Daily Times

Notwithstanding his strong popularity, Bhutto turned to strong-arm politics intimidating and imprisoning his opponents. The country was back on the beaten track of political confrontation, antagonism, palace intrigues and strained civil-military relationships with our able and wise politicians lunging at each other’s throat. Nobody thought of the Constitution, democracy, political tolerance, human rights. Bhutto did a lot to lift the people from the abject poverty. However, he committed grave political mistakes and economic policy blunders to alienate key segments of the population. This provided a Godsend opportunity to a meek, cunning and scheming General to outfox him. The tyranny of the new Martial Law Administrator shamed all the contemporary dictators in the world.

The struggle for the restoration of democracy in the mid-1980s incurred the wrath of the Junta. The rural regions of Sindh remained ablaze for months witnessing bloodiest clashes with the security forces. Karachi and Punjab were indifferent to this heroic struggle. The Junta had already sowed the seeds of ethnic division in Sindh encouraging and patronizing the alienated young generation of the Urdu speaking Sindhis to gather into a fascist political organization. Under the Martial Law shadow, the new sons of Karachi amassed heaps of weapons and shamelessly engaged into bloodletting. Ironically enough, the first victim of their militancy was the peace, tranquility and tolerance of Karachi.

The post 1988 governments failed to bring any respite to Karachi or any improvement in the living conditions of the poor and were rather engaged in their desperate struggle for survival. The civilian presidents were breathing over their necks with their draconian powers under the Eighth Amendment. They exercised these powers unscrupulously to send packing home these civilian governments at the behest of the establishment on charges of corruption and incompetence. They would have no shame to compromise and collude with the same maligned politicians to undermine the successive government even before the ink of their earlier proclamation order had dried up.

The alarming proportion that the menacing violence, corruption, ineptness and complacency have acquired in the country today render the need for a saviour more acute than ever before

The overthrow of the government of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif by General Pervaiz Musharraf in 1999 heralded a new political chicanery with mock democracy and powerless Prime Ministers. After the elections of 2002, the Metropolis of Karachi, as a matter of political expediency, was handed over to the MQM to prop up the Federal and the Provincial Governments of the General’s choice in Islamabad and Sindh. The General’s selfish politics overshadowed national interests. The party, weakened by the earlier operations, rapidly regained its organizational strength, street power and militant prowess to the peril of peace and tranquility of the Metropolis. They remained the uncrowned king of the city reining it in a fascist fashion. They continued to have this power during the successive PPP governments in the centre and the province holding this vibrant city hostage to their whims. The military rules of General Zia and Musharraf were a curse for Pakistan, and Sindh in particular.

The citizens of this country had harboured aspirations for the development of Pakistan into a modern, moderate and progressive state. Who would not acutely feel the pain and sorrow if in his land, the human rights violations and honour killings are rampant and the forced disappearances on the rise; the religious intolerance has acquired xenophobic proportions; the corruption and violence are endemic; the education in public schools and colleges has collapsed; over 25 million children are out of school; the abuse of children is glossed over; the population growth gallops unbridled; the rural regions inhabited by 70% of the population are devoid of the basic human needs; the heinous crimes like murder, extortion, kidnapping for ransom are taking a heavy toll on the society; the law enforcement agencies have given in to militants, extremists and the powerful elite.

Yes, we have many positive achievements to contrast with this list of failures. We have progressed well in the infrastructural communication, technological and industrial development, and defence technology and prosperity in the upper echelons of the society. All these achievements over a period of over 70 years pale into nothingness as compared to our monumental failures. We have developed the habit of gloating over our minor successes and finding scapegoats for big failures. We have failed to define the nature of the state of Pakistan. We have taken too long a time to decide whether we are going to have a theocratic, garrison or a secular and democratic state of Pakistan. If the destination of a nation is undetermined, it would grope in the darkness pulling and pushing into opposite directions and losing its vitality and vibrancy in the course of this futile exercise. This is what we are doing today.

Like my fellow idealists, I have been waiting for a Kemal Ataturk, a Mahathir Muhammad or a Lee Kwan to steer the wobbling ship of this country to safe shores. Then, I reckon that the saviors do not descend from the heaven. They sprout from the soil of the land. Our soil is not so barren. The alarming proportion that the menacing violence, corruption, ineptness and complacency have acquired in the country today render the need for a saviour more acute than ever before. These scourges pose an existential threat to the country. They are eating into the vitals of our society and making it hollow from within.

Thus, there is a pressing need for relentless crusade against these evils by a leader free from fear and timidity and parochial and political expediency; by a son of this land who is familiar with the proud lessons of courage and fired by the ideals that were underlying the birth of this country. He will rise from the wreckage of our failures, hold destiny in his grip and dazzle failures. He will free this nation from militants, extremists, looters and plunderers. This is the Pakistan we all dream of and yearn to leave for our posterity. My today’s idealism would transform into reality, tomorrow. This hope sustains my belief in the strength of my nation and country.

The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books