The ignorant and divided people
of Pakistan are its biggest enemy. Pakistani citizens have forgotten what values
like freedom and rule of law mean. Governed for decades by corrupt and
incompetent civilian and military leadership, the society as a whole has been
stripped of its basic moral and ethical values. Intolerance, dissidence and
pessimism looms large.
The education system is debilitated. Hospitals are non-functional. There is an
increasing gap between the lower class and upper class while the middle class is
quickly wiping out.
We are a nation that has cried for decades over electoral rigging but never once
has a serious debate to initiate reforms sprung in the parliament. We have the
tech and infrastructure needed to conduct free and fair elections but no one
seems interested.
The credit for the current inept Nawaz-led government goes back to the late 80s,
when the then dictator Gen. Zia offered corrupt Nawaz an office in his cabinet.
This shifted the power balance of Punjab in the hands of the corrupt Sharifs who
have to date, hoarded enormous amounts of wealth from the public kitty.
The latest Panama revelations establish the Sharif family as one of Pakistan’s
most corrupt families.
The former government of Pakistan People’s Party was no different. Do a Google
search on Mr. Ten Percent and you’ll find out who the former President of
Pakistan was.
I mean, this is shameless, a dirty stigma that can never be washed from the
pages of history. And guess who is responsible for bringing Mr. Ten Percent and
his stooges to power? It is the military again, this time under General Pervez
Musharraf, then President of Pakistan, who struck the infamous NRO deal with
Benazir Bhutto, late wife of Asif Ali Zardari.
So, it has always been this duo of shameless and corrupt politicians and the
military generals who have brought them to power, that has collectively done
greatest harm to the country.
The nation keeps comparing one regime to another, but this can be difficult for
a country that has no standards or benchmarks in good governance.
Of the two, the military has a greater burden on its shoulders for several
reasons:
For one, it has always kept its own ‘house’ clean for the past 60 or so years
since the inception of the country. If I run a department where I exercise zero
tolerance for corruption, but then I take over another department and nominate
the most corrupt managers to rule that department on my behalf, then I am
intentionally inflicting corruption into the other department while keeping my
own department clean of any corrupt practices. Same is the case with the
military.
The military has run its hospitals and schools in the most exemplary ways. Why
then, did it not advocate similar practices for civilian schools and hospitals
at least when it was ruling over the rest of us? And mind you, it has ruled for
more than half the time since the birth of Pakistan.
Ask anyone about Pakistan Army and you will get the most patriotic responses
from every Pakistani. The poor people of Pakistan have such a short memory span;
they have probably forgotten that the military is responsible for the divide of
more than half of Pakistan under Bhutto (the military brought him to power).
They also seem to have forgotten that the military is directly responsible for
laying the seeds of terrorism in the country under Zia.
Mullahs are another misery inflicted on the poor people of Pakistan. They
distort religious teachings to serve their purpose. They focus not on
solidarity, oneness or fraternity, and rather seek to divide through sects. They
have a nuisance power and can mold public opinion very quickly. So many Muslim
and non-Muslim families have fallen victim to the wrath of mullahs who are quick
to incite the masses, should the opportunity arise.
One of the biggest funerals was laid in honor of Qadri, the man who ruthlessly
murdered Salman Taseer, former governor of Pakistan. What those people were
advocating attending a murderer’s funeral, I fail to understand.
Coming back to the question, it is the dumb, ignorant and divided people of
Pakistan who are Pakistan’s biggest enemy, the people who are still undecided
about Nawaz and Zardari. The society’s moral standards have stooped so low that
we seem to be unmoved by acts of the corrupt leaders and their impact on the
society.
The people of Pakistan have degenerated to a point where they have set the
corrupt as their role models. Despite the shocking Panama revelations, Islamic
mullahs are quick to rise to the defense of the corrupt Sharifs. Even today,
Nawaz-led PML-N enjoys the highest popularity of all political parties. PPP also
has decent following in rural Sindh. MQM, an urban terrorist outfit and another
gift of the military, enjoys majority vote in Karachi.
Those very people who still continue to support these parties to power are
Pakistan’s biggest enemy. Pakistan is inflicted with many diseases, but they are
all internal. Only Pakistan can undo Pakistan!