Daily Times

When the new ‘pied piper’ from Canada landed in Pakistan and created a frenzy, I simply said that it was a good show. I was unable to stand the two-hour plus address at the Minar-e-Pakistan, but whatever excerpts I was able to tolerate, I wanted to thank him for my hearty laughter. I pointed out a few inconsistencies on twitter and for the sake of the readers, will touch on those as well here. It sure seems like the Pakistani electronic and print media has been taken for a ride by the Messiah from Mississauga. I am not sure he lives in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto, but it sure sounds good. I love Toronto a lot and it is safe to say that Mississauga is the heart of Toronto, because it has a large South Asian immigrant population. I know many analysts have opined and TV anchors have been granting him way too much airtime, but what can one expect from the so-called independent media? In my humble opinion, it is independent of clear thinking and reasoning, most of the times.

Some so-called ‘senior’ analysts and anchors started to criticise the dual citizenship of Mr Qadri. Being a dual citizen myself, I think it is a fairly weak argument. The patriotism of someone cannot be measured by the colour of his passport, or his physical presence. As if all the havoc wreaked in the land of the pure for the past 65 years was the doing of dual citizens. Next, it was lame and shameful to criticise the headgear of the Allama sahib. It is childish and downright silly. If you have to counter someone, please counter their arguments, their logic, and not how they look or what they wear. The others awarded the great title of ‘Sheikh-ul-Islam’ and some other praiseworthy tributes. As they say in Urdu, “Jitney munh utni batain,” (Every one making a comment or two), because it became the new ‘in’ thing. A new fad, if you will. The social media, where I reside mostly, was not behind in this phenomenon at all. Suddenly, the ‘trolls’ switched sides and started to throw their weight behind the Sheikh.

Let’s briefly revisit the Allama’s Minar-e-Pakistan gathering for a moment. For the sake of brevity, I will narrow my questions down for him. My respected Allama sahib, you cited the Italian model of reform in your speech; kindly enlighten us how many military coups has Italy experienced in the last 65 years or so? You are vehemently against the so-called ‘muk-mukaa’ (settlement) of the two major parties when it comes to setting up of the caretaker government. You want the army and the judiciary to have a stake in it too. Pray tell us where in the developed world or, for that matter, in any democratic set up such sharing exists? Please, if you are against the two-party system so much then why did you not raise that concern in Canada that strictly follows a two-party system? Ah, but wait, Pakistan is an exception where this two-party system has supposedly failed, because it returns the same names, no matter what — the same old corrupt, inept, incapable and, perhaps unpatriotic lot. So we make a full circle and come back to the same utopian quest for ‘clean politicians’. This time-tested and time-failed theme is perhaps as old as this scribe.

I take respectful exception with the respected Dr sahib when he implies that the armed forces and judiciary are the major stakeholders. In any mature democracy, there are only two stakeholders: the electorate and the elected. The uniformed and the robed are part of the former. Ask any mature democracy if generals and judges are meant for governing people. But like I said, we are a unique nation, so unique that we want to create our own board and our own rules for the game. Looking at the last 50 years of this nation’s history, one can pinpoint with one’s eyes shut where we went totally wrong. Have you ever hired the watchman of your house to tell you how to run your household? Have you ever seen a mediator become the proprietor of some place just because he is a master of his trade?

In most nations around the globe, there are only two forces that try to sway public opinion, commonly dubbed as liberals or conservatives. These are the two distinct ideological spectrums that most of the world operates within. The systems are built in such a manner that people vote for representatives within that framework. It is not a perfect system but it is close to being one. The people are the best judges, decision makers and arbitrators of their own destiny. Look within yourself; how many of us including myself can be branded as sadiq (truthful) or amin (trustworthy)? Now look around the rest of the world and see what qualities they seek from their potential elected representatives. Please do not expect something from your representatives that you do not possess yourself. A flawed system can be fixed to filter the discrepancies. That system never comes in a readymade package. Every person being a stakeholder proposes a voice towards change. No miracles, just reforms. A change that is proposed by the ballot is much more effective than a change by a bullet or by a boot or some other violent means.

I may have to eat my own words next week when this so-called ‘revolutionary million-man march’ changes everything overnight back home. But those who have met me would agree with my physician that I need to increase my diet. What if this show turns out to be the hurricane and tsunami my folks have been yearning all along? Oh well, then my words be ready for a quick bite. Something inside tells me that my words may perhaps remain safe and sound.

The writer is a Pakistani-American mortgage banker. He blogs at http://dasghar.blogspot.com and can be reached at dasghar@aol.com He tweets at http://twitter.com/dasgha