In the movie “Waterloo”, on the eve of the battle Wellington [played by Christopher Plummer] notices something odd about the backpack of a private and asks him to open it. And out comes a squealing baby pig.
And the following dialogue results:
Wellington: Where did you acquire this plunder, Sir? Private: I Sir, No Sir. This plunder acquired me!
W: You know the penalty for plundering Sir?
P: Stop the jug O’ gin Sir?
W: Its death.
P: I have to report this little pig has lost its way and I’m trying to find her relations Sir.
A great laugh follows among the troops and addressing them Wellington says: “”this fellow knows how to defend his position. Raise him to corporal!”
There is a defense of plunder going on a NAB court as well. In the dock is a bald old street smart plunderer. In the past, each time he got caught, he gave adequate proof that he knew he could ‘defend his position.’
And each time in the wake of such defense there followed relief for Nawaz Sharif, and also a “promotion” in his wealth and position.
With each promotion Nawaz Sharif became emboldened, till at last, in partnership with Asif Ali Zardari, under the blessed umbrella of the Charter of Democracy, they looted the country to bankruptcy. But this time unfortunately no defense of his is working. He began from: “what corruption?”; to “whodunnit?” and then onto “dho-anoo kee?”; and now he has fallen on his last ditch stand i.e that because he always stood for democracy, he had per force to lock horns with the generals, and because he did not back off, they conspired, and sprung “Panama” on him!
The actual, unstated, defense of Nawaz Sharif and his cohorts is that he won the popular mandate, and that this mandate confers on him the right to loot those that bestowed this mandate on him. This interpretation of the mandate finds endorsement in past precedents because he has been caught with his hands in the cookie jar time and again but has been let off each time. To get off the hook he has used manipulation, connections, threats, or bribery, or a combination of all these. His success in exoneration, or in papering over all his misdeeds has been so phenomenal, that the expectation of it has now become a habit with him. And now that his threats and attempts to bribe etc are not working, he sees this a conspiracy i.e when something worked so well in the past, and the same formula has stopped working now, obviously it must be a conspiracy! And he is beside himself with rage on account of this conspiracy where the concerned people seem to have decided that they will neither give in to his threats nor to the enticement of bribes.
For Nawaz Sharif, facing the music to its logical conclusion, is a novelty his experience has not prepared him for. And so he seems to have lost his mind.
It should be a blessed day for a country where its chief crook has been made accountable. Things, logically, should change after this, and the country should find a new direction as a result.
But this will happen only if people begin fearing the consequences of theft i.e the rule of law is rehabilitated. This will not happen unless the process of accountability, begun with NS, is ruthless, across the board, and descends from top to bottom.
If this does not happen, the trial of Nawaz Sharif and family members will lose all meaning. And those letting this moment in our history fizzle out like a wet cracker, will inevitably find their names among those who could have made a difference, but were found wanting when their country most needed them.
This will not only plunge a huge majority of Pakistanis into deep pessimism, but will also impact those of the army who have spent a better part of the last decade on the front lines in the war against terrorists, sacrificing life and limb in the process. No one wants to give blood in order to make the country safe to be plundered by those empowered to serve and protect it.