Daily Times

President Ronald Reagan of USA is credited for changing the global landscape by bringing down the mighty Soviet Empire. A deep conservative, he was able to rejuvenate the Right by conveying complex concepts in very simple terms. After a distinguished acting career, he used his communication skills to further his political agenda successfully. His presidential opponent had developed an elaborate economic reform agenda which had insufficient facts to demonstrate its viability. Rather than embarking on prolonged debates, he knocked out his opponent’s program in 3 words. “Where is the beef?” It was backed up by showing two empty buns of a burger without a beef pate. He won by a landslide.

Same thing is going on in Pakistan these days. We have a façade of an interim setup filled with incompetent or self-serving cabinet. Their role at best is of a chorus backing the lead singer. There is nothing substantive on ground except empty promises of future prosperity that begs the question, “where is the beef?”

The reality is totally different as highlighted by World Bank. Pakistan is being relegated towards the bottom of the list of impoverished nations; with nearly half its population living beneath poverty line. Our ailments are chronic; the elite mafia controls the parliament, bureaucracy and other positions of power. It has successfully prevented the tax base from expanding. Pakistan’s tax base is one of the narrowest in the world. This coupled with dwindling remittance, declining exports, industrial shutdowns, insecurities arising from political instability, and backbreaking inflation spell disaster. Without massive structural changes brought in by a popularly elected government, there is no hope. We saw the public’s reaction to the recent attempts by PML(N) to mobilize the masses for Nawaz’s return. Maryam’s “Jalsi” and Shehbaz’s public insults should open their eyes. Pakistanis are seething with anger. One eye witness described it as “this is just a tester, wait till they come out openly”.

Pakistan is being relegated towards the bottom of the list of impoverished nations.

During the British Raj, a paltry 10,000 Brits ruled over 200 million Indians. They had created a database to manage the country through controlling “influentials” amongst the landed gentry, business elite and deal with crime through police by documenting “Dus Numberis.” To solve a crime, the local Thanedar would round up these criminals and beat the daylights out of them till someone spoke up and confessed or provided information to solve the crime.

Police, especially in Punjab, has provided this platform. It started 18 months ago when floodgates were opened. However there was an inconvenience; the courts started to take cognizance and at time gave relief.

One wonders at the stupidity of the script writers. This self-congratulatory group can pat themselves on the back till they get cramps; no one is listening. Everyone has a breaking point when subjected to cruel torture; it may give these sadists some momentary pleasure.

I had written about the relief and sadness felt after the reappearance of Imran Riaz Khan in my last article. His condition was worse than POWs. A comment from a reader from Baluchistan seared me through and through. He said stop lamenting about his condition; at least he came back alive. It only happened because he is a Punjabi. These dangerous fissures and loathing felt within the country need soothing balm not this mindless cruelty.

There is a growing perception that this entire cycle of suppression is being enacted to facilitate the return of Nawaz Sharif to power. Does the government realize that once Nawaz is installed as a PM, who is he going to turn on? Just look at his history. The scorpion only knows how to bite.May Allah have mercy on our Nation.

The writer is the director of CERF, a non-profit, charitable organisation in Canada.The weiter can be followed on twitter at following id: @HafeezKhanPU