The too-large glass

Many within the Republic are now looking at themselves and at the state of the nation, and arriving at the conclusion that all is not well (not that it ever has been).

Last week, when we were witnessing the demeaning to the nation spectacle of the Election Commission of Pakistan, indulging in an attempt at “weeding out” election candidates (The Guardian editorial, April 7) — not because they have robbed, plundered, lied, cheated and paid no taxes to the state but because they allegedly oppose an undefined and unacceptable “ideology of Pakistan” or that they cannot recite religious teachings — comments were made in the British and US press on “Pakistan: chequered progress” and “Pakistan’s precipitous decline”.

We should all be hanging our heads in shame, particularly members of the last elected National Assembly who, with great aplomb, passed the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, firmly keeping in place provisions of the Eighth Amendment — so it serves them right when it bounces back to bite them, no sympathy to be wasted.

And it is ludicrous to blame Maulana Fazlur Rahman for the mess made. What was his hold over the honourable members of both, the committee formed to come up with the Amendment and the men and women (292 out of 342) who more or less rushed it through the assembly?

The Guardian rightly tells its readers that there is progress in the fact that elections are taking place (so far so good) and that under the (somewhat dictatorial as opposed to democratic) five-year rule of Asif Zardari, “there has been no political victimisation” — that is something we must all acknowledge and give him due credit. But “alas, the good news peters out there”. Discussed is “the Orwellian task of reciting prayers as proof of religious belief”. Criticised is Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League which has “a less than glorious record” and for its footsie-playing electoral deals with various extremist groups. Rightly feared is “an inconclusive result” and a then weak hamstrung coalition.

The International Herald Tribune on April 5 carried a column by William Milam, a former US ambassador to Pakistan. Again, the only accomplishment of the past government was that it served out its term, though that good news is “drowned out by the horror stories that continue to emanate from Pakistan”. One of these being the fact that “[a]nyone who does not meet a narrow and exclusive definition of “Muslim” as defined by religious fundamentalists, has come under increasing attack”.

One most apt point concerns his colleague, a British ambassador, who had it that the half-full or half-empty metaphor does not appropriately apply to Pakistan. It should be looked at through the image of “a glass too large”, “a country constantly overreaching”, trying, says Milam, to punch above its weight. And now, the too-large glass “is filled to overflowing with problems that Pakistan cannot handle” (we all know them too well to bear repetition), resulting in “an accelerated decline towards state failure in this key, nuclear-armed country”. No punches pulled there, and no denying it all.

Afterthought: The federal government at the moment has a cabinet of 14 (plus two vacancies); Punjab has six. But what gives with Sindh and its caretaker chief minister? He chooses to sit on a cabinet of 16 at the moment, plus three advisers. Now, after a meeting of the cabinet called by the president of the Republic and held at Bilawal House, Karachi, the chief minister has seen fit, reportedly to “expand” his already overlarge cabinet by roping in seven additional ministers and a couple more advisers. Shame on him, and shame on those who call the shots.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2013.