Hoar chupho

I am sorry but there is no literal or metaphoric translation to what the title says. It is patently native and has a world of meaning that is known only to those who indulge in it. An analogy may exist in a much inferior expression: ‘it sucks’ — but then only barely.

A day after the US slammed a 10 million dollar bounty on Hafiz Saeed, two of Pakistan’s mainstream papers had the following two headlines: “World accepts Pakistan’s status as a nuclear power — Gilani”; and, “In scorching speech, Bilawal asks apex court to apologise”. Herein lies the malady that afflicts Pakistan. In another famous historical reference, the state of the State and its rulers are best described in: ‘Nero fiddled, while Rome burned’. The Neros of our time don’t even know what bedevils them.

In a master stroke, while the ‘supreme’ parliament of Pakistan dallied with refining proposals on resuming Nato supplies through its territories, and the Difa-e-Pakistan Council blew hot with its intent to destroy Nato trucks if the supplies were resumed; and while Karachi burned yet again; and while outrage on extended power outages lace the landscape of Pakistan, America reminded us what lies in store for us in the future.

Pakistan has, for too long, lived on the edge making it assume that it belonged there. For too long, we have dithered and been too clever with things while the world has given us time to end our playful indulgence. I am afraid the flex and the rope that was cut to Pakistan has finally run out. As Pakistan now stands embarrassed before the world, with allegations that are likely to stick, on the evening of the day when a routine action of America’s Justice Department brought a Pakistani to the second highest pedestal in the Most Wanted list (right after Ayman al-Zawahiri), our charlatans were out in numbers deriding America and belittling the world with a lot of hot air that belches nonsensical emotion, misplaced pride and naïve jingoism. These people have made virtue of their vice and are trying to up the ante. Having exhausted that option they will soon begin to play the victim, remaining oblivious of the constricting space and of the tightening noose.

The first Pakistani has been now officially put on notice by America. Soon some more veritable names might get added to this potential list pushing them deep into their holes to save themselves while rendering the entire country to the mercy of others who will declare us ‘dysfunctional’ and ‘failed’.

Yes we are a nation of 180-plus million people, and yes we possess a nuclear bomb, but nothing more. We are a dependent nation and have bartered our sovereignty away at the cost of educating ourselves and making our mindsets more tolerant and inclusive. Instead, we prefer to dwell in the past and weave tales of grandeur and supremacy that disable us from moving along with the rest of the world.

In a piece that came out in this paper on April 3, 2012, my editor chose to leave the following out when I discussed the predicament of parliament as it grappled with anti-Americanism as a popular sentiment while trying to reset US-Pakistan relations. I had written that “then is the irony where first a sentiment is engineered to seek space when working through difficulties, but when the time is to repair the same relationship, in another environment, a new set of objectives is sought”. It is time now to bring these words to print.

It is famously said, ‘a stitch in time, saves nine’. Having lost that opportunity, Jalil Abbas, Pakistan’s recently-appointed foreign secretary, has got some extended work to do in mending fences and he better get down to it in earnest.

To whom do I address the title? There are many, in all parts of the state, who have contributed to Pakistan’s current fate and each will recognise his part and hence his role in the demeaning of Pakistan. I hope I am right, that Pakistan may still have time — but it will need some effort to save it from itself.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2012.