The leaders fiddle as Pakistan burns
Since December last, the government of Pakistan is blatantly defying the writ of the Supreme Court.
(This is the seventh of a series of eight articles on the role of the military from 1971-2007)
Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007. A few months later, General Pervez Musharraf had to put himself on the retired list. Fortunately for the Combine (civil and military services), the traumatic shockwaves of the mindboggling and horrific murder of Benazir got dampened with the announcement that her college-going son, Bilawal, would succeed her as the head of her political party and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, would act as the regent and co-chairman of her political party. Fresh elections were held and a Zardari-Gilani government was sworn in, in an uncertain and turbulent internal and external environment which has further deteriorated during the last two years.
With the armed forces at war in the Northwest Frontier Region; the American drones picking up targets at will; high prices; high rates of unemployment; non-availability of essential supplies; the breakdown of the system of electricity and fuel supplies; and, above all, the failure of the administrative machinery of the state to protect life and property of the citizens has brought the country to the brink of an uprising. Antisocial and anti-state elements mount attacks on the police and military, blow up train tracks, electricity and gas transmission facilities and explode internal explosive devices in the most alarming manner. Every day, citizens in general and professional groups such as lawyers, journalists and doctors are out on the street, protesting against the prevailing conditions. The desperate and depressed poverty-stricken among the masses are committing suicides in large numbers. Money and guns are the principal currencies of social intercourse. The looters and grabbers hold the country in their grip. One lives and holds on to what one owns for his turn has not yet come.
The police, normally a protector of life, property and dignity of citizens, has to be busy protecting itself. The Free and Fair Election Network data published in Daily Times (August 17, 2010) reveals that between October 15, 2009 and May 31, 2010, out of 808 incidents of political violence in the country, 5,700 were victims, 921 were killed, 3,732 were injured and 63 were kidnapped. The number of daily killings, dacoities, kidnappings, bomb blasts, crimes against women, children, and brutal attacks on the minority communities loudly announce the stark absence of state authority.
The lack of an effective system of justice is another serious blow. Nearly 1.5 million cases were pending before the courts in January 2010. While prisons in Pakistan are terribly overcrowded, the rich and the powerful, being above the law, can rarely be found in any confinement.
Since December last, the government of Pakistan is blatantly defying the writ of the Supreme Court.
Within two years, the public image of the government is in mud. The president of the country is best known at home and abroad for his corruption. Members of parliament are best known for enriching themselves. A recent report by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency revealed that the average value of the assets of a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) has increased threefold, from Rs27 million to Rs81 million, during the past six years. While an unskilled worker is paid Rs6,000 to 8,000 a month, approximately a thousand legislators get paid nearly half a million rupees per month. As reported by The News (June 7, 2010), the total expenditure for maintaining the secretariats, households, health services, gardens, travelling and facilitation of the president and prime minister is about a billion rupees per annum — and this excludes the expenditure on frequent foreign trips.
The virus of corruption has infected the vitals of the polity. Talking to The News, veteran senior lawyer of Islamabad Wahabul Khairi confirmed that he resubmitted before the Supreme Court Bench a list of political figures who received Rs59.35 million by the Inter-Services Intelligence Service to influence the 1996 general elections. Nearly all industrial, financial and services enterprises owned fully or partially by the state are tainted by scandals and scams.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2010.
Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007. A few months later, General Pervez Musharraf had to put himself on the retired list. Fortunately for the Combine (civil and military services), the traumatic shockwaves of the mindboggling and horrific murder of Benazir got dampened with the announcement that her college-going son, Bilawal, would succeed her as the head of her political party and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, would act as the regent and co-chairman of her political party. Fresh elections were held and a Zardari-Gilani government was sworn in, in an uncertain and turbulent internal and external environment which has further deteriorated during the last two years.
With the armed forces at war in the Northwest Frontier Region; the American drones picking up targets at will; high prices; high rates of unemployment; non-availability of essential supplies; the breakdown of the system of electricity and fuel supplies; and, above all, the failure of the administrative machinery of the state to protect life and property of the citizens has brought the country to the brink of an uprising. Antisocial and anti-state elements mount attacks on the police and military, blow up train tracks, electricity and gas transmission facilities and explode internal explosive devices in the most alarming manner. Every day, citizens in general and professional groups such as lawyers, journalists and doctors are out on the street, protesting against the prevailing conditions. The desperate and depressed poverty-stricken among the masses are committing suicides in large numbers. Money and guns are the principal currencies of social intercourse. The looters and grabbers hold the country in their grip. One lives and holds on to what one owns for his turn has not yet come.
The police, normally a protector of life, property and dignity of citizens, has to be busy protecting itself. The Free and Fair Election Network data published in Daily Times (August 17, 2010) reveals that between October 15, 2009 and May 31, 2010, out of 808 incidents of political violence in the country, 5,700 were victims, 921 were killed, 3,732 were injured and 63 were kidnapped. The number of daily killings, dacoities, kidnappings, bomb blasts, crimes against women, children, and brutal attacks on the minority communities loudly announce the stark absence of state authority.
The lack of an effective system of justice is another serious blow. Nearly 1.5 million cases were pending before the courts in January 2010. While prisons in Pakistan are terribly overcrowded, the rich and the powerful, being above the law, can rarely be found in any confinement.
Since December last, the government of Pakistan is blatantly defying the writ of the Supreme Court.
Within two years, the public image of the government is in mud. The president of the country is best known at home and abroad for his corruption. Members of parliament are best known for enriching themselves. A recent report by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency revealed that the average value of the assets of a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) has increased threefold, from Rs27 million to Rs81 million, during the past six years. While an unskilled worker is paid Rs6,000 to 8,000 a month, approximately a thousand legislators get paid nearly half a million rupees per month. As reported by The News (June 7, 2010), the total expenditure for maintaining the secretariats, households, health services, gardens, travelling and facilitation of the president and prime minister is about a billion rupees per annum — and this excludes the expenditure on frequent foreign trips.
The virus of corruption has infected the vitals of the polity. Talking to The News, veteran senior lawyer of Islamabad Wahabul Khairi confirmed that he resubmitted before the Supreme Court Bench a list of political figures who received Rs59.35 million by the Inter-Services Intelligence Service to influence the 1996 general elections. Nearly all industrial, financial and services enterprises owned fully or partially by the state are tainted by scandals and scams.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2010.