Something rotten in the state

What will be the use of all these underpasses & motorways if there are massive water riots?

To an observer from a country like Norway, a decision by the Supreme Court is supposed to be respected and implemented and not flaunted. But not in Pakistan where the government often gives a thumbs down signal to the highest court in the land. Not quite like the Emperor Nero who was a law unto himself. Or the Shah of Iran (The King of Kings). In the first case, Nero was eventually overthrown by the mob after he set fire to the city and was replaced by another emperor, while The King of Kings was swapped by a holy man in exile. In Pakistan we are now witnessing an Albanian version of Macbeth. Whoever gave the economic council the right to import a number of bullet proof cars from Germany for the VVIPs, who I presume are members of the cabinet. The fact that they have done nothing to lick the energy crisis in the country appears to make the gesture excessive. Nawaz Sharifs boast that power cuts will end in 2018, which was delivered as a blissfully uncontestable statement was not believed by anybody. Any way he had barely uttered these words when the news came down the pike that there would be at least a three month delay. I wish people wouldn’t use so many cliches when they make commitments. Power outages may end in the foreseeable future, but it will never be history. The story of power generation in this country has been a long and bitter one riding on the back of massive corruption kickbacks and gross indifference. John Kerry has made some statements about power generation, but I don’t think anybody in this country listens to him or the papers any more. He is still a very decent chap, somebody with whom I’d like to swop Swedish jokes at a barbeque in Aberdeen.



Coming back to my province where the media hardly ever comes up with a cheerful story, nobody appears to be at all worried about the impending water crisis. In spite of repeated warnings the chief minister appears to have other priorities. This year there has been huge rainfall in Karachi. All it left behind was a royal mess. Where are the catchments, the reservoirs, the desalination plants? Development usually means overpasses, underpasses… and, of course, motorways. What will be the use of all these things if there are massive water riots? We’ll all have to take a jog to oblivion. Well, not all. The freeloaders in Islamabad can wade through the great unwashed in their bullet proof cars towards their airplanes. Now don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against the Germans. In fact, Chancellor Merkel made such a great gesture when she took in so many refugees. She will always remain in the hearts of liberals around the world. It is indeed a pity that the anti-immigrant party might pull the carpet from under her feet at the next general election in the Fatherland. She stated somewhere that she couldn’t bear to see the treatment meted out to the refugees, many of whom were women and children. In the process she stoked the embers of the collective unease felt in Germany because they feel the money used on the refugees could have been used on so many vital requests. Back in Pakistan, the government is still dragging its feet over the Protection of Women Bill, while hundreds of women are being killed by husbands, brothers and fathers. That’s why I called this column there is something rotten in the state of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2016.

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