Ordinary citizens can sense the wind of change. We can only hope this will be for the better.
KARACHI: Can anybody explain why this dharna continues? On the plus side is the following: barring Nawaz Sharif’s resignation the Imran Khan and Qadri front has achieved much of its objective of getting governance changes it rightly demanded. In the process, the ‘sacrosanct supremacy’ of Parliament has been shattered and its divinely ordained members are beginning to be insulted, rejected and seeing their ‘privileges’ erode. Irrespective of what further happens Nawaz Sharif is already a lame duck for the rest of his term — if he lasts it out.
Most importantly, as the attacks on VIP culture have shown, ordinary citizens can sense the wind of change. We can only hope this will be for the better.
On the negative side: Pakistan already was an anarchic state waiting to happen. Years of misrule by the military and the civilian leaders bred by them for the desired purpose of the day have brought us here. Public frustration and anger, already at bursting point, is ready to explode. Can the burning of electricity bills, urging people not to pay taxes, use havala and to destroy the little remaining infrastructure of the country just to prove some point actually be of benefit? Not only are we near a bankrupt economy, the socio-economic disruption caused by this prolonged dharna and the inopportune catastrophic floods have further set us back another few years. This is already a nation settling personal scores through mayhem and fratricide. Is the Imran Khan and Qadri formula that we hear and see going to improve that?
If the sole objective of this exercise is to remove Nawaz Sharif and all the rest of the wastrels in and out of Parliament and install the Imran-Qadri team, could our umpires please get on with it and let us get on with the way we always have in our 67 years of periodic Naya Pakistan instead of this slow death by dharna?
Dr Mervyn Hosein
Published in The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2014.
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