Pakistan cannot fight and win the war against terrorism
LAHORE: This is with reference to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s statement condemning the terrorist attack at Sehwan, terming it an attack on Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan. It is time that such rhetorical outcry following incidents in which tens or hundreds of Pakistanis lose their live is replaced by concrete steps to restore the Quaid’s vision and his doctrine that Pakistan should be a modern welfare state, where the cancers of corruption and bribery are dealt with an iron hand, not regularised through plea bargains.
There is not a single precedent during the tenure of numerous military juntas or elected civilian governments where a high-profile criminal involved in the embezzlement of billions has been punished. Mere enactment of laws and creation of anti-corruption organisations headed by men with controversial backgrounds are mere eyewash. Laws not implemented are not worth the paper on which they are written. The myopic self-serving vision of tyrannical military rulers like Ziaul Haq and General (ret’d) Pervez Musharraf, who, in their desire to seek strategic depth beyond our geographical border gave sanctuary to private militias, turned back like Frankenstein, and aimed to create their own strategic depth within our geographical boundary, pose the biggest threat to our existence. Mere physical elimination of thousands without destroying their nurseries and providing education, health and employment opportunities to the most deprived is not a permanent solution. State land must be allotted to the landless so they can earn livelihoods instead of doling it to paid servants of the state.
While the Constitution states that no laws will be made that are not in conformity with the faith system of the majority, every government and state institution is hostage to its own conflicts of interest, nepotism and abuse of power. Every government has given tax amnesties to the affluent while resorting to indirect taxation that burdens the rich and poor uniformly. Without sufficient funds for health and education collected through direct taxation and curbing institutionalised corruption and flight of capital, Pakistan cannot fight and win the war against terrorism.
Malik Tariq Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2017.
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