KARACHI:
Ever since Pakistan was created through a political struggle by leaders refusing to succumb to offers of lands and titles by the British Raj, this country and the future of 220 million citizens have been a victim of adventurism by men without vision and competence. These men lack in commitment to the concept of a modern democratic welfare state, with a constitution as the supreme law. Failure by various institutions, including the political parties and the paid bureaucracy, to work within the Constitution’s defined boundaries has today created a crisis where every powerful stakeholder needs to exercise restraint. Pakistan, surrounded by enemies from within and outside its geographical boundaries, can no longer afford this.
Nobody can justify huge expenditure by the state for building a security wall, for the renovation of a private house spread over hundreds of acres, for the 50 to 90 acres of expensive real estate or agriculture land allotted to paid servants of state — the list goes on. The British Colonial Raj allotted lands to buy loyalties of the natives willing to collaborate with them — a practice which they never employed within the UK. Everybody in this country needs to take a step back and reflect upon the follies committed and the damages their greed has inflicted on this country.
If only likes of Iskandar Mirza had been sacked along with Ayub after 1947, the political process would have continued to retain the Quaid’s vision. Zia’s adventurism by involving us in a proxy war sowed the seeds of terrorism, ethnic violence and sectarianism. It is now time to make amends for all that has been done.
Malik Tariq Ali
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2020.
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