By a realistic and balanced calculation with a political pragmatic approach, it is for sure that at this point when, under the National Action Plan, or otherwise, the law enforcement agencies of the state, viz., Rangers, and Armed forces, that are constitutionally restrained to carry out the operation against the outlawed organizations and terrorist outfits, have started to get on the nerves of the political parties, more particularly in Sindh, the people of Sindh evidently seem to be entangled between the devil and the deep sea.
I take no issue over the corrupt politicians especially those belonging to PPP being nabbed and brought to book; in fact, it is a move that every Sindhi must cheer, in a hope to be ultimately freed of a regime where corruption, nepotism, cronyism, hooliganism, and mediocre feudal lords reign supreme. PPP under Zardari and its current office bearers symbolises in the eyes of the people of Sindh, especially the educated class, every evil that is considered evil in the society.
I say all the criminals from Zardari, and Faryal Talpur, to their beneficiaries, and fawners must be held accountable, but the thing over which I have issue is ‘whether the Rangers and NAB have any legal cover over whatever action they have been taking, and if they are justified to rush to a province, so offensively meddling with the provincial administration…!’
We, the people of Sindh, to be candid, at one place, must rejoice whatever is being done to cleanse Sindh of bad eggs and depraved criminals and a handful of corrupt sardars and jagirdars, dominating the political mainstream, but once the operation is done, then what…? A person residing in Sindh, with a bit of common sense must be shaken up by the thought that the repercussions following this ‘promising’ operation would turn things for the local Sindhis, from worse to the worst.
It has been a persistent weakness of mine, or an art I have failed to master; I resist myself to use suppressed phrases, as they are called in journalistic terms. Therefore, supposing for the moment ‘had the same agencies, i.e., Rangers and NAB initiated the same type of operation against the politicians in Punjab during the previous PPP regime, what would have been the reaction there in the province then?’
To my humble knowledge, the big fish and plutocrats of Punjab, Sharif Brothers, for example, have amassed billions and trillions of rupees overnight, with their commercial empire, thriving in not only in Pakistan, but all over the world; corruption in the big brother’s province is also rampant, but the only manifest difference between it and the one in Sindh, is of ‘technicality’. As a matter of fact, “Men in the Khaki” themselves can be liable to be charged with this technicality.
If the operation is really conducted in a good will, its scope must be expanded, the criminals all over Pakistan should be chased irrespective of any discrimination. Are the criminals sheltered only in Sindh, that the scope of the operation is confined to Karachi? It must go across Lahore and Khyber, or else it would conversely amount to “Rangers-cum-Military Terrorism”, not activism. Further, it would flatly add to the sentiment of deprivation and alienation among the smaller provinces, which are already flaming with anti-state and the separatist feelings.
The facts documented in the above discourse might be indigestible to many, but truth cannot be made to stay shrouded in smokescreen any longer.
FARRUKH AZIZ ANSARI
Rawalpindi
