Saza and jaza

Who gets what remains to be seen

‘Saza’ (punishment) and ‘jaza’ (reward) are the basic ingredients of human life. As man has been bestowed with liberty of choices, accountability must be built in for the system to function. A lot has been said and written on this subject. Iqbal rightly complained: ‘Dunya ha teri muntazir ay roz-e-makafat’

(The world awaits the day of justice)

It is also widely believed that as a ‘saza’ a sinful nation deserves tainted leadership. In the first free and fair elections of 1970, the people of Pakistan, both East and West, exercised their freewill in choosing their leaders. Since then every ballot has been manipulated to bring third rate leadership to the fore. The ‘saza’ is for the nation who had a small role in bringing these ‘loteras’ to the corridors of power while ‘jaza’ is for the rulers and their manipulators who reap the benefits of their misrule. It negates the basic premise of accountability.

Liable to account is the definition of accountability of which financial misappropriation is just one facet. Nepotism, favoritism, abuse/misuse of authority, conflict of interest, negligence, dereliction etc all have to be accounted for any meaningful governance. What sins were committed by the people of Pakistan to deserve Zia ul Haq? There is a story that on a visit to the heavens, the visitors were astounded to see Zia with Elizabeth Taylor together in hell. On inquiry they were told that it was a ‘saza’ for the actress. I am not sure what it was for the usurper who destroyed the entire nation and its vital institutions. People of Pakistan had never exercised their choice for a leader like him, then why this ‘saza’?

I am sure the people of Pakistan deserve better leadership. There has to be a balance between ‘saza’ and ‘jaza’ for justice to prevail. Our people are as good or bad as that of any other nation, yet the state is under the control of ‘satans’? According to rough estimates the percentage of super evil people is around 5 percent which is approximately equal to the good individuals but the controls are totally in the hands of evil masters /manipulators. Why? The rest of the population has to survive; they cannot fight the evil empire as they lack resources. It is my dream to be billed for electricity consumption according to the metre readings for the summer months. I get bills that are highly inflated and more than what the metre shows and yet there is no discourse. I have reported theft by the metre reader several times but he has never been arrested or taken to task. Recently, Dasti sahib has reported that the minister himself uses a ‘kunda’ for free power. From the minister to the metre reader, ‘kunda’ prevails while the public is made to suffer.

And then elections are held, in which the ballot boxes are stuffed by the ‘kunda masters’ to produce ‘kunda leadership’. The first-time voters in the May 2013 elections were shocked to see the results and an impromptu ‘dharna’ was started in DHA Lahore which continued for several weeks. For them it was a ‘saza’ to stand in long queues to exercise their choice which was overcome by the ‘kunda mafia’. What wrong have they committed to deserve such tainted leadership? Khawaja Saad Rafique, son of Shaheed-e-Jamhoriyat Khawaja Rafiq who was assassinated after a rally behind the Assembly Chambers in the ’70s was declared elected. He was an honest man who left behind a good name as a legacy for which his own son is neither qualified nor deserving, yet he has been imposed on the nation.

Recently over 500 political activists in Egypt have been handed death sentences for their role in political demonstrations. What kind of ‘saza’ is this in the 21^st century? Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, always feared revolutionary justice. He could never imagine his own judicial murder at the hands of a ‘rogue general’ who he had promoted out of turn.

No society can survive without justice and rule of law whose application must be uniform. ‘Saza’ for the weak and ‘jaza’ for the powerful cannot continue indefinitely. Pakistan Tehrik-e-Pakistan (PTI) was formed to deliver justice to the downtrodden people of the country. “Kaptan” with his team struggled for 18 years to bring change through the ballot which was unfortunately manipulated. The party now seeks justice for the stolen election. While the legal battle continues the robbers are at work.

Pakistan is ready for change. Six decades (1958 to 2014) of ‘saza’ and four usurpers and several robbers in the garb of leadership are enough. If there is ‘jaza’ in the world, it must happen now; otherwise, people will lose faith and take to the streets. Revolutionary justice is another possibility to erupt.

The state must act as a parent for its people. Robbers cannot be rulers and must be dealt with an iron hand. ‘Saza’ should be their destiny while ‘jaza’ delivered to the people in the form of education, health, employment etc. There have to be choices beyond Bilawal Zardari and Hamza Sharif. Manipulations are responsible for this deadlock and ‘saza’. Iqbal’s roz-e-makafat has arrived. The days of ‘lotas’ and ‘loteras’ are now numbered. The countdown has started. ‘Saza’ without the exercise of choice is ‘zulam’ which cannot continue. This imposed and manipulated leadership must face ‘makafat-e-amal’ (face justice for their misdeeds).