We are into a new year with old baggage. No electricity, no gas and a shrinking investment base. As the broadcasting media flashed New Year’s greetings, the tickers running on the television screens welcomed its viewers with the news of increase in gas and petrol prices. As I sit here writing this feature, the political stage of Pakistan is beaming with electoral rallies without any election announcement and the populist mood is hooked to street protests against the government. The omen on which we have entered 2012 is too bad. There is one satisfaction that it could not go worse than what it had been. The improvement initiative must surely begin from the government, while the citizenry has to take its share of actions as well.
You can’t have your cake, eat it too
A friend of mine, an economist, while discussing the economic situation of Pakistan, got annoyed when I identified problem in every single thing that has happened to this country. He wanted me to see the brighter side of the things. I asked him to show me if there was any. At the end of the discussion, however, we ended up lamenting the people of this country, as to how they have become skewed in their thinking; ever ready to take a free ride; taking this country as a borrowed place without longing, attachment and devotion. The discussion reminded me of Amjad, a peon of our office, who on losing his job had an opportunity to start his own business by getting a CNG rickshaw on instalment, without paying for the down payment. His only obligation was to earn enough to pay the monthly instalment to finally own a rickshaw. Amjad refused the offer flatly, bringing every possible social taboo and behavioural problems attached to rickshaw driving. He did not know the trait. He was at sea about the routes. What would his family say, etc? We tried to convince him, reasoning, that such teething problems are part of every business. Nothing worked and finally he settled for a job where he had to commute ten kilometres each day to earn only Rs6,000 per month. With almost half of his income going in fare, he again approached us to support him financially. We reminded him the opportunity that he had lost, which could have saved him this hardship. We declined to help asking him to learn to survive in the given circumstances.
A collective sin
One can replicate the character of Amjad with the workers present in this country. From a LUMS graduate to a matriculate from a local college, all of them want to work in a tailor made environment, suiting their liking, with the later usually settling for a difficult life. At times, we choose a difficult life by making wrong choices. The case of consuming excess gas compared to its reservoirs is a collective sin committed by government and the people. If the government was reckless in providing CNG permits and disinterested in regulating the gas sector as per rule of law, the consumers too made the hay without considering future plans for the growth and development of the sector. The civil society showed no concern when multiple CNG stations sprang up at every nook and corner of the country. The talk shows failed to shake the government off its ignorance to realise the haphazard investment in the CNG sector by the consumers and owners alike. No movement gathered storm to force strategising this sector from any quarter. It seems everybody was capitalising on the booty, and now when the axe has fallen, all of us have become aggrieved party.
Spineless protests
The debilitating economic crisis is a wake up call, not for the government alone, but for all of us. Though government, having the power to coerce, enjoys more leverage to seek its way out, the society too could contribute to the development by seeking reforms through forcing upon the government for policy action and policy implementation. Presently, NGOs have taken upon themselves to strike this awareness, but the result has been dismal. Unless, people with true representation come to the fore, things would remain shrouded in overloaded discussions on a round table in a five star setting. When people come out on roads to protest for gas or electricity load shedding, the scene hardly induces any sensational mood. It does bring out a feeling of pity, sympathy and grievance. However, the joy that overtakes the people when electricity and gas is temporarily restored and does leave one awed and surprised. Usually such protests are hijacked by the political parties to earn more voters in their electoral list. Hardly one finds an organised group coming out of the protesting lot to pressurise the government to mend its ways on permanent basis.
Tsunami can turn wild
Certainly, a nation that knows only to demand its right, but lags behind understanding its obligations dithers miserably. We need to get rid of the biased approach phenomenon being played both by the people and the government alike. The reason behind this approach of thinking about oneself could be traced to the element of distrust that has spread across the political genres: among the politicians; between the government and the governed; between the Pakistani elite and the international financial institution and donor agencies. The tsunami one sees in Imran Khan’s rally is a manifestation of distrust that people have towards the ruling elite and the opposition. They want to give Imran Khan a chance. They want to see a new approach towards governance, where promises are kept and institutions are rehabilitated. If Imran Khan fails in restoring trust among the people towards the ruling elite, this tsunami will wash him away to oblivion and there will be a long spell of judicial takeover under the mainstay of military command.
State and leadership
There are certain things that only a state could provide, and there are certain behavioural patterns that only leaders could ensure. Law and order, security, blanket opportunity to education and health cannot be made possible without government coming into action. So is the case with justice, rule of law and discipline, one would not follow the path to anticorruption unless there is a clean person sitting at the helm, directing the country. The trickle down effect of a leadership persona is undeniable. It is here that Imran Khan is getting an edge against his rival politicians. People believe him to be honest enough to infuse this spirit through the rank and file of his party and different organs of the government, if elected to power. We are facing human rights crises that cannot be cured sitting in five star hotels or sending press releases of condemnation on acts of violence. Before we enjoy any bounty, let us make it a point to stop and think if the luxury has any future cost attached to it. We all together looted our gas reservoirs; now let’s celebrate the loss together on this New Year.
The writer is a freelance journalist. She can be reached at [email protected]
