Daily Times

The Pakistani nation seems to have lost its moral compass. It appears to be either blissfully oblivious of this fact, is deliberately ignoring it or has silently accepted it as a fait accompli. It has apparently not recognized the magnitude of this loss and the devastating effects it is having on its people, society at large and its polity. This steep decline in our moral fiber and ethical standards is wide spread and envelops all tiers of our society, from the lowliest common man to the highest ranked government functionary and member of the ruling elite. None has escaped the effects of this overwhelming malaise. It is epitomized by our ready acceptance of the wide spread excesses and ubiquitous corruption of our ruling elite, the sharp degeneration in our practice of politics, the lack of social justice, upward social movement, law enforcement, justice, fair play and so on and so forth. To compound matters further dynastic politics, though a very far cry from genuine dynasties, is desperately trying to find roots in our political milieu. And worst, political pygmies, masquerading as would-be Bismarcks and Churchills, strut around pompously as our ostensible know-all leaders and saviors.

The pursuit of personal ambitions and interests, with scant regard for any moral and ethical values appears to be the new normal in Pakistani politics.

All this makes for a defining paradigm shift in our political, social and cultural values. We as a nation find ourselves at a veritable inflection point in our history. From a reasonably functioning polity, we have deteriorated massively and now seem to be hurtling uncontrollably towards our nadir in moral, ethical and political values. Crucially, this has taken away all sense of propriety, responsibility and accountability from our so-called ruling elite, too. Its personal interests have at times superseded national interests. It feels free and unencumbered by any moral or ethical constraints to misuse authority for self-preservation, self-interest and benefit. This creates an obvious clash between what is morally, ethically and legally right and what is not. Unfortunately, this nation has repeatedly accepted, whosoever has come into power, howsoever, and that defines the degeneration of its moral and ethical ethos and standing as a nation. This would include rigged elections as well as military takeovers!

Pakistan’s political spectrum lost its values exponentially. Graciousness, propriety, dignity, politeness and accommodation of opposing points of views used to be the hallmarks of our political discourse. Its constant disintegration has brought us to a level where our so-called ruling elite feels no compunction in using means fair or foul to ruthlessly demonize and denigrate its opponents. It seems to have taken to this digital age as a fish takes to water. It is now using all tools of information warfare to get the upper hand against its opponents. It is relentlessly using fake news, mis-disinformation, barefaced lies, propaganda, psychological warfare etc to demonize and denigrate its opponents, political and otherwise. All this is now being done in a very organized, fully financed manner by professionals in the service of various political parties. The tools being most ruthlessly and relentlessly employed are the despicable video and audio tapes that are flooding all manifestations of the media – print, electronic, informational and social. There seem to be no bar to the creation and then propagation of these audio-video tapes. There are no means to check either the origins or the veracity of any of these tapes. We have had to bear sorry spectacles where politicians of all hues and persuasions, including some female ones, publicly claiming to be in possession of such sleazy tapes which they would be exploiting, at the most appropriate time, as ordained by their political party leaders. They make such claims in press conferences and live TV talk shows for audiences in the millions. They do not as much as bat an eyelid while making such candid albeit base claims. There is apparently no law against such utterances and threats. This is black mail, pure and simple, and is being done in broad daylight, in person, without any remorse or shame. This ought to have been the rock bottom of our politics but instead keeps getting rave reviews from some fawning parts of the media and public.

Forensic checks of these tapes remain suspect with the people because they do not trust the government in power or the bureaucracy. Suing for libel is the least desirable as genuine, prompt and effective justice seems to be in short supply. A general sense of disbelief and lack of trust pervades the entire nation. No one seems to have the confidence or the trust in the government or its various institutions. Be they politicians, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, the LEAS etc, all seem to have suffered a great loss of credibility, confidence and trust with the people. No one believes or trusts anyone. It appears to be a sordid free-for-all where the reputations and characters of political or even other opponents are all fair game, with nary a fear of any sort of legal, moral, ethical, social or political repercussion.

This is indeed a very sorry state of affairs. It cannot carry on like this forever. It has to come to an end, immediately. If it does not then we as a nation are likely to implode and become an easy prey for our detractors. The absurd political quagmire is having a devastating effect on the country’s economy and the well-being of the nation. The instability in the country has encouraged the terrorists to come out of hiding too and start plying their deadly trades.

We need political stability and social harmony and a morally and ethically correct system to function and survive as a viable nation. We need a leader of impeccable, untarnished character; incorruptible and one with integrity, dignity, self-respect, pride, honor, principles, honesty, fairness and justice, one who commands the respect of the nation and could lead it out of this debilitating politico-economic dilemma and take it to a prosperous destiny!

The author is a retired brigadier of Pakistan Army. He can be reached at im.k846@gmail.com. Twitter: @K846IM