Daily Times

While thinking about the right use of power, my destiny takes me to the era of the last Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). In 8 AH, Makkah was conquered and the opponents were given unconditional forgiveness. Abu Sufiyan, the then chief of Quraysh, was treated with honour. The Prophet announced the house of Abu Sufiyan as the sanctuary. Furthermore, he widened the sphere of clemency by adding that the one who closes the door of his house will be safe. That was the most efficient, strategic use of power in the whole human history.

At the time of conquest of Makkah, the Prophet treated all and sundry with kindness. No discrimination was flung on the basis of injuries the enemies were used to inflict on the Muslims. Not a single unbeliever of the sacred city was taken revenge from on the basis of personal disputes. That was the very right use of power; that was the beginning of a new age for the people of Arab. It led to the formation of great Muslim empire later on.

What was the philosophy behind this gesture of the Prophet of Allah? He was the greatest leader. He tolerated the adversaries to make things better, maintain peace, preach love and unite the natives under one flag. It boosted the strength of Muslims.

The wrong use of power goes to the discredit of Genghis Khan, Hulagu Khan, Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler who murdered thousands of the human beings for no reason, annihilated the infrastructure, and set the treasures of knowledge on fire. History remembers these people as the great warriors, but not the great leaders. Their sole objective was to fill the minds of the people with fright, clean other ethnicities, and accumulate resources. They never thought of the real power of unity that sets the nations to the flatter road of progression.

Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, could feel the fabric of both leadership models. He could understand the importance of forgiving, consulting and negotiating. This is the time where the head of the state could talk to the people whom he does not like. He could show flexibility in his decisions. Reconciliation is still one of the best options to take the opposition and alliances together.

The populace of Pakistan knows the fissures between the government and opposition leaders. They are usually found criticizing one another in legislative assemblies, talk shows and press conferences

The public institutions have been resisting to execute the prime orders for the last two years of the current government. The right use of power to regulate the public institutions have not been seen yet. No police reforms have been executed in the Punjab province. The formulation of local governments has not been reached. Perhaps, the supremacy and energy are going the wrong way!

Bureaucracy is considered to be one of the pillars of state. The municipal administration has become fragile during the tenure of PTI government. It seems that the PM with his team is facing constraints to win the trust of bureaucrats who, in response, show disinterest in accomplishing the administrative tasks in the territories assigned.

The populace of Pakistan knows the fissures between the government and opposition leaders. They are usually found criticizing one another in legislative assemblies, talk shows and press conferences. During the current COVID-19 circumstances, unity is just inevitable. Unfortunately, all the political parties are contributing their so-called wisdom to the sensitive cause of how to fight coronavirus. Nobody knows something; everybody knows nothing! They are overwhelmed with mere talks. The Prime Minister could perform even better to deliver relief to the nation in all forms, but he could not make the right use of power the democratic process has entrusted to him.

While peeping into the history, we learn the essence of mutual consultation. Consulting with the stakeholders and political rivals makes up essence of a democratic setting. The current government is lacking in this quality. Recently, Balochistan National Party (Mengal) and a few other allies are not comfortable with the decisions made by the PTI government. The government of Sindh, constituted by the PPPP majority seats, is not happy with what the federal government does in the due course of time. The provincial government complaints of being attended unfairly. They are thinking of breaking their coalition with the government. On the other hand, the PM has been found saying that he is not ready to show flexibility at any cost. It hints that the wrong use of power is emerging in the layers of PTI government.

The wrong use of power gives birth to bad governance, total corruption, trust deficit, deteriorated economy and feeble social system. It takes the nations to the brink of destruction finally. In contrary to this, the right use of power ensures categorical equality, economic prosperity, staunch unity and ruling peace. That is what a nation needs from their leaders. Pakistan has seen its rulers doing wrong decisions. The status of a welfare state could be achieved through the very right use of power.

The writer is a researcher and journalist