The present lot of politicians is incorrigible to learn any lesson from their past mistakes and continue to tread the path of confrontation instead of reconciliation. Probably, this is due to the fact that with a few exceptions, most of them are products of martial law, as was boldly confessed by a former MNA in the previous National Assembly. He boldly declared on the floor of the House that they all were protégés of dictators. They supported one or the other martial law and as such no one was better than the other. He appealed to the lawmakers to forget each other’s mistakes and move forward to make Pakistan a truly democratic and progressive state. Recently, an MNA and a federal minister repeated the words of his predecessor. Alas, their words fell on deaf ears and politicians continue the practice of mudslinging and hate-mongering against each other.
The truth is that after judicial execution of an elected prime minister, the dictator needed legitimacy and public moral support to continue his rule. He induced different political leaders in his regime. A new generation of politicians, mostly from the PML, was inducted into the mainstream politics by the generals. They were nurtured and groomed by the military and ruled the country from 1980 to 1988 in different capacities and guises. However, they could not introduce any structured political, economic, social, or legal reform except for sowing seeds of hatred, animosity, ethnic and religious divide in the country.
Surprisingly, now they give sermons of democracy with authoritarian mindset and utterly autocratic behaviours. They take unilateral decisions without consulting their own party or their opponents. The culture of favouritism, entitlements, perks and privileges to friends and cronies is thriving. However, there is one noticeable change: they sing Jalib and while vehemently opposing army’s role in politics, they tend to seek similar help from the judiciary by filing frivolous petitions in the apex court.
