In a more ‘normal’ country, the continuity of policies is tied with good governance of a particular institution or institutions. But not the case here in Pakistan. Here everything revolves around a person. Rather than strengthening institutions we have heavily relied upon personalities. These sort of cult-of-personalities exist in most institutions in Pakistan and have not only hampered institutional development and meritocracy but have had many other adverse effects.
Any institutional structures effectiveness is gauged by its ability to groom individuals through its pipeline. The success of the war on terror should not be predicated on a certain person heading the organisation.
The recent job extension in Gen. Pasha of ISI is a glaring example of this mindset. His second extension is being justified on grounds that he remains a quintessential personality in the war against terror. More or less the same was said to justify Gen. Kayani’s extension in service for three long years.
The worst part is that both of these extensions were signed by President Zardari, who himself is a democratically elected official. If our elected politicians won’t value a culture nurtured by democracy, we certainly can’t expect our khakis to respect it!
Taimoor Ashraf
Lahore
