Lies, destructive wars and chaos
“In a democratic nation, it is the duty of the ruling party to pave ways for the nation as the opposition blocks the ways. But in Pakistan it seems like its working the other way round”
A wise man once defined politics as ‘the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.’
Sadly enough, one doesn’t have to look beyond the front page of any newspaper to find a prime example.
Politics is also associated with businesses of blood, lies, murder and destructive wars – then why is it still alluring to so many?
Because politics means power, The love of power is an inherent quality, be it looking to lead your own team or a country, and every conflict and struggle can be whittled down to ‘power struggles’ because ultimately, it is the last man (or community) left standing who ‘wins it all’.
And so we turn to Pakistani politics.
Pakistan, a democratic country, is home to a number of political parties, each vying to have their laws passed, and their legislations approved.
However, in light of the recent events,our country is displaying a regressive form of politics.
From Panama Papers to Quetta suicide blast which raised the issue of implementation of the 20 point National Action Plan (NAP), to the recent Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Altaf Hussain’s anti-Pakistan speech causing a massive outrage and violence by MQM workers chanting anti-state slogans and electing a Mayor Waseem Akhtar who will probably be running the city’s affairs from behind bars.
From the failure of National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) to the tsunami of tehreeks that is going to take to the streets, to the question of Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif’s extension, there is a wave of confusion everywhere.
“A corrupt ruler always has corrupt subordinates, causing ‘destruction’ of national institutions,” he continued.
These are few of the factors that have contributed to nothing but the increased frustration of the people, who supposedly live in a ‘democratic’ country.
According to recent political trends, street violence has been the most powerful and almost an agreed-upon way of doing power politics in Pakistan.
Thus, the Tsunami of Tehreeks which includes: Imran Khan led Accountability Movement and Tahirul Qadri-led Qisas Movement among others are preparing to gather the masses to take to the streets in campaigns against the Sharif government over Panama Leaks.
“Government is not ready to face the consequences of accountability,” said Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Qamar Zaman Kaira while talking to DNA.
The initiation of investigation is a direct threat to the PM who will be exposed in association with the offshore accounts owned by his children.
“The govt wants the opposition to agree to ToRs under their terms, so if they claim they are clean, why not start the investigation,” he asked.
Furthermore, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is roping opposition leaders to hold a protest rally in mid-September under the aegis of ‘joint opposition’ against the government.
Earlier Imran Khan said, “This nation will continue to hold you accountable and will bring all the money looted from the country.
“A corrupt ruler always has corrupt subordinates, causing ‘destruction’ of national institutions,” he continued.
As of now, the PM seems to face a dilemma as the question of COAS’ extension is on one end, the lack of implementation of the NAP, which was highlighted by opposition leaders Khursheed Shah and Aitzaz Ahsan after the suicide blast in Quetta which killed over 70 people, mostly lawyers, terming it as an intelligence failure and the Panama Leaks issue which the opposition is still holding on to.
“Citizens belonging to the middle class or to a profession are the ones who are affected by democracy or despotism,” said Ayaz Amir, columnist and a senior politician, while talking to DNA.
“In a democratic nation, it is the duty of the ruling party to pave ways for the nation as the opposition blocks the ways. But in Pakistan it seems like its working the other way round,” Zaman told DNA.
“Opposition is trying to do everything they can to form a consensus,” he added.
The opposition has presented a bill in the National Assembly (NA) on the issue and is positive that the bill will not be passed as the majority of seats in NA belong to the government. It is the duty of the government to form a commission to instigate the investigations, which has not yet been done and implemented.
In addition to that, NACTA was formed in 2013 to eradicate terrorism from the country which was not made functional due to lack of fundings. It was followed by NAP which was formulated in 2014 after the attack on Army Public School and has still not been implemented. Without a doubt, the security of the citizens is a responsibility of not just the military personnel but also the leadership.
Does it have to take a terror attack to make our ruling government realise that it’s about time to start working to ‘curb terrorism from within the country’? What has kept the leaders so occupied that their immediate concern is not the country but themselves?
The PPP asserts that the government uses NAP against political opponents while the PTI has accused the government of sparing Punjab from the application of the plan. Meanwhile, the vital issue of changing the extremist mindset continues to be ignored by the government, opposition and establishment.
Not only that, just when the PM found time to speed up actions ensuring the implementation on the NAP, there is a new political drama in the picture: the MQM drama.
It all started when MQM workers carried an attack on media channel offices right after MQM Altaf Hussain’s anti-Pakistan speech moving on to party’s coup which ended right after Waseem Akhtar was elected as the new mayor of Karachi.
Is this the democracy our leaders are offering? It’s about time the commoners are paid attention to.
“Citizens belonging to the middle class or to a profession are the ones who are affected by democracy or despotism,” said Ayaz Amir, columnist and a senior politician, while talking to DNA.
An ordinary person is only concerned about the progress whether it takes place under democracy or military rule.
Instead of the opposition and the ruling party wasting their energy on day-to-day rallies and street agitations, the parties can invest their time and energy into working out positive methods to bring out the ‘democracy’ in this democratic nation.
