Digging your own grave
Had Pakistan’s ruling elite sincerely implemented a fraction of its claims, the country would not be facing some of its momentous political and economic challenges. Every military ruler promised to do away with corruption. Soon after coming into power, he joined hands with some of the most corrupt politicians besides raising another crop of unscrupulous loyalists. One politician after another promised to break the begging bowl. He invariably ended up leaving the country more in debt than ever before.
Doublespeak continues to characterise both the political leadership and the establishment today. Speaking to the media in Davos the PM said his government was pursuing a progressive and forward-looking agenda in line with the vision of Quaid-e-Azam. Women, he said, were being encouraged to take active part in the country’s development. The way the CII, under its retrogressive chairman appointed by the PML-N government, continues to stand in the way of women’s empowerment raises questions about the claim. Most recently PML-N MNA Marvi Memon withdrew the bill against child marriages under threat from CII. The Council stood in the way of the legislation against domestic violence, declared the DNA test unacceptable as primary evidence in rape cases and opposed old people’s homes as un-Islamic. The government bears with the CII chief because being not satisfied with PML-N’s comfortable majority in NA, it wants the JUI-F backing for support that it doesn’t need.
Soon after the attack on APS, the establishment and the political parties announced action against terrorist groups of all hues and colours. For this, a National Action Plan was announced. Over a year after the APS, most of the recommendations in the NAP still remain un-implemented. The sources of foreign funding are as obscure as ever and most of the banned groups continue to be active under new names. Political exigencies again stand in the way of action against some of these groups. There being no comprehensive move to eradicate extremist thinking, there have emerged new homegrown terrorist groups comprising highly educated activists. There is a need to put an end to doublespeak.
