Daily Times

This is about a ‘resolution’ that resolved nothing. In the second joint session of the parliament, they gave us more of the ‘same thing’. They bent forwards and backwards repeating ‘Constitution’ and ‘Democracy’. Neither of these were the issue! The session wasted everyone’s time. Individuals said to be the representatives of the people reaffirmed that they had almost nothing to do with the people at large or their problems and predicaments. They spent all their energies in trying to dissuade the prime minister from resigning if he ever thought of it. He had no intentions anyway, but obviously they were interested in continuity of democracy. The status quo suited them because they had not been in office long enough to cash in on the targeted benefits and the recovery of election expenses. Their rejection of the nominal protests on Constitution Avenue and on the streets of the country held little significance. Not one person tried to examine the demands with any seriousness. Holding of local government elections, providing basic necessities as laid out in the Constitution, and ensuring law and order or making justice available did not seem to be demands within the Constitution! The members and particularly the prime minister went all the way to condemn the protests as if these were from people they did not want to know about. Some did their best to make the loyalty of the protesters suspect. They acted as if holding any sort of meeting in London was almost a crime, forgetting that their own supporters, the prime minister, their families and friends frequent England and other countries and hold all kinds of political meetings.
The whitewash committee on election reforms, headed by a dear family member of the PM, is looking at trivialities. They have shown concern on the quality of ink and printing, which is a triviality. They are just looking at those weaknesses that they can cover and declare everything to be fine, conveniently ignoring the role of the Returning Officers (ROs). Stubbornness to not allow investigation by credible committees and to not allow FIRs to be registered raises eyebrows. What moral ground is left for the rulers? The nation expected that demands and accusations by the protesters would be seriously analysed in the ‘joint session’ and meetings held in response to the demands of the protesters to end the crisis as quickly as possible. Instead a game of patience was played. The members in the house were comfortable and only complained of the crowd outside. One wishes that the parliamentarians had some feeling that there were dozens in the crowd suffering in the open, and that the parliamentarians had some realisation that the crowd was of their countrymen. There were also the thousands watching the crowd with sympathy and hope for the future. The parliamentarians showed an inexcusable insensitivity. The only exceptions were those few from the opposition who took personal initiatives to try to resolve the issues. But these opposition members had little support from the government and its supporters. The MQM spoke in qualified support of new provinces for administrative improvement and asserted that Sindh should be part of this change. Seeing little positive support, they chose to walk out. The government was more concerned in trying to paint the protesters as villains who caused the visit of the Chinese President to be postponed.
The government seems to have taken it upon itself to resolve the issues. There could be nothing better than that and both sides, the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and the government must adopt positive attitudes. The government must give up its smugness and stop saying that the army has no interest in the matter. Whether the army takes an interest or it does not, the army is always aware and its opinions must be respected because such opinions are well considered and valid. For the present the army has advised the politicians to resolve the issues politically. They must do so before the ‘revolution’ goes out of control. There can be an end to patience on any side; therefore the sooner a solution is arrived at the better for the country. The nation wants a change. A change in our VIP culture, a change from corruption, a change from injustice to justice, and change from sectarianism to tolerance and so on. Our representatives in the assemblies must think of the people. Here is a strange example of insensitivity: the nation is reeling because of shortage of electricity, many people want to use nature’s gift of the sun and benefit from meeting their needs using solar power. Governments in several other countries give financial support for homes and businesses who want to turn to solar power. Our government has applied 30 percent duty on equipment for solar power! This is just one example.

The writer is the former CEO Pakistan National Council of the Arts; chairman Fruit Processing Industries; chairman UNESCO Theatre Institute Pakistan and COO ICTV, USA. He is the author of Melluhas of the Indus Valley 8000 BC to 500 BC. He can be reached at naeemtahir37@gmail.com