Another year of uncertainty

Military interventions in Pakistan could have been avoided had the civilian governments been performing

In looking at the unfolding events in our country at the end of the year, especially the latest political maelstrom in Karachi and at the real as well as surreal deeds or misdeeds of our ruling elite, we see what is not, and see not what is, because all of us are prisoners of a system that takes people for granted and keeps them deprived of any role and relevance in determining their own destiny. This has been our dilemma, year after year, since we became independent. Almost every day, we witness a new drama, a new scandal or a new crisis with little clue or knowledge about its source or sponsor. It seems the hidden hand is constantly at work. Bluff politics has been the game of the day.

Despite phenomenal military successes in the ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb in our tribal areas and noticeable improvement in the law and order situation in Karachi as a result of the Rangers' operation, the needed civilian support listed in the National Action Plan is nowhere in sight. Instead, what we see is a murky scenario with double-edged politics attempting to limit the scope and scale of the Karachi operation. This is not the first time we find ourselves divided as a nation without even trying to understand what, after all, is wrong with us. We are in the habit of running after symptoms, paying no attention to the actual disease that ails our body, which with every change of weather keeps erupting into convulsive seizures.

A generation of self-serving rulers has brought us to a point where we are witnessing a remorseless tug and pull between the civilian and military hierarchies on the one hand, and between liberal and religious forces on the other. The current situation is only an extension of the long tradition of a mutually distrustful civil-military relationship as an integral part of our body-politic. Instead of removing our systemic weaknesses and reinforcing the unifying elements of our nationhood, our political cadres, invariably dominated by the same old class of elitist oligarchs have always succumbed to narrowly-based opportunistic temptations.

With no credibility of their own, they have become used to ruling the country in collusion with, if not with total dependence on, the civil and military bureaucracy. To cover up their own shortcomings, they never tire of attributing the failure of democracy in the country to military takeovers. Military interventions in Pakistan could have been avoided had the political system and the civilian governments been performing and delivering on their mandates. At least during the last eight years of civilian rule, despite provocations, the military has remained steadfast in its constitutional role, giving every opportunity to the elected rulers to do their job.

What a tragedy and irony that a country which, on its birth, was considered a "20th-century miracle" and which was won entirely through a democratic and constitutional struggle should now itself be struggling haplessly for democracy and constitutional primacy, and for a place among peaceful nations of the world. It is a nation no longer imbued with any sense of direction or common purpose. It is a mastless country, looted and plundered by its own rulers, debilitated spiritually, and left with no self-respect or sovereign independence. During the last three decades, Pakistan has also been a hotbed of religious extremism and obscurantism.

Whether we accept it or not, in other countries, Pakistan's name instantly raises fear and concern. Due to domestic political instability and insecurity, and also due to the volatile situation in our neighbourhood, we have been unable to harness the unique asset of our geographical location for economic growth. We need to change the world’s perception of our country, which surely has many reasons, other than terrorism and violence, to be recognised as a responsible member of the international community. To do so, we will have to free ourselves of the forces of extremism, obscurantism, intolerance, militancy and violence.

A country’s standing in the comity of nations always corresponds directly to its political, social, economic and strategic strengths. A nation’s foreign policy is nothing but an external reflection of what it is from within. No country has ever succeeded externally if it is weak and crippled domestically. As anywhere else in the world, our external challenges are inextricably linked to our domestic policies and situation. And domestically, Pakistan has always been in a state of crisis. The sum-total of our post-independence history includes unrelenting security threats, loss of half the country, systemic perversities, governance failures, politico-economic debacles and societal disarrays.

As we complete yet another calendar year of our independent statehood, we find ourselves still groping in the dark and facing one crisis after another. Unsure of our future, we have yet to figure out a sense of purpose and direction for ourselves as a nation. Our systemic aberrations are the root cause of our governance miscarriages. Our problems are all domestic. Even our external problems are an extension of our domestic failures, which have seriously constricted our foreign policy options. As a people, we couldn't be more complacent leaving ourselves at the mercy of the same old usurpers of the country’s power and politics.

Ironically, while the common man in our country is suffering through hardships, high-profile looters, plunderers, profiteers and hoarders could not have a safer haven anywhere else in the world. No other country is familiar with the normatic practice of forgiving as a matter of rule, the elite loan-defaulters and usurpers of the national exchequer. Let us have the courage to admit that there is something fundamentally wrong with our governance system and structures. The state has failed to guarantee its citizens a rule of law-based governance, non-selective justice, socioeconomic wellbeing and security of life and property. Instead of always blaming ‘outsiders’ for our domestic problems, we should have the courage to admit that there is something fundamentally wrong with our own governance patterns. As a country and as a nation, at this critical juncture in our history, we cannot leave ourselves to the vagaries of time or at the mercy of a flawed system. We can’t even innocently continue to believe that everything will be all right, magically or providentially. The problem is that neither parliament nor the elected government inspires any hope or confidence among the people.

With our dismal record in democratic tradition, we are now on a crucial trial of our history to determine how we restore Pakistan's original raison d'etre as envisioned by the Quaid. A time comes when a nation must wake up from its slumber and take control of its own destiny. It's never too late. The Pakistani people can still change the course of their destiny. To do so, the current exploitative system that suits only the privileged few must go. But not by force or violence, and certainly not by usurping fundamental freedoms that the Quaid always fought for.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2016.

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