I am not a big fan of drama serials. Occasionally, I watch an episode or two to maintain congeniality at home. However, a Pakistani serial, “Jhok Sarkar,” has caught my fancy. I look forward to watching every episode. It revolves around a feudal lord and his family in a remote setting. The underlying theme is really thought-provoking. It is based on the forcible separation of two poverty-ridden love birds. The boy is murdered and his beloved is coerced to marry the Feudal. The premise is to marry first and love for “Sain” will follow.
To my politically fertile mind, there is a great similarity between this feudal’s behaviour and the role of Pakistani Feudals. Forcibly install Nawaz Sharif first, and peoples’ love will follow. It can go either way in the drama but in the real world, it is a ticking time bomb. Replace those who do not fall in line and install those who will be subservient.
Unfortunately, this nuts and bolts approach arises from the lack of brain power. They have totally failed to comprehend human behaviour. You can use the stick to silence the masses, but you cannot control their emotions. Forcible separation will only invigorate these emotions.
The 2019 Dharna case recognizes the essence of the earlier judgment and captures similar mischief by the same actors.
First, they replaced PTI with PDM – a bunch of crooks who have no desire to safeguard Pakistan’s interests. The list of their disastrous acts is long. Thus, I will follow my economist’s instincts. I am sharing some numbers released by the Economic Survey of Pakistan. Numbers don’t lie. Here is a comparison between where we stood under PTI (2022) and the debacle under PDM (2023). GDP 6.1% vs 0.29%. Industrial growth 7.19% vs-2.94%. Large scale manufacturing 10.61% vs -8.11%. Exports $28.83 billion vs. $21.20 billion. Remittances $26.10 billion vs. $20.50 billion. Food inflation is 12% vs 38%. Perishable food inflation is 4.1% vs 47%.
With economic growth at 0.3% and inflation at 38%, an economic disaster was caused through partners-in-crime led by Nawaz Sharif. It reminds me of a narrative shared by Shamshad Sb, a former Foreign Secretary. He had introduced Nawaz to Daewoo as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Korea. It led to the much heralded logistic achievement of the Lahore Islamabad Motorway. Some years later, he checked up with his contact in Daewoo. He was informed that the executive who dealt with Sharifs was in jail for bribing them. On the other hand, Pakistanis honoured these crooks by making Nawaz the Prime Minister. Nawaz also rewarded himself by using these ill-gotten proceeds to acquire the Avenfield Apartments.
No wonder, the Sharifs have yet to provide the source of funds for this acquisition. A bigger atrocity is about to be committed by none other than the illustrious Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court. From all indications, the CJ is poised to whitewash this crime by accepting Nawaz’s appeal against his conviction for this blatant case of bribery and money laundering.
Nawaz Sharif is thrilled and cooing in the hills of Murree. He is greatly influenced by Indian cinema and projects himself as the jilted lover of Pakistanis like the late Raj Kapoor. In fact, he is a cold-blooded extortionist who wants to milk the exchequer for the 4th time.
I may not agree with celebrated journalist Hamid Mir most of the time; however, his sense of timing is immaculate and he has put his finger on the pulse of what ails Pakistan. I am not discussing his person, but rather the contents of his recent vlog. He has laid bare the origin and source of all ills that have haunted our political landscape for decades. The beauty is that he has based his narration on two Supreme Court judgments, with limited content from himself.
He refers to decisions rendered in the Air Marshall Asghar Khan case and Liaqatabad Dharna case. The earlier decision captures how these agencies doled out tons of cash in 1990 to install Nawaz Sharif as PM. Then again, in 1993, to victimize Benazir. The 2019 Dharna case recognizes the essence of the earlier judgment and captures similar mischief by the same actors. Both these judgments had sought punishment for the errant intelligence officers and their superiors. Had these decisions been implemented, they would have paved the path to put an end to political manoeuvring by agencies.
Many commentators have written off the present Chief Justice as compromised. However, if he pushes ahead with the implementation of the 2019 Dharna decision, it could miraculously give all political parties a level playing field. Justice Isa, this is your opportunity to permanently etch your name in history as the saviour of democracy in Pakistan; only if you can get past your grievances that have no substance in the greater national interest.
The writer is the director of CERF, a non-profit, charitable organisation in Canada.The weiter can be followed on twitter at following id: @HafeezKhanPU