Plus ça change…
Yup, the greatest threat is and has been purely the government. And that from the word go
amina.jilani@tribune.com.pk
There has been, and is, a fair amount of discussion as to what is or are the greatest threats to the stability and continuance of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. There are those who opt for terrorism, others who cite the flailing economy, then there is illiteracy, the population explosion — the list is lengthy and comprehensive. But actually, the greatest threat to the country is, and always has been, its government.
After all, it is successive governments, whether military or civil, which are responsible for the accusations that Pakistan is the epicentre of terrorism, that Karachi is the most dangerous city in the world; it is the governments which are responsible for deliberately keeping the masses in a state of illiteracy, ignorance, and poverty. It is the governments which have deprived half the population of potable water, of access to family planning facilities, of wanton neglect of the environment, of so many aspects of what is known as democracy, or the rule of law, of order, of progress.
Yup, the greatest threat is and has been purely the government. And that from the word go, even founder Mr Jinnah’s one year is contentious — two bones being his dismissal of a provincial government, his dismissal of two chief ministers, opinion being divided as to whether they were blunders or whether he had no options. One fact that set the wrong trend is that he opted for the governor-generalship rather than the prime ministerial slot which has affected and today very much affects the presidential and prime ministerial parity. Asif Ali Zardari merely followed suit. Roles, of course, now are reversed with the presidency being but a joke in bad form.
Thenceforward the slope has been rather steeply downhill with each successive government miraculously managing to outdo its predecessor in a multitude of wrongs, and yes, crimes against the national interest.
History has never been a factor of learning lessons — it has been twisted and warped to suit the present incumbent and in many ways it has been static, not moving with the passing years. Take a glance at where we are today and were in January 1999 when an editorial appeared in The Times (London) under the heading “Pity Pakistan”, with the subheading “A wretched mess of intolerance, killings and corruption”.
Excerpts read: “The massacre of at least 16 Shia Pakistanis at prayer in a mosque in the Punjab city of Multan is another example of the religious fanaticism that is destroying government and society in Pakistan … Religious vendettas … are only one aspect of a deadly combination of lawlessness, intimidation, assassinations and corruption that has already brought this unhappy country close to political and economic collapse.
“Pakistanis look in vain to their government to end these horrors. In addition to sectarian conflict … Pakistan also suffers from the debilitating violence in Karachi … violence which has killed most commercial initiative in this former centre of trade is now spilling beyond city and into all local politics…
“Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister, has promised to crack down on terrorism. But he shows neither the will nor the capacity to do so … In many ways the prime minister is in an enviable position. He has an overwhelming parliamentary majority … But he has thrown away his advantage. He has done little to liberalise the economy, reform the country’s political institutions or crack down on corruption. He has shown himself to be as venal an opportunist as most politicians. And he appears greedy for absolute power with little idea of how to use it for Pakistan’s advantage…
“ … Pakistanis believe that they will be bailed out of their largely self-made economic mess because of their strategic and political importance. In fact, the resort to nuclear testing, just like Mr Sharif’s embrace of an even more rigid Islamisation, is a populist attempt to hide the failings of his rule … the costs — a cut in foreign aid and growing religious intolerance — are weighing heavily on the population…”… plus c’est la meme chose.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2015.
After all, it is successive governments, whether military or civil, which are responsible for the accusations that Pakistan is the epicentre of terrorism, that Karachi is the most dangerous city in the world; it is the governments which are responsible for deliberately keeping the masses in a state of illiteracy, ignorance, and poverty. It is the governments which have deprived half the population of potable water, of access to family planning facilities, of wanton neglect of the environment, of so many aspects of what is known as democracy, or the rule of law, of order, of progress.
Yup, the greatest threat is and has been purely the government. And that from the word go, even founder Mr Jinnah’s one year is contentious — two bones being his dismissal of a provincial government, his dismissal of two chief ministers, opinion being divided as to whether they were blunders or whether he had no options. One fact that set the wrong trend is that he opted for the governor-generalship rather than the prime ministerial slot which has affected and today very much affects the presidential and prime ministerial parity. Asif Ali Zardari merely followed suit. Roles, of course, now are reversed with the presidency being but a joke in bad form.
Thenceforward the slope has been rather steeply downhill with each successive government miraculously managing to outdo its predecessor in a multitude of wrongs, and yes, crimes against the national interest.
History has never been a factor of learning lessons — it has been twisted and warped to suit the present incumbent and in many ways it has been static, not moving with the passing years. Take a glance at where we are today and were in January 1999 when an editorial appeared in The Times (London) under the heading “Pity Pakistan”, with the subheading “A wretched mess of intolerance, killings and corruption”.
Excerpts read: “The massacre of at least 16 Shia Pakistanis at prayer in a mosque in the Punjab city of Multan is another example of the religious fanaticism that is destroying government and society in Pakistan … Religious vendettas … are only one aspect of a deadly combination of lawlessness, intimidation, assassinations and corruption that has already brought this unhappy country close to political and economic collapse.
“Pakistanis look in vain to their government to end these horrors. In addition to sectarian conflict … Pakistan also suffers from the debilitating violence in Karachi … violence which has killed most commercial initiative in this former centre of trade is now spilling beyond city and into all local politics…
“Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister, has promised to crack down on terrorism. But he shows neither the will nor the capacity to do so … In many ways the prime minister is in an enviable position. He has an overwhelming parliamentary majority … But he has thrown away his advantage. He has done little to liberalise the economy, reform the country’s political institutions or crack down on corruption. He has shown himself to be as venal an opportunist as most politicians. And he appears greedy for absolute power with little idea of how to use it for Pakistan’s advantage…
“ … Pakistanis believe that they will be bailed out of their largely self-made economic mess because of their strategic and political importance. In fact, the resort to nuclear testing, just like Mr Sharif’s embrace of an even more rigid Islamisation, is a populist attempt to hide the failings of his rule … the costs — a cut in foreign aid and growing religious intolerance — are weighing heavily on the population…”… plus c’est la meme chose.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2015.