Something in the air

The undeniable fact as we went our separate ways was that things may not all be as bad as we kept telling ourselves

Islamabad and a round of meetings and meals and more meals and a breakfast. Not any old breakfast but one of what has become something of an institution in its own way. Hosted by my friend RK they bring together a diversity of people from all walks of life, young and old, to share their thoughts on the events of the day. The food is invariably good and the conversation informed and lively — and this week it took a slightly unusual turn.

Nobody of my acquaintance ever has the slightest difficulty in picking holes in Pakistan. There is always something to gripe about be it at the macro or the micro levels, and Pakistan gets a damn good kicking as regular as clockwork. But last Tuesday it was different. Not so different as to say that corners have been turned, dragons slain, but different enough to at least be able to see what might be around the corner and no, it’s not all bad and yes, those dragons may not be as unslayable as they would have us believe.

It was an anecdote by a man who lived on the edge of Rawalpindi that set the tone. He spoke of a village he knew that had been infiltrated by religious radicals, who had brought much unhappiness with them to say nothing of petty crime. In the way of these things people grumbled but sotto voce, not wanting to attract trouble for themselves or their families. And then one morning the army showed up, very early, entered the establishment that was at the heart of local misery and took away those who were responsible for it. There was no fuss or firing or (obvious) violence, just a quick surgical job. There was much quiet celebration and people went back to their poor and hard lives.

Other anecdotes and analysis followed. Mostly with the theme of ‘somebody’ — but probably not the government per se and by itself — getting a grip. The somebody in question was, went opinion, pale khaki in hue and was moving to protect its interests both in the here and now and into the long-term future — a future when the current dispensation would be a faded memory. Given the serial failure of politicians to keep the ship of state head-to-wind by themselves there was a cautious feeling that this latest iteration of modified democracy might, and let’s not get too hopeful — actually be a good thing.

Improvements in Karachi were cited as more of a good thing, as was the magical growing of a foreign-policy spine in respect of matters, Yemeni and Arab. The news and views were less promising when it came to the repatriation of IDPs from North Waziristan and the possibility of trouble being stored for the future; but the undeniable fact as we went our separate ways was that perhaps things may not all be as bad as we kept telling ourselves they were.

A dozen people around a breakfast table is hardly the stuff of revolutions, and they are no more likely to be in possession either individually or collectively of a working crystal ball than any other random group of 12. And yet and yet…

Having moaned to all and sundry about the chaos caused by the construction of the Metro bus line between Rawalpindi and Islamabad — well suddenly that does not look so bad or such a bad idea either. I could even envisage myself using it. Something stirred in the Election Commission of Pakistan which also entered the wonderful world of the vertebrates when it unceremoniously dumped one of the High Satraps of the ruling party for being an unscrupulous cheat. And the Chinese, who never do anything without looking 50 years into the future, have decided to risk a lot of money to ensure that a pale-khaki Pakistan stays afloat — and of benefit to the Chinese — far down the line.

Trying to ‘read’ Pakistan as an outsider is never easy, neither always well received locally by a people understandably prickly about foreigners poking sharp sticks at them. Just ask Anatol Lieven. But after over 20 years, many of them dark, I may be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2015.

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