- A somewhat late but welcome realisation
While one may differ with some of the observations made by Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday, he is spot on when he says it is time to put our house in order. His question regarding why the world does not listen to us despite the countless sacrifices on our part needs an answer. Those who matter continued to feign ignorance about the whereabouts of OBL till he was discovered, killed and his body taken away by American commandos from the garrison city of Abbottabad. Despite denials of his presence in Pakistan, Mullah Mansour was found killed in a drone attack inside Balochistan while carrying a Pakistani passport and ID card. It is time we improve the narrative which has as many holes as a sieve.
The principle target of Nawaz Sharif’s statement which he read out at the press conference was the establishment, particularly the army. His principal grievance is that ‘they’ manipulate elections, intervene to cut the tenure of the elected governments short and that political engineering of the sort is now concentrated on keeping PML-N out of power in next elections. The problem is that some of the politicians have also been hand in glove with the conspirators, with Nawaz Sharif playing no small part in the game. Who pulled the rug from under Pakistan Muslim League chief and former PM Muhammad Khan Junejo? Who benefited from the IJI which had been brought together and financed by the ISI before 1990 elections? Who went to the Supreme Court wearing black coat against the PPP government in Memogate case prepared by the ISI? Who demanded immediate resignation from PM Yousaf Raza Gilani who had yet to complete his tenure?
Why didn’t Sharif take disciplinary action against those responsible for conspiracies when he was PM for four years instead of threatening them now with spilling the beans? One can readily agree that democracy should be given a chance to grow in the country and that every political party should have equal opportunity to take part in the elections. However, to put our house in order, both the establishment and politicians need to mend their ways.