Change crops up again

Well, with Tsunami Khan and the new entrant into the field of change, reverend Dr Tahirul Qadri, there are obviously many citizens out there in the cold who seriously think in terms of a change of faces in our ruling ruins and with that, a change in the system — by bringing back governance as opposed to non-governance. Though how either of the two preachers of ‘change’ is equipped to tackle the matter remains unclear.

In Imran’s favour is the fact that though we know him and what he stands (or does not stand) for, he is at least untried and whatever baggage he may carry is apolitical. One may be at odds with his born-again status, but as far as the ubiquitous corruption is concerned, the man is clean. His vow to eliminate corruption, which has permeated from the top to the very bottom through all segments of society, in the space of 90 days, if at all reminiscent of Ziaul Haq’s 1977 promise to hold elections within 90 days of his takeover, we can all stop holding our breath.

His connections with (if indeed there are any) and his attitude towards the Taliban tribe are the disturbing factor in his make-up. He rendered Christiane Amanpour of CNN almost nonplussed the other day when attempting to define to her his concept of the good and bad local homegrown Taliban and how he intends to deal with both.

What is strange, considering the blunders he has made since his dazzling entry into the electoral field last year, is from where he gets his supreme confidence. With him it is never a question of ‘if’ I become prime minister, it is invariably ‘when’ I become prime minister. Now that must mean that the confidence springs from somewhere. But where?



According to US media reports, Khan might inspire some hope within Pakistan but in Washington he ‘triggers anxiety’, his views on militancy not being appreciated. If he manages to become prime minister through some strange unfathomable quirk of fate or support, “US efforts to cooperate with Islamabad will grow far more challenging”. Preferred, of course, is the amenable PPP or even the right-wing PML. But whatever happens, expectations for ties between the US and Islamabad in 2013 remain iffy.

As for Tahirul Qadri, well, his rather strange burst onto the national scene and his demands and threats have to have some backing — it’s hardly a question of doing it alone. Some query whether ‘they’ are involved because his financing has to have come from somewhere and what could be the most likely source? The ‘foreign hand’ in his case would seem unlikely — or not? There are others than the US. The new year may bring clarification.

‘They’ possibly would not be averse to change, but to what extent and of what breed? The PPP spokespersons are making noise about how the caretakers are to be put in place in due time, but then everyone lies; it just comes naturally. People of all walks ask of what use are elections if the same flock of plunderers, looters and incompetents who care a damn about nothing other than their own little power centres are returned? So, why go through with a useless exercise and ask for worse? Others say elections must take place as the weeding out process can only come through election after election.

What chances do Khan and Qadri have — and more importantly, are they what Pakistan needs? Will they stop the killings from the Khyber down to Karachi, will they be willing and able to subdue terrorism and extremism, will they do away with the bad and wicked laws that inflict us or will they, like the other lot, be so scared out of their wits by the hardcore religious right that they will be equally paralytic when it comes to governance? Will they give us back YouTube?

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2012.