Daily Times

Nawaz Sharif is a man who can’t accept defeat. He thinks that if he tells himself enough times that he’s still the Prime Minister of Pakistan it will make it so. Thus we would like to direct our latest grievances directly to him. And tell him that this country ought to be ashamed of itself.

For sixteen of its nationals have drowned off the coast of Libya. They are among the 90 migrants feared dead as they made the hazardous journey towards Italy and the rest of the EU by way of Tripoli. This is a tragedy for all those who lost their lives. Yet bluntly put, it’s also a veritable slap in the government’s face.

For what else can it be when the citizenry here in democratic Pakistan would rather risk life and limb than stay put in this country? When they would gamble passing through Libyan waters which run perilously close to a land overrun by chaos borne of western military intervention?

If nothing else, this must be a wake-up call for the government. And it must ask itself some hard questions; while preferably also coming up with answers. After all, we can empathise with those who believe they have nothing to lose by fleeing from Syria or Libya itself. For too long have they been caught in the crossfire of the NATO war machine and the uncivil factions that are battling it out in a never-ending power struggle. For too long have they seen their homes, their cities, their very lives decimated. So, yes. We understand that for them the choice was an obvious one.

But here in Pakistan, we aren’t technically at war with anyone. Indeed, we like to pride ourselves on calling out Indian troops over human rights violations in Kashmir. We like to accuse Afghanistan of allowing its soil to be used to launch cross-border attacks against us. We like to say that the National Action Plan has worked; that it has flushed out all remaining terrorists. We like to say that mainstreaming militants is the only sure-fire way of moderating them. We like to say that we are a frontline ally in the GWOT and that’s why we need US drones raining down from our skies. And then when we’re done saying all that, we like to add how our nukes keep us safe.

It seems that in all this any notion of good governance is quietly forgotten about. The social contract torn up.

If Nawaz Sharif keeps insisting that he will only recognise the court of public opinion — he should also concede to being judged by those who have died trying to escape this country. But we are quite sure that he weeps only for his political career that hangs in the balance. And never for the wretched of the earth.  *

Published in Daily Times, February 4^th 2018.