Mayhem, haywire, insane are some of the adjectives commonly being used to describe what is happening in the south and north of the country. Hand grenades, rifles and shotguns and any other weapon used in any form of war are at display with nonchalant ease. People witness gangsters throwing grenades and throwing away dead bodies in horrific silence just praying that they and their loved ones do not become victims of this mini civil war going on in the commercial capital of the country. Police stand paralysed, politicians become hysterical on talk shows blaming all else but themselves and meanwhile the scorecard of this carnage keeps increasing its frightening tally of lives lost.
The government is in desperate survival mode. The unrest against a terrible performance on the economic, social and political front has made the government realise that their position is very vulnerable. They have defaulted on governance and they have failed to provide the basic amenities to the masses. Like most defaulters they are now scurrying around trying to use all means fair and unfair to some how protect themselves against being out of the seats of power. When the legal and ethical way of assuring their supremacy is no longer available, that is, based on performance and public popularity, they have resorted to the strong-arm tactics of scaring the other parties and the dissenting public into submission.
Everything at the top trickles down. When there is apathy and callousness at the top it just spreads its infection down to the grass roots. The trigger free culture that we see all around is a direct product of a complete license to kill, loot and destroy that the leaders and its followers have been exhibiting with gay abandon all around. The example of mocking all systems and laws with the confidence of never being held responsible for it has created a culture of encouragement for those with minor crime records to become major criminals and those with hesitant intentions to become confident lawbreakers. A culture of free for all has made the country become a haven for those who thrive on the value system that bad is good and might is right. Whether it is the shameful fudging of figures of tax by the higher ups of FBR or the swallowing of billions of rupees by Pakistan Railways and Pakistan Steel the message all across is that we will do exactly what we want as nobody and nothing can stop the rot all around. People involved in crime are not the traditional masked dubious looking criminals coming stealthily at night and escaping with great care and planning, but ordinary looking respectable people with no attempt at changing their appearances, sauntering casually to the target victims, taking away their possessions and walking away as if it is a normal 9 to 5 job they are performing with minimum concern for the consequences.
The impact of this flood of crime and killings has swamped the whole society and has created a skepticism and cynicism about any solution to this wave of negativity and helplessness. The public despite witnessing an endless spate of oppression and deprivation has become so entrenched in this belief that nothing will change that this mental fatigue has actually encouraged the government to become more audacious in their wrong doings. It started with economic failure as energy disappearance became a horrible reality and government ran out of money to feed the enormous greed of their own appetite and bankrupting the economy. Rampant printing of money has spiked inflation coupled with a fortnightly increase in petrol prices. Such successive doses of socio economic hits would normally evoke public to become united in their resolve to get rid of these leaders; however the government has cleverly played on the dissipated emotions of the public by convincing them that the corrupt system of elections will bring back the same old faces so there is no point in making such an effort to get the same old result.
With such apathy all around one major hope is the youth of this country. Normally the youth in such societies, when it sees its future prospects being blighted, looks for greener pastures overseas. However the youth of today knows that the prospect overseas is not welcoming at all. London, Dubai and Canada are all downsizing with jobs for their own citizens no guarantee. Thus their stakes in the reformation of the country are much higher than their predecessors. The youth of this country is angry, upset and disturbed. As in Egypt and in Tunisia it will take a tipping point of one final incident of suppression to start the beginning of the end. History shows that it is when leaders become supremely confident of their invincibility that they become most vulnerable as their smugness blinds them to the writing on the wall. Leaders beware of political epitaphs already in the making.
The writer is ananalyst, consultant and CEO of FranklinCoveyPakistan and can be reached at [email protected]
