The middle course is out for Pakistan
There is little doubt that the incumbent parliamentary system cannot remedy the woes of the people which are multiplying by the day. They crave for a change – a change that would make them a direct stakeholder in the working of the state and which they are able to influence.
The prevalent corrupt system works by exploiting the captivities that have been passed on from generation to generation. Principally, these include the deprivations in the fields of education and economic survival. While genuine education is a rare commodity, it is economic captivity that forces the people to vote the way they are ordered to because their survival depends on maintaining the goodwill of the political mafias they are dependent on. Be it the rural or the urban sector, this is the exploitative mechanism by which people are returned to the assemblies to form the governments in Islamabad and all of the provincial capitals.
Come Tahirul Qadri – the latest harbinger of the elusive ‘change’ that people have been craving for. Within a few days of addressing a mammoth gathering at Minar-e-Pakistan grounds, he is flanked on the one side by the mercurial MQM and, on the other, by those inveterate survivors under all circumstances, the Chaudhrys of Gujrat. Both these parties have shared the bed with dictators and ‘democrats’ alike to advance their vested interests. MQM rules Karachi, yet there is extortion and murder which, today, tethers on the verge of a bloodbath while to the Chaudhrys goes the indisputable distinction of forging alliances with everyone sans principles. What boggles the mind is that both these parties have now joined forces with Tahirul Qadri to topple the incumbent government of which they are still a part, by leading a march to Islamabad. How on earth could you be involved in a movement to remove a government of which you are a partner?
If ever one were looking for a reason that has brought the country to the present miserable state, it can be found in its abdominal and unprincipled politics where the self takes precedence over all other considerations. Nearing the next elections, the noose seemed to be tightening around the PML-Q neck because of increasing defections while the MQM was fighting a battle for its own survival both internally and on a foreign front where its leader is allegedly being investigated for the murder Dr Imran Farooq. Having provided the much-needed shield to the corruption of the incumbent government by becoming a part of their loot spree, it required the ultimate in Machiavellian parlance for these two political outfits to have joined forces with someone who comes with a commitment to change what they have been and remain a symbol of.
Understandably, the two leading parties are visibly disturbed over the development which has gained in intensity within a short span of time. Their leaders are variously critical of the prospect of a long march as ‘undemocratic’ and ‘sponsored’. While the former does not stick as all kinds of peaceful protest is an inherent right of the people, one would need irrefutable evidence to accept the latter charge. If, however, Tahirul Qadri is using the widespread frustration among the people to advance his political interests, it would fall within the given parameters of politics as has been practised in the country. In my last column, I had called him a ‘potential game changer’ which he just might become if the sitting government and its depleting allies do not address the issue of reform on an emergency footing.
On a different front, the army has given a hint of shifting its operational priorities rating the internal security challenges as a major threat to the country’s sovereignty. Simultaneously, the military command has advised the government to devise a strategy to respond to the militants’ offer for a dialogue which is generally perceived as an indication of their growing vulnerability under the army’s ceaseless assault. The question that arises is whether it is at all advisable to go for a dialogue with the militants at this stage? The recent upsurge in inhuman militant activity, including the beheading of 21 Levis soldiers, the sectarian attacks in Balochistan and multiple other incidents of brutal violence, perpetrated by the TTP and its allied bands, leave little scope for any such dialogue which should also be viewed in the context of the past failures in enforcing agreements with them signed in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008.
In the absence of a comprehensive strategy to deal with the growing spectre of militancy and violence, and now nearing the next elections – a prospect that may be jeopardised depending on which way the Tahirul Qadri bandwagon progresses – there is little scope and time for the government to undertake any meaningful initiative in that direction. But there are a few things that should be clearly understood. Pakistan’s “friend-some-enemy-some” Taliban policy has failed in delivering the desired results as, indeed, it could not have. Terrorism is a reprehensible phenomenon that must be crushed with the full might of the state without distinguishing between the so-called ‘friendly’ and ‘enemy’ elements within their ranks. They are all fighting the state of Pakistan and eliminating them should be the top priority of any operation that is envisaged. There is no middle course and no effort should be unleashed to find one as the spectre, if allowed to hibernate, would come back with increased ferocity and destruction. Pakistan has suffered immensely because of this duality in approach which, if allowed to linger, would cause irremediable damage to the state and its institutions.
It is the danger within that Pakistan should fear the most – both on the political and militancy fronts. The former can be addressed through undertaking a comprehensive programme of reforms preceding the next elections and the latter will require a focussed and all-encompassing strategy with a backup mechanism which is clinical with no let up till all the short- and long-term objectives have been sealed. The middle course is out for Pakistan.
The writer is a political analyst. He can be reached at [email protected]
