanimity of
approach and motivation to break away from the leanings, especially at
individual levels, to earnestly undertake this national task, as change in
peoples’ mindset would sound a death-knell for the feudal based political
leadership, our ruling elite, and paymasters.
The system; Presently, we have a
democratic dispensation which, apparently, has failed to deliver and alleviate
the misgivings of the masses. It must, however, be kept in mind that the system
has not failed us, we all are collectively responsible for failing the system,
which, if I may act as devil’s advocate, is yet to mature owing to intermittent
military take-overs. These extra- constitutional dispensations not only
curtailed the logical growth of political leadership but also generated a kind
of uncertainty, whereby, now the political leaders, especially those in power,
remain unsure about their term in office and tend to concentrate on securing
their personal future, even through foreign assistance, and in the process
neglect the masses. Moreover, the military take-overs may have provided
temporary relief but always left behind greater ills for the politicians to
tackle. Thus, we can hope for a better future if we can ensure uninterrupted
democratic dispensation, no matter how sham, and its consolidation through
strengthening of institutions.
My above rationale, in no way, should
serve as an excuse for those who, these days, are inclined to shut their eyes
on Government’s misdeeds, are hesitant to hold them accountable and pursuing
their personal agendas under the garb of ‘saving democracy’. They are either
unwilling or fail to grasp that ‘accountability is the essence of democracy’.
To them, I would only say that democracy is threatened this time not by a
military take-over but by the system itself because of the way it is being run
and the best way of saving it is to deliver, for which all institutions must
play, and be allowed to play, their constitutional role.
Thus, we can hope for a better future
if the establishment confines itself to its constitutional role, performs,
delivers, ensures prompt accountability for failings and shuns pursuits that
lent itself to criticism, genuine or motivated. In my reckoning, the military
establishment still is, and must remain, very relevant to the
security of our country and the best way to counter those bent upon undermining
this great institution is to ‘stand tall on moral grounds’.
We can also hope for a better future
if the judiciary starts to assert, without fear or inhibitions, by taking
decisions on cases of national importance and ensuring their implementation. In
my view, not doing so is harming democracy more as people are losing faith in
the system.
We can find a way out from the
present despondency if the media commits itself to pursuit of national
interests, rather than agenda based journalism, which some of our anchorpersons
are very conspicuously pursuing. I need not emphasise that media is one
instrument, which if applied judiciously and earnestly, can single-handedly
change the destiny of our people.
And finally, we can hope for a better
future if, somehow, at macro level, our political leadership breaks loose from
the age-old feudal mindset - subservience of masters and exploitation of the
masses - and starts to deliver as per the mandate given to them by the people.
At micro level, we would sail through our present difficulties if PPP decides
to end its dirty politics based on corruption and Zardari starts to apply his
extraordinary mind and ‘capabilities’ for betterment of the masses, if PML (N)
leadership can break loose from its psychological fears and starts playing the
role of real opposition, if Imran Khan can control his ego, if PML (Q) somehow
withers away, if MQM starts to act on what it preaches (it talks of revolution
against the feudal class but prefers to sit with them in the Government,
without inhibitions), if ANP starts to deliver (though I must admire their
courage with which it has faced militancy), if the religious parties can stop
pursuing their differing agendas and understand that Pakistan and Islam are
synonymous and not two opposing entities, if .........
With so many ‘ifs’, should we lose
hope – NEVER, as Pakistan is a country of great potentials.
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