That’s how it is (shrug)
Funny how the biggest land grabbers in the history of the nation are telling some two-bit traders to stop stealing from the poor. But beyond these circles of power, influence and envy, you turn to the ordinary bugger on the street, and there’s not a lot more than an ambivalent shrug of the shoulders
The Panama leaks will not go away. Even if, by some miracle, the Sharifs are able to evade this current wave of criticism and pressure, another is sure to arrive. Such is the nature of the beast. And one must remember, that this entire storm is built on the back of data from one firm in Panama,Mossack Fonesca. There are numerous others. Maybe there’s another John Doe waiting to leak data from one more firm, maybe another ten. Who knows. Today, there are 400 Pakistanis... tomorrow?
Clearly, the Sharifs are worried, and they ought to be. Not because the container king has once again smelt blood. That’s been countered by the other democratic parties, who’ve sworn that although all this siphoning business is a fine mess, we must not let anything happen to the democratic process (which is nothing more than we won’t rock your boat because we’ve got our knickers at our knees as well). The Sharifs are worried because the Big Boss has said, clean this up sonny!
Funny how the biggest land grabbers in the history of the nation are telling some two-bit traders to stop stealing from the poor. But beyond these circles of power, influence and envy, you turn to the ordinary bugger on the street, and there’s not a lot more than an ambivalent shrug of the shoulders.
The Punjabi equivalent of that’s how it is.
Press a little further, and the most you’ll get is, they’re politicians right, what else did you expect?’ Fair point.
But for the sake of this piece, I decided to conduct a social experiment. Does stealing from the poor, and then hiding that money outside of the country, or using it to buy properties abroad, is that part and parcel of being a politician or a person of influence in Pakistan?
The answer was an unequivocal yes. OF COURSE. A politician who doesn’t steal from his vote bank? What are you talking about, brother?
Here’s the crux of the matter. Not only is rampant corruption and stealing from the poor (and the not so poor) part and parcel with politics in Pakistan, it is also the accepted norm. What stands out here is a politician who doesn’t do any of this.
Which is why, in the on-going aftermath of the leaks, the public is milling about its business, trudging along the hours of their lives, wondering how to get from one meal to the next. Just imagine, for one unimaginable second, that the public was outraged by the shenanigans of the politicians. Sit-ins underway at Charring Cross, Do Talwar and D-Chowk. The metro jammed. The rickshaws silent. What kind of pressure would that bring to bear on the thieves?
We, the people, are like a McDonalds burger patty. Ground and beaten so fine that we don’t resemble meat anymore. Just some processed junk. Successive governments have ensured that our lives are kept in the same miserable conditions where we are unable, or more, incapable to think about the finer virtues and vices of human conscience, of corruption and honour, of valour and cowardice. Instead, we worry about dengue, and polio, of minimum wage and exploding jihadis. With our attentions so diverted, those we have elected into power, pillage, plunder and rape not only our today and tomorrow, but also those of our future generations.
Of late, there has been a small, insignificant movement of protests by the miserable few that make up the Pakistani liberal society. Yet beyond preserving the Chowburji Chowk or lighting candles for the recently deceased, there is little much that this group is interested in. Sure, they can gather around a murder, but hey, a few hundred million dollars, surely not, ‘it’s the idea that counts brother, not the figure.’
It is a well known historical fact that numerous famous revolutions began from the dining rooms of the Bourgeoisie, who, against the instructions of their butlers and mistresses, decided to take the fatal next step, to take their ideas and their anger to the streets and the fields
It is a well known historical fact that numerous famous revolutions began from the dining rooms of the Bourgeoisie, who, against the instructions of their butlers and mistresses, decided to take the fatal next step, to take their ideas and their anger to the streets and the fields. There they found some hapless peasants: farmers and shoe smiths. This unnecessary lot jumped on the bandwagon, and the compass of history was sent reeling.
Unfortunately, our bourgeoisie are mostly consumed by another great artifact of the colonial hangover: Johnnie Walker.
The point here is that the Panama leaks are as important as the Orange Line. Or the murder of a human rights activist. The leaks point to the systemic plunder of this nation’s wealth. By those we have elected into office. Our silence on the matter signals our acceptance of their actions and gives them, and all future politicians carte blanche to steal from us again, the first chance they get.
Right now, all the pressure coming to bear on the ruling party viz a viz the leaks, is for all the wrong reasons. Nobody cares that public wealth was stolen. unfortunately, you don’t either.