Reference Arif Nizami’s excellent analysis and a year of uneventful rule by Nawaz Sharif.
A year has elapsed, which in all fairness is not enough time for PML-N government to be assessed, but judging from choice of individuals appointed to head important public offices, not much can be expected from the mediocrity that dominates those who have been tasked to deliver. With Narendara Modi ruling New Delhi, India’s constitutional commitment to secularism preached by Gandhi might have received a jolt, but it is time that civil-cum-khaki ruling elite grasped reality of dangers that confront Pakistan from within and outside. What Pakistan and its establishment cannot afford is to be seen patronising the likes of Hafiz Saeed or Zaid Hamid, nor our sensationalism bitten electronic media giving them undue coverage.
Pakistan needs to restore rule of law within its geographical boundaries, with no space for private armed militias challenging the writ of state and collecting more funds through extortion than FBR from traders and retailers in big cities such as Karachi. This country needs to collect taxes from all sources of income to fund its constitutional commitment of providing education, health and security of life and property for all citizens, while all state funded institutions are confined to adopt strictly their legally defined roles. Power must only flow from constitution and laws, never from the barrel of a gun. Otherwise, Taliban, sectarian and ethnic outfits will hold this country to ransom, as has been the case for over four decades.
The masses, the poor and deprived must be the sole beneficiaries of state largess and dole outs, instead of paid civil or khaki bureaucracy, or nexus of land mafia and corrupt elite that have misruled this country for years. Capping rupee vs dollar to under Rs100 alone does not provide any relief to the poor, unless massive corruption is curtailed, inflation is brought down by imposing direct taxes instead of burdening consumers with indirect taxes, and flight of capital is eliminated.
For this to happen the PM must appoint men of integrity on merit with undivided loyalty to Pakistan at the helm of state corporations, monetary agencies, law enforcement and accountability organisations. Otherwise, projects like New Islamabad Airport would escalate to Rs100 billion, triple the projected cost, because of contractors’ connivance and successive governments.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
Sir you are chasing a pie in the sky. Honesty and politics in pakistan don,t go together–Do they? In Pakistan the ministers and other similar people serve the master and not the nation.
it is the mental capacity of the individuals of a country that make the true qualities of a nation. after all, man has the same desires and fears that an animal possesses and it is the quality of intellect that separates man from animal. with seventy percent of our nation illiterate, spiritual-minded, and passive, it is only natural that the our educated civil-military bureaucrats will take full advantage of their weaknesses and enjoy life at their cost. if we can administer polio drops to each and every child because we get dollars for it from the foreigners, we can also put each and every child in school and teach him the material knowledge that is so essential to live a respectable life today. but the bureaucrats want to keep the status quo because if the people become intelligent, they will snatch away their perks of power. our country will stay as it is because it has no leaders to take essential steps necessary to change the ancient mid-set of the people.
You are apparently from the most despicable class called politician. It is so easy to put the onus on beaurucracy. Don’t pollute the factual state.
Malik does not understand how Nawaz Sharif works. He is led by his cronies and kitchen cabinet to make decisions. Merit has never played any part in the Progress of Pakistan. we are dealimg with an incompetent and the most corrupt regime in the world today.
People like Zaid Hamid , Sheikh Rashid,, Imran KHan and Mubbashar Luqman are doing a great job. Their vitriolic may seem biased but true in reality. We should not expect much from the corrupt apparatus. It is a rotten to the core and can not be improved upon by any means..
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