While the country implodes

The emperor has no clothes

At a certain level it seems the country is imploding from within. In a single day in one provincial capital – Quetta — thirteen people perished in three violent terrorist incidents.

The Shi’a Hazara community, with their distinctive features, has always been sitting ducks perennially targeted by the anti-Shi’a terrorist outfits including the feared Siphah-e-Sahaba (SSP). On the eve of Muharram nine Shi’a perished in an attack on their bus.

The same day, Maulana Fazlur Rehman survived an attack by the skin of his teeth, only because he was travelling in a bulletproof vehicle. He was third time lucky as he has survived two previous attacks.

The rest of the country is not secure either. Mafias are brazenly operating in Karachi despite the so-called operation — now over a year old. With breakdown of the alliance between the MQM and PPP, the security situation is bound to deteriorate in the coming weeks.

To make matters worse the IS (also known as Daish) is knocking at our doors. Propaganda material for the incipient Islamic state has been unearthed by security agencies.

Reportedly, hundreds of Pakistani volunteers have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight along the self-proclaimed caliph, al Baghdadi’s army. Thankfully, by most accounts, the threat of the nouveau Islamists flourishing in Pakistan are premature and exaggerated. In the complicated matrix of Islamists in Pakistan, al Qaeda and the Taliban pose a real and present danger.

Adding to our travails, the eastern border is no longer secure. The newly inducted BJP government headed by hardliner Narindera Modi is not only talking tough, it is walking the talk.

In the past weeks skirmishes along the LOC (line of control) and working boundary have become the norm rather than the exception. In sheer violation of the agreements between the two belligerent neighbours, the Indian military has started constructing bunkers close to the working boundary.

Theoretically, a democratic government with an absolute majority is in place. But the Sharifs are ruling, and not governing, is the stark reality

The Pakistani military, actively engaged in Zarb-e-Azb to secure the badlands, now faces a two front situation and possibly a third if Daish raises the ante through its proxies. Both eastern and western borders heating up, coupled with internal strife, has created a tenuous situation for our security apparatus.

Thus it is axiomatic to close ranks to create a semblance of internal cohesion. But the ground realities tell an entirely different story.

Theoretically, a democratic government with an absolute majority is in place. But the Sharifs are ruling, and not governing, is the stark reality.

The prime minister reportedly is in the process of reshuffling and expanding g his cabinet. He has asked for the report card from members of his cabinet enumerating their performance as well as their vision.

Practically speaking, in a democracy there is no rocket science involved in judging the performance of a government. The media, the parliament and the street are barometer of the performance (or lack of it) of a government.

The PML-N seems to be the winner in the dharna putsch launched by Imran khan and TUQ more than 70 days ago. But in many ways it is only a pyrrhic victory.

Sharif needs to introspect not only about the performance of his team but also about his own, and that of his brother, who rules the roost in the largest province.

A basic reset of course is badly needed. Motorways, highways, bullet trains and metro buses — built at a huge cost for the exchequer — are not going to save the day for the Sharifs. In a country where a sizeable population lives below the poverty line these are just expensive toys for the urban elite and a very small section of the populace.

The PML-N seems to be the winner in the dharna putsch launched by Imran khan and TUQ more than 70 days ago. But in many ways it is only a pyrrhic victory

What need to be fixed are the abysmal budgetary outlays on health, education and other social sectors; and to outgrow the culture of apathy and lack of transparency.

Half measures like serving samosas at official meetings at the prime minister house instead of meals in the name of austerity are a joke. The common man is sick and tired of the unabated VIP culture that is manifested everyday and everywhere by our rulers.

Not only luxury motorcades but also fleets of state owned jets and helicopters are used with impunity by the rulers and their progenies. Having a ball at state expense has become the norm.

On the flipside Imran Khan has also miserably failed in his dharna politics. TUQ, despite the bravado, has abandoned him and packed his bags from D-chowk and gone home.

The PTI chief still chants on a daily basis from the top of his container on Constitution Avenue that he will not go home without Nawaz Sharif’s resignation. But this is not going to happen soon.

The Sharif government is relatively secure now. It has no threat within the parliament. The military is embroiled in dealing with existential security issues. Actually it needs space and a semblance of consensus within the country to do their mandated job.

When the PTI and PAT embarked upon their respective dharnas in mid-August, relations between Sharif and the military were at an all time low. The prime minister trying to embrace the newly minted Modi, Musharraf’s trial and the ISI chief’s spat with GEO had become their bête noir. But this does not, however, mean that the PML-N government can now take things for granted.

Admittedly the PTI chief, despite his ceaseless dharna and mammoth public meetings, in Shakespearian parlance, has “scorched the snake but not killed it.” He has perhaps destroyed Nawaz Sharifs brand but ironically in the process, has no trophy to take home with him.

Like a good cricketer he plays with a straight bat, but he has proved to be a bad politician; having no exit strategy. There was a time when he could have cut a deal backed by the military on his five points, including forming of a supreme judicial commission to probe election irregularities and far reaching election reforms. However, he preferred to stick to his asinine demand for Nawaz Sharif’s resignation.

Sharif, who in any case has no stomach for reforms, is now in no hurry to reboot the flawed election process. Why should he? The present system suits him and the PPP fine.

Nevertheless, the PML-N government inexorably damaged by Imran can hardly afford to take things for granted. But there is no one to tell the Sharifs “the emperor has no clothes”. The sooner they go for a reform agenda the better for them.

So far as Imran is concerned he should take off his knight armour and come down from his high horse (container in this case). It is time to talk rather than just bellow.