Daily Times

“Besharam de pith tey bota agua, kanda bhlaa hoya chawain bethan gay.” A tree grew on the back of a shameless guy, he said great I will sit in shade. Surrounded by nastiness and unrelenting greed; this is how you describe the prevalent situation. Political issues cannot be resolved by administrative crackdowns. Many dictators have tried it; it never works on Pakistanis. When a popular movement takes root, the use of force may delay the inevitable; it is not possible to subdue it.

The PNA movement in 1977 is a prime example. The all-powerful Bhutto pulled all the stops to crush it. It did not prevent his downfall; rather it facilitated another dictator to usurp power. Military adventurism is not an option. Bhutto had a game plan that did not work; Today’s PDM regime is clueless and incapable of handling any of the challenges Pakistan is confronted with. Disaster from floods, the economy unravelling at breakneck speed, the spread of superinflation and unbearable political instability, just to name a few.

Yet the Prime Minister is off on an extended tour. Not to be eclipsed, his senior coalition PPP partner has tagged along to create his impact and networking. The Shanghai Cooperation Summit in Samarkand credited PM Sharif with three great achievements. He ignored Kashmir in his speech to appease PM Modi. Despite skyrocketing fuel prices and the imminent danger of wheat shortages, he was tongue-tied fearing his foreign masters. He made no mention of buying discounted wheat or oil from Russia in his meeting with President Putin. His bungling with his earpiece, with a smiling Putin looking on, was a huge success as a comedy clip around the world.

In London PM Sharif joined the world’s elite to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. He was not even recognized by the world media. He has a burning desire to project himself as a better leader than IK, clumsily supported by his media lackeys hooked to his generous payouts. The Queen attended IK’s walima and King Charles sought out IK to spend some time with him.

The real purpose was to update bhaijan, NS, and obtain his directions on how to proceed including appointing the next Chief. It is the ultimate degradation for the nation when a convicted absconder decides who will head the valiant armed forces that bind this nation together.

The next stop was Big Apple, New York. London dominated the world stage for centuries as a hub of global power. That power base shifted to the USA split between New York and Washington. This is where the path diverged between PM Sharif and his FM Bilawal. Both nurse their private agendas. They chose prestigious and expensive hotels to portray themselves as powerful leaders of a suffering and impoverished nation with empty coffers. What hypocrisy.

Bilawal missed a huge opportunity to differentiate himself by choosing a more humble abode. His Grandpa or Mom would have done that to please their beloved “awam”. Unfortunately, Bilawal does not have that political savvy or motivation. Bhutto’s spark stands polluted by his dad’s Machiavellian politics.

Meetings going on in the background are pertinent. There was a congenial interaction between PM Sharif and French President Macron. He had become a reviled name in Pakistan after a blasphemous attack on our Beloved Prophet by a Frenchman. Tehrik Labaiq came out in full force and Maulana Fazal spit venom against PM IK for not throwing out the French Ambassador. Where are they now? Apparently, their remote switches lie somewhere else!

The agenda to recognize Israel is at the forefront again. The timing of a delegation of Pakistani Americans led by dicey Dr Nasim Ashraf promoting the “Abrahim Accord” is perfect. PM Sharif and FM Bilawal are in New York to give assurances for payback to their masters. There is a long history to these efforts. Any such move will never be tolerated by Pakistanis without resolving the plight of the Palestinians.

A meeting with the regime change orchestrators Jim Kerry and Donald Lu is another highlight. For the first time, Bilawal carried a notebook to distinguish himself from all previous meetings. Whatever is cooking will never be acceptable to Pakistanis’ resolve to end the thuggery of manipulated changes against the will of the people.

The best was saved for the last. Pakistani community in the US showed up in huge numbers outside UN headquarters to lodge their protest against this imported regime. Overseas Pakistanis are seething with anger for being denied their voting rights. Thanks to social media, their level of awareness is extremely high. They are outraged by the blatant legalization of corruption going on through malafide legislation. PM Sharif made all the right noises in his speech most probably penned by Sherry Rehman. It was a plagiarized version of all the issues raised by PM IK last year. It was ironic when he was moaning about the plight of the poor in flooded areas when he and his delegation are costing the taxpayers over half a million dollars a day in rent alone!

He attempted to jolt the conscience of the donors. Will they not ask what PML (N) and PPP have done in their three decades in power to create reservoirs to contain flood and rain waters upstream? How many trees have they planted to check the rain water downward flow? Temperatures are rising amongst the nation against horrendously rising staple food prices. The dams of pent-up resentment are about to break. Mr Powerful act now before it is too late.

The writer is the director of CERF, a non-profit, charitable organisation in Canada.