The general has taken a simplistic view of the phenomenon called sifarish and has spoken rather late in the day.
ISLAMABAD: This refers to General (retd) Ziauddin Butt’s article “Sifarish and Musharraf” (June 29). The general has taken a simplistic view of the phenomenon called sifarish and has spoken rather late in the day. He should have stood up to those who appointed General (retd) Pervez Musharaf to the position of the chief of army staff by superseding two brilliant and upright generals with impeccable career records. General (retd) Butt was powerful then. That one sifarish ruined many a life and put in jeopardy the future of the country.
Sifarish lives deep inside our subconscious and, as a vital part of our thinking process, as a nation. It manifests itself in our actions as an inevitable aspect of our psyche. For a common man in our country, sifarish is an anchor for his survival, hopes and aspirations. He invokes mercies of the divine through the sifarish of sufi saints, sadhus and pirs. He prostrates before the feudal to put in a sifarish to save him from the cruelty of the thanedar and the patwari. He bows with folded hands before minor officials to write a favourable note to get his legal rights.
The roots of this scourge are too deep and widespread. They have grown into our social systems over hundreds of years; rooting them out completely is not possible. It would be a saner approach if we try to understand and attempt to grapple with this phenomenon.
M Zubair
Published in The Express Tribune, July 2nd, 2013.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
