Last Wednesday, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership gathered for the 39th death-anniversary of their party founder, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The platform was used to flex political muscles, mostly based on the party’s recent achievements in Balochistan and the Senate elections. This was it, however. The PPP leadership had nothing concrete to present when it comes to education, healthcare, public transport in urban areas, industry, agriculture or infrastructure. In fact, it isn’t exactly clear what the party has been up to for the last ten years apart from chanting slogans about Bhutto being alive.
The unity within the PPP is certainly commendable. While there are differences within the party on political strategy, to date there has been no dissent or debate on Bhutto’s status as a member of the living. In his exuberance, Asif Ali Zardari has also reiterated that he will soon be starting his political drive in Punjab. This must be the fifth time he has made this commitment in the last two years. On a lighter note, Bhutto has refused to come to Punjab for now, but may become relevant and thus alive for Punjab in the post-election scenario.
There is no doubt that Bhutto is still alive in Sindh. The PPP’s dominion over Sindh over the last 10 years is a physical manifestation of this reality. However, he is seriously sick, suffering from major life threatening diseases and needs immediate rescue and relief. To ascertain the nature of diseases and quality of life being enjoyed by Bhutto in 2018, we have to ascertain whether the philosophy of Bhutto has been followed by the party in the last 10 years.
Bhutto started his career as a cabinet minister in 1958 and served on three portfolios as minister prior to becoming President from 1971-3 and the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973-77. To start with, Bhutto gave Pakistan a Constitution and kick-started the country’s nuclear program. He knew how to touch emotions and win hearts. He could galvanise a physically and mentally defeated nation in the post-1971 scenario with slogans like ‘we shall eat grass but we will make an atomic bomb’ and catch phrases like roti, kapra aur makaan.
While Sindh’s majority assembly members have grown rich, a corresponding elevation in the fortunes of the common Sindhi people has not occurred
Let’s now analyse the manifestation of Bhutto’s political philosophy in the governance of Sindh over the last ten years, where it is claimed that the man is still alive. What improvement has taken place in the social and economic indicators and living standards of the people of Sindh? While per capita income might have risen — the social sector — which directly concerns the people, gives a pathetic picture. Social indicators remain dismal. Acute rural-urban disparities coupled with water and energy shortages have stalled the province’s prospects for growth. The Sindh government announced a provincial budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year, to the tune of Rs 1.04 trillion. Statistically, this was 200 times the budget of 2008, but the key question remains; what changes have taken place for the common man in these past ten years? While Sindh’s majority assembly members have grown rich, a corresponding elevation in the fortunes of the common Sindhi people has not occurred. The government has not been able to create half of the jobs announced in each budget over the last one decade. Today’s Sindh is characterised by dismal social development. It is not the allocation of Rs 202 billion in Sindh’s education sector in the last budget which will bring about change, but the method and system of utilisation and execution. Realistically, the ‘copy culture’ of Sindh is so deep rooted that it warrants structural reforms rather than cosmetic measures.
The health budget may have crossed Rs 100 billion but is there even a single model district in terms of health or other social sector development in the entirety of rural Sindh? No worthwhile reforms on long term basis have been affected in the major industrial centres of Sindh to enhance and develop the manufacturing sector. As a result, large scale manufacturing has declined in Sindh with stagnant growth in the textile sector. Employment has also fallen in the last ten years. All these things coupled with political manipulations at the federal level; where ethics, morality and fair play became victims of corrupt political practices have seriously affected Bhutto’s critical organs.
If Bhutto is to be kept alive, party stake holders will have to drastically improve governance, enforce accountability and bring visible change in social sector development and delivery of services such as education and health. Until then, his survival as an archetype of people friendly governance remains in question.
The writer is a PhD scholar with diverse experience and international exposure. He possesses conscious knowledge about the phenomenon of terrorism and extremism coupled with realistic understanding of geo political, social and security environment
Published in Daily Times, April 6th 2018.