Unacceptable all around

The Islamic Republic now suffers from a coalition government — at least that is what we are led to believe, though from all appearances it is far from ‘coalesced’. Whatever it may be, it is unacceptable, even ludicrous were it not so damaging to life, limb and the economy, that one political party of this coalition can inspire the fear that it does. It is unacceptable that a political party can, in just over half an hour, provoke panic and dread in a megalopolis of some 18 million people and close it down from end to end and breadth to breadth.

One man, a legislator of the  Sindh Assembly, was shot and killed, together with his police guard (neither in the eyes of their Maker being lesser than the other) which is a tragedy, as are all losses of life. Being a member of the political party that has ‘controlled’ Karachi for a couple of decades, the reaction in the city was not as it is to the routine target and random killings that take place on a daily basis. The panic and fear on the roads as soon as the news of the shooting was broken is unacceptable — as was the violent reaction to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007.  It is contrary to all civilised and humane norms, let alone to any form of democracy, no matter how convoluted.

On August 3 the city was paralysed — schools which after their long vacation had opened on Monday, shut down on Tuesday (half remained shut on Wednesday). Petrol pump owners and employees, scared out of their wits, hid themselves behind canvas coverings. Daily wage earners were scuppered. The economy ground to a halt.

But most unacceptable and most condemnable is the consequential killings of over 80 people, most of them possibly unrelated to the political parties whose internal machinations are unfathomable. As a result of the one-man targeting – it could have been by anyone and we will never know by whom – some 80 others had to die violently, with an uncountable number of people losing or incurring damage to their properties whilst the inspired and happy yahoos went on the rampage, unchecked by any law enforcers who even in normal circumstances are out of their depth and in any extraordinary happening merely collapse or hide. The government of Sindh and the Karachi administration are a damaging, and through their incompetence, a frightening joke. They might as well not exist.

The same goes for the federal government which is floundering and flailing amidst the floods that have killed over 1,600, displaced millions, and caused unknown losses. The active forces out to stem some of the wrath of the flood water are the military and the militants, and the sole man amidst the famed, powerful and wondrous ‘quartet’ to effectively visit the affected areas has been the army chief.  Disgracefully, the powerless dummy-like prime minister hovered over the flood waters in a helicopter and a funny hat – as he did over the scene of the Airbus crash in the Margalla Hills. This is not politicking, not his job — it is a form of voyeurism.

As for the president of the Republic, enough has been said about his latest foray abroad geared to take care of a few of his personal matters in France and England. The country is in a mess, from north to south, and it is leaderless to all intents and purposes (with only the army chief prominently lurking in the background with his immense responsibilities and his now questionable placing in the Afghan-Taliban scenario).

There is one sole member of the political classes deserving of respect, just one — and that is Mian Iftikhar Hussain of the Awami National Party.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2010.