Opinion

The price we pay for forgetting

The incumbent government, according to surveys, doesn’t invoke confidence, nor does it appear to have full support.

Ayesha Tammy Haq August 26, 2010

President Zardari can’t seem to do anything right. He gives up his presidential powers, goes on vacation, leaving a behemoth government machinery at the centre and in the provinces of all the main political parties. Everyone it appears has a stake in making sure we continue down this very slippery democratic path. Consensus of some sort has been reached and our political class and bureaucratic and military establishments continue doing what they do best. Unfortunately governance is not one of the things they do particularly well. And to add momentum to that downward slide Mother Nature chose the summer vacation months to drown Pakistan. It poured and the rivers crashed down the length of the country taking everything that came in their way.

The incumbent government, according to several surveys, doesn’t invoke confidence in most, nor does it appear to have the full support of its partners. The helpless and rather clueless images of the political leadership, smartly turned out in suits and ties, being ferried about in helicopters and planes never getting their feet wet and making regular staged appearances at dummy relief camps contrasted with the images of the military, pulling the hapless population out of the water and getting them to dry land could not have helped. Surely it’s not fair to blame the international community’s muted response to the crisis on callousness or donor fatigue, they saw the same visuals we all did. And while Pakistanis rushed out to help their fellow citizens they made it clear they were not giving anything to the government.

The government continued to flounder, stories of bund breaching were reinforced by television footage of fake relief camps. While all this was going on, showing the government’s incompetence in all its glory, an even more disturbing aspect to all was unfolding — that of those exploiting the tragedy for personal gain and their belief that they could continue to delude us. In Sukkur, Senator Islamuddin Sheikh came on television to talk about the huge relief effort he had undertaken. He was having food cooked for tens of thousands of people. The money came from the government and private donors but the sums didn’t add up. Someone was over invoicing misery.

The downward spiral prompted visits by the UN secretary-general and Senator John Kerry. More aid was pledged. The US ambassador and the consul-general were active and visible in flood relief, the foreign minister came back with lots of pledges but none of this stopped Altaf Hussain from calling for the military to step in and assist with a clean-up of corrupt politicians and help rid this country of its feudal class. It has ignited a huge debate; rather than talking about subversion of the constitution and invoking Article 6, the thought of military intervention to stem the rot and to get rid of a few corrupt politicians seems to have touched a nerve. Even former dictator General Musharraf is being given airtime on how to manage the crisis.

We so easily forget what happens under martial law regimes, we forget the effects of dismantled systems, when you have no accountability. We forget that this is what creates lawless societies where there is no rule of law, where we continue to descend into anarchy. It is that act of forgetting which ensures that we will have many more Sialkots, Gojras, attacks on Shias, Ahmadis, Hindus, Christians, karo kari killings. Forgetting will allow us to condone the burying alive of women, of raping women, of parading them naked in the streets to avenge some dispute. Forgetting will allow the rapists and murderers of little children continue their depravity knowing they can pay off the police and ensure their cases never get prosecuted.

Today, Pakistan’s citizens have no confidence that the state will provide them with justice because for 63 years the ruling elite, kept in place by many of us, have systematically dismantled the institutions required to govern. They ensured and continue to ensure their own progress and advancement at the cost of a nation.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2010.

COMMENTS (5)

Syed A. Mateen | 13 years ago | Reply Unless the difference in providing justice between the rich and the poor is not eliminated, the lawless society will continue to grow. I have not heard a single place whether a government institution or corporate sector in Pakistan where corruption does not exist. The typical Pakistani mindset is to go against the law and the so called law is made not to implement but to remain in the files. This is due to one main reason and that is that government does not want to enforce the law for the rich and the elite. I have never heard that a rich person has been arrested due to tax evasion? Tammy – let’s go together and have a round of the police stations in the country. Let’s see how many rich people are behind the bars? You will not find a single rich person but all those who are poor and cannot afford to even hire the services of an advocate to come out from the jail on bail. If you choose to remain in the country you should learn how to live like a cruel person. This is what our society is today. Now on whom you will fix the responsibility, at citizens, government or judiciary? The role of judiciary in Pakistan is not up to the expectation of the people who run from pillar to post to get justice. And when they enter the court premises, the judicial officials are there to extract each and every penny from the pockets. Leave aside what the judgment may come through, the corruption begins from the premises of the courts where people go to get the justice. I do not want to go into long debate and every one whether Pakistani or a Foreigner they know how the system of this country works, but let me tell you on your face that by pointing fingers on others, the system will never change. What we need a revolution, a revolution which should come in Pakistan as the flood. The water start from KP and from there it now came to Sindh. No body was able to stop the water, whether in KP, Punjab, Balochistan or the Sindh. Similarly, when the revolution will come, no body will be able to stop that revolution which will take away every thing overnight.

parvez | 13 years ago | Reply It takes you a little while to 'get going' but by the time you are three quarters into your article your 'dander is up' and it all becoms worthwhile.