Daily Times

In this fast forward world we are set to be moving fast backward. Whether it is leadership styles, skills or systems, our country seems to be beating records of adopting methods, processes and techniques long obsolete in most parts of the world. Every new day we hear of things that push our country back in eras bygone. We are experts at shedding most of our loads. We have load shedding, gas shedding, petrol shedding and you name it and we will bring up comparisons of how this decade has made us plunge into times immemorial. Those eras were of course times where inventions and innovations had not brought the world at par with modern systems and thus were appropriate for their generation. However, to be practicing systems made a hundred years ago and that also having abolished them due to their inefficiency is beyond comprehension.

The Sindh government issued three ordinances this month, restoring the local government system put in place by the administration of former president Ziaul Haq and the police system put in place by the first viceroy of India, Lord Charles Canning. Sindh is now divided into five divisions including Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Larkana. Every division is further divided into districts. Karachi constitutes of five districts, Hyderabad eight, Mirpurkhas four, Larkana five and Sukkur five. A commissioner is appointed in each division while deputy and assistant commissioners will report to their respective division heads. Such an antique system of command and control is practically unheard of in most parts of the world. The world has established beyond dispute that any attempt to centralise and concentrate power is likely to backfire and consequently the common mode of devolving power to the lowest level has proven the most successful model of dealing with problems and developing communities.

The reason given for this move back into history is the civil war state of Karachi where the government has shown its total impotence in curbing or curing the toxic virus of kill and counter-kill. However, by installing a system that has been thrown in the junkyards of wiser nations the problem will never be sustainably resolved. It is not the flaws in the system but the flaws in people running the system who are always responsible for the failure of a model that has been successfully run in other nations. The present leaders have used and abused the system of democracy to exercise all types of autocratic designs. President Zardari is almost untouchable and incontestable in his decisions. His almost brutally ruthless pursuit of doing what he wants regardless of the accusations and allegations on him has now won him the title of the clever manipulator who, despite all signs of a government about to collapse anytime, has already proven this wrong by sustaining the longest standing democratic regime in Pakistan for several decades. The mindset prevalent in the presidential and the prime minister’s suite is of force and control. Such a mindset always seeks ways and means to defeat attempts at sharing power. The lesson to be learned by our leaders is that in today’s open and aware world, such tactics are never going to work. Even in countries like Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt, systems based on rank and file failed miserably.

Having seen this failure all around, why do our leaders not learn? The answer is that there is a huge difference between knowing and learning. They may be as aware as we are of the consequences of such actions but their inability to own up to their follies and thus learn from them is hugely overshadowed by their insecurity of letting go of power and position, which has become increasingly weak due to their own lack of credibility in the masses. The three-and-a-half years in government has seen such drastic fallback on all socio economic fronts that for them not to be in power will mean a question of life and death. Each successive government creates such illegal and immoral greed of power and money that they know that a removal of power will make them vulnerable to being severely penalised for their unpardonable sins. With this panic of saving themselves from the wrath of their opponents they resort to all means foul to ward off such an eventuality.

Leaders who compromise everything to secure themselves are always in no position to dictate terms when tough times come. Karachi is an open bazaar of arms and weaponry between the MQM and the ANP. The government having played pals with both parties to ask support for remaining in power is in no position to get hold of any of them by the scruff of their neck and punish the wrongdoers. The fragility of the government is evident by the fact that these two parties with a few seats are able to control and destroy Karachi at will. In these circumstances, restoring centuries-old systems are really just another insecure and panic attempt to assert political standing in an arena where their dysfunctional politics has become a norm.

The trait of a failing leadership is its constant denial of reality. It is amazing how the government representatives constantly and consistently claim that things are fine and usual. The “honourable” interior minister has gone as far as to claim that of the hundred killings in Karachi, only 30 were target killings while the remaining were due to lovers’ tiff. Even if he was joking, it was a joke in terrible taste. The fact that people are being killed — targeted or untargeted — is a matter of total failure of governance. However, this government has become so shamelessly thick-skinned that even communication etiquettes are a far cry. With so much to hide and such brash mouthed and insecure people in the rule, the government is now planning to suppress information leaking out to the media in the hope that by not giving information they will be able to fool the public. Unfortunately, they do not realise that the only people they are fooling are themselves. With so much deception, oppression and deviousness in play it is but inevitable that they have completely lost sight of true vs false, new vs old, friend vs foe; as they say there are none as blind as those who cannot see.

The writer is a consultant and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com