Daily Times

“The father of the nation died soon after the creation of Pakistan. He left behind five sons to rule; Jagir Ali, Talwar Ali, Munnazam Ali, Adal Ali and Qalam Ali. Before governance was handed over to them, Jagir Ali, the eldest, looked after the estates, Talwar Ali and Munnazam Ali respectively after security and daily administration. The younger two, Adal Ali and Qalam Ali were neglected children because of various reasons and declining health of the father. Now after sixty some years the younger two brothers’ descendants are claiming their due share in state power while the successors of the elder three brothers are resisting in different ways. This is the gist of your theory of the present political crisis in Pakistan.”
My friend Sheeda, a well-educated person who drives a taxi in Washington, was putting my theory in simple narrative. After listening to my theoretical huffing and puffing, Sheeda laughed and said “Yaar, you can say the same thing in a very simple way because when you use cumbersome terminology, it seems like you are up somewhere in the clouds.” How will you explain this, I asked?
“It is simple.” And he proceeded to identify the institutions of society as a family of five brothers mentioned above.
“I know you are referring to the feudals, the army, bureaucracy, judiciary and media by these names. But Jagir Ali does not represent the rising capitalist and trading classes. And you forgot the mullah, who was also playing some role,” I interjected.
“Look! You make things complicated by going into those minor details. I know the rising capitalist and trading classes were part of the ruling elite but they flourished under the patronage of the three eldest brothers. And your mullah was never considered a family member by the five brothers; he was always taken to be subservient and to be used when needed in their governance or performing rituals. Can I continue now?” he asked me.
On my nodding he picked up from where I had interrupted. “Being the eldest son, Jagir Ali took power, but having experience of only running jagirs (estates) through extreme oppression, he had no clue how to run a state. Therefore, he was self-conflicted, narrow-minded and incapable of running the state. When state affairs deteriorated, Talwar Ali and Munnazam Ali, both greedy for power and wealth, saw an opening and started hatching conspiracies. First Munnazam Ali took chances by appointing his own Governor Generals like Ghulam Muhammad and then Sikandar Mirza. But Talwar Ali, having the power of the gun, pushed Munnazam aside and took the reins in his hands.”
“What Talwar Ali did to the other brothers should be mentioned here,” I suggested.
“Yes of course. Talwar Ali did not hurt Jagir Ali and his companions but banned them from the political arena. He patched up with Munnazam and provided quiet leverage to him to get rich. But he kept Adal Ali under his thumb and tried his best to control Qalam Ali. Adal Ali accepted his subservient position but Qalam Ali was a bit rebellious and tried to embarrass Talwar Ali from time to time. Therefore Talwar Ali had to punish Qalam severely sometimes. He did the same thing to the mullah when he tried to enter the ruling elite.”
“But how would we explain the process of change?” I asked.
“You see it is simple. As Moses is always born in Pharaoh’s home, one of Jagir Ali’s bright and courageous sons challenged Talwar’s regime. Unlike his elders, he took up the case of people’s rights and rallied them around him. He shook the entire system to its core and tried to deliver on his promises. He was partially successful but the people loved him because of his respect for the common citizen’s rights. He was passionate and brainy but had some traits of his elders. Therefore, he was a complex personality, which led him to make some grave mistakes. He was hanged by Talwar Ali’s fanatical offspring due to his tendency to incite the masses for their rights and not because of his real mistakes.”
“Your story is becoming lengthy and a bit boring,” I teased him.
“Do not be impatient because I am wrapping it up. Following Jagir Ali’s bright son’s strategy of allying himself with the general masses, Talwar Ali’s fanatic son made an alliance with the mullah who was never respected by the rulers. To the good fortune of the mullah, Uncle Sam needed his services in Afghanistan to defeat the Soviets. Therefore, the mullah was showered with money and social authority. Religious extremism, jihadism and sectarianism were thus inevitable. After Talwar’s fanatic son was killed in a plane crash, the government changed hands between Jagir Ali and his companions’ descendants. These governments were transitory, weak and lacked authority. Talwar Ali’s offspring, who were pulling strings from behind the scenes, recaptured power again and maintained their alliance with the mullah. But none of the three elder brothers’ descendants realised that the younger two brothers, Adal and Qalam’s offspring were grown up and were ready to claim their share in running the state. The descendants of the elder three brothers have no clue how to deal with their two young uncles’ new bold and self-confident generation.”
“But how has it happened?” I asked.
“My friend, the same formula: Moses is always born in Pharaoh’s home. This time the rebellious sons were born in Adal and Qalam’s generation. They have similar traits as that of Jagir’s bright son. They were claiming to deliver real justice to the people and expose all those who are looting and plundering. They were suppressed, which is why their revolt is more ferocious. So, these two new genies are related to the big genie that came out of the bottle in the 1970 elections. In short, the struggle between the descendants of the elder three and younger two will continue for some time, but the system will stabilise only when Adal and Qalam’s offspring are given their due place in the running of the state.”

The writer can be reached at manzurejaz@yahoo.com