Smog of despair

The mood in Pakistan is generally sombre. Truth be told, it has been this way for a while now. The capital is no different. From the grubby smog in the air to the ignorant groups of religious zealots trundling across the streets and making life miserable for ordinary citizens, everything seems to be weighing in on the depressive state of affairs.

The idiot box seems to add to the misery; rattling out tales of crime and violence, rampant corruption, adulteration in food items, terrorism-related incidents, bad economy, joblessness and volatile situation on three sides at our borders, amongst others. Bad governance is the simplest term which clubs in itself the causes of all of these ailments, and to be fair, we are not the only country to be faced with such problems related to the sphere of public life. Do we even see any evidence of the government remotely trying to address these issues in any systematic manner? Certainly not.

The political circus on display in the name of religion by the cohorts of a firebrand religious zealots and the feebleness of the state has been mind-boggling. Article 9 of the Constitution of Pakistan explicitly says ‘...no individual, or group and no authority has the right to make the slightest violation of the political, cultural, economic or military independence and/or the territorial integrity of the state’. Yet, these mullahs were allowed to denigrate the Constitution because the government is too weak and too discredited. The military establishment, cautious of not creating another fiasco of Lal Masjid-style proportions is looking the other way and waiting for orders.

The judiciary, with its hands already full, has ordered the enforcement of a crackdown on the protesters exploiting a sensitive religious matter. The state machinery must act fast and act decisively. It can only be hoped that an amicable solution to this festering problem would have been found by the time this writing goes to print. The result of inaction at this juncture would have long-term political and social implications which the state must foresee and prevent.

The situation at the borders is volatile and worrisome. There is hardly a week where civilian casualties at the LoC or the Working Boundary with India are not reported. Recently the circumstances on the western border have also been troublesome and these are obviously the spillover effect from Afghanistan. The response has been purely reactive and only kinetic. No role of the state is visible in either case. An astounding case is the kidnaping of 17 young men for ransom at a picnic spot in Landi Kotal and taken to Afghanistan. No initiative has been taken to recover the abductees through the diplomatic channel. The cold-blooded murder of our consulate staffer in Jalalabad and a set piece military-style raid on a post in Bajaur from Afghanistan, killing two soldiers, including a young officer, within the last few days are serious developments. The diplomatic implications of the state’s inaction on such events will also be grim in the long run.

The political landscape is a mess. Political parties are quarrelling over myriad issues ranging from delimitation of constituencies, sham alliances, quid pro quo slapping of legal cases for disqualification of opposing leaders, alleged connivance with the establishment and serious infighting as in the case of the ruling party. The ruling party seems to have dedicated its energies to a hopeless face saving for a disgruntled ousted PM who is evidently sinking into a quagmire by the day. With him is his trusted finance minister, clearly on the run and brazenly refusing to resign; and with his retirement from the Senate approaching fast, many believe that he would not return.

Nevertheless, the looming clouds are harbingers of hope and the atmospheric smog in the capital may be lifted soon. The smog of despair, on the other hand, it seems, is destined to hang for a while.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2017.

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