The killing of Mullah Mansoor by an American drone within our territory has become an embarrassment for political elite and establishment. Perhaps it is time to set our own house in order. The foremost requirement is that our decision makers must have undivided loyalty to Pakistan, with no conflicts of interest, come clean and formulate policies through collective brainstorming by men with vision, intellect, knowledge and ethics, with no singular vetoing power for those whose sole authority comes from barrel of a gun.
There have been too many and too frequent violations of our sovereignty, mostly with consent of self assumed protectors of national interest. Allama Iqbal once stated “Ever since their political fall, the Mussalmans of India have undergone a rapid ethical deterioration. Of all the Muslim communities of the world they are probably the meanest in point of character”. Strong words indeed, but very close to bitter truth and reality of self inflicted wounds to our national sovereignty. Other than greed or lust for power, there can be no justification for offering sanctuary to foreign fighters by Zia ul Haq in fighting a proxy war which we should not never have been involved in; or the manner in which Musharraf offered bases for drones to mount attacks and his self confessed crime of handing over citizens of this country for bounty; or the shameless manner in which criminals were allowed to enter and depart Pakistan.
How can state sovereignty be entrusted in hands of men like Moeen Qureshi, Shaukat Aziz, Musharraf, Asif Zardari, Kayani or even Nawaz Sharif, whose children either hold foreign nationalities or permanent residential status, with vast assets, making them vulnerable to foreign pressures and blackmail.
Sovereignty, like modesty cannot be offered for short term gains by individuals with myopic visions, otherwise it will be taken for granted by foreign countries. If truck loads of smuggled Iranian gasoline can enter through numerous border check-posts, so can weapons, terrorists and wanted criminals. Have we forgotten the ease with which Central Asian girls were reported to have entered Islamabad airports without any documentation or manner in which models like Ayaan misused VIP enclosure for money laundering?
Ali Malik Tariq
213-Z DHA
Lahore