As we celebrate our 66th Independence Day, Pakistan faces its worst economic crisis while the nation is ravaged by insecurity, religious fanaticism, target killings, extortion and massive corruption. There can be no denying the fact that this country has suffered at the hands of those who have benefited the most, be they its corrupt civil servants or uniformed officers, or feudal mindset of its engineered ruling political elite. Democratic political activity has been replaced with dynastic political rule. This country needs to break itself from shackles of domination by selfish ruling elite, restore rule of law, or else it will fragment into a Somalia like situation.
We had an elected government in 2008, which unfortunately has almost doubled the national domestic and foreign debt during past four years, with absolutely nothing to show as far as infrastructure is concerned, where these resources should have been invested. The country is facing its worst energy crisis, a culmination of years of mismanagement under military and corrupt political mediocrity.
Ethical politics practiced by our Founding Father Quaid-e-Azam has been replaced with dirty power politics by greedy politicians, most of whom have no stakes in this country. While the Quaid wanted Pakistan to be a democratic welfare state, where all citizens enjoyed equal rights, irrespective of their caste, creed, faith or sex, Ayub Khan’s military intervention ensured that Jinnah’s vision of a welfare state is replaced by a security state. We lost East Pakistan because we failed to adhere to democratic norms.
Today, we are a nation whose people have no security, where politicians and paid civil or khaki public office holders having foreign nationalities decide the fate of a people with whom, neither they nor their children, have anything to share. Our religious minorities who were assured security of life and property, by Quaid are fleeing from Sindh and Balochistan, because the state out of political exigencies allows thugs and robber barons to kidnap them for ransom, forcibly grabbing their lands. It is not just minorities but members of Muslim majority population who are being subjected to ethnic cleansing by design, not because of failure of law, but its being slave to political short term gains.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore