Daily Times

A very pertinent phrase that could apply to Pakistani politicians is: “If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen!” It explains how the terrorists have been allowed to create their own space, by spreading fear and by the politicians succumbing to their threats, conceding more and more space. We really do not need leaders who are in it for the good times, the pomp, glamour, presidential banquets, salutes and bulletproof limousines that go with the office, and of course the opportunity to make bucketloads of money.

They should be made to understand that with these goodies come risks. If they cannot stand up to these threats and are not prepared to run their offices sincerely, they should leave the perks and go back to their normal, humdrum lives. After the Peshawar carnage, Nawaz Sharif should have led the charge. With his stony silence he has shown reluctance to enter the fray, giving credence to the alleged softness in his stance. His anger must be manifested by action. By remaining silent, a wrong signal is being sent and will be construed as weakness or a bias towards the jihadis.

The late Benazir Bhutto showed her mettle and braved all threats. Unfortunately, bravery alone is not enough and the assassins eventually succeeded. A good deal of the fault lay in the incompetence of her security detail, headed by Rehman Malik, which itself should have caused concern. However, Pakistani politics being what it is, certain grace marks are given for sycophancy and, in this case, the sycophants succeeded in ousting merit. It also robbed us of a brilliant prime minister, cut down in her prime. The failure of ignoring merit has its own downside: she paid the ultimate price.

In Pakistan, a bulletproof car is now a status symbol, with even a governor of the State Bank of Pakistan insisting that he deserves one. How could he possibly consider himself a target? Maybe being a target is desirable or being threatened adds value. Nawaz Sharif, as prime minister, has managed to do disservice to his office by allowing the expansion of the Taliban in Punjab. This has allowed them to consolidate their network, with a tacit understanding with the Sharif brothers over a laissez faire arrangement over Punjab, and even Raiwind. The deal smells of a political understanding that would entail a consideration certainly contrary to the interests of Pakistan. We should be looking into the links and the quid pro quos that may have been agreed to, and how they will have affected the state. It has been rumoured that the photo-op system in the CM Punjab Secretariat was very efficient, with Shahbaz in galoshes splashing through puddles before a drop of rain had fallen. Yet this super-efficient chief minister was certainly negligent when the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team was carried out. There was no security on rooftops or police lining the streets even though the threat was credible and had been brought to the notice of the CM Secretariat. Perhaps the efficiency of the chief minister was limited to the media at the cost of other matters such as security. The assassination of Governor Salmaan Taseer also happened on his watch. Just these two examples are enough. The public in Pakistan have been deprived of watching international cricket matches, in itself a punishment inflicted on the masses by disgraceful incompetence. The disgraceful assassination of outstanding Governor Taseer is the second. It is indeed a pity that there is no accountability available to punish these lapses in the absence of resignations, which are the norm in any civilised society.

The 10 years plus of Sharif rule have not improved law and order in Punjab, nor have they improved the power shortages. The burgeoning madrassas (seminaries) within Punjab show the sad bias of ignoring this vital factor in a national aim, which was part of the PML-N manifesto but has been subsequently put on the back burner. The yellow buses, another one of Nawaz Sharif priorities after motorways, take centre field.

History will look at this period and highlight the negligence of education and the power sector. Nawaz Sharif and his brother have perfected the bureaucratic art of ‘look busy, do nothing’, fooling the public by focusing their energies and resources on coddling the media, not realising that the media is fickle and well known for biting the hand that feeds it. The darling of the media soon becomes a pariah, vilified like Musharraf.

Nawaz also does not realise that, unlike the pyramids, the face and form of the builder is forgotten while the suffering of the untold millions who laboured for decades is not. Here, in Pakistan, the people are suffering and can and will rise up against these excesses. The people want a better life now. They want electricity now. The people no longer believe in the tomorrow of the election promise. Two years have passed with nothing. What makes the situation worse is the complete disregard for the feelings of the people, the pointless traipsing around the world, not attending the assembly and not appointing 15 CEOs of large government companies. These are all the fundamentals of governance without which the government is bound to collapse. It does not need an Imran Khan to tip the scales.

The PML-N is very adept at committing suicide and needs no assistance or guidance. It knows the way, being removed from office twice before. This time, having brought a portion of his considerable wealth into Pakistan, Nawaz may have raised his own stakes. The loss of office will now be more than just a political loss; the financial loss for the Sharif family will be devastating. The Sharifs have relied for too long on their Gullu Butts, long on loyalty but woefully short on merit. Tinkering with the civil service has also taken its toll on the drop in quality of officers. The British were scrupulous in protecting the civil service from any political influence or any influence outside of the prescribed rules. Bhutto was the first to ‘adjust’ the rules for his own political agenda. The once brilliant civil service has been reduced to a collection of Gullu Butts who are hastening the decline of their service and the shortness of their reign. They will prove too inept to protect their masters from the savage accountability that will surely follow.

The writer is a freelance columnist