Quite incredibly the 14nth of August and 6th Sep was celebrated in Pakistan this year with a fervour that people of Pakistan seemed to have lost many years back. What brought this fervour alive was hope. This hope arose from the belief that terrorism can and will be defeated. And if this can be defeated, so will be defeated, and destroyed the purveyors of injustice, maladministration, massive corruption, and every festering pustule in the veins of Pakistan.
But whereas the average Pakistani celebrated these two days with uncommon verve and gusto, the face of every political leader bar none, seemed to be afflicted with uncommon consternation coming from acute constipation. Such pronounced variance of exhibited sentiment between a people and its leaders has seldom been seen anywhere in the world, and certainly never in Pakistan before.
So why was it that while the lips of the people were stretched out in smiles, severe constriction caused the behinds of their leaders to pucker up so profoundly, so as to be reflected in the countenance of each?
This needs no analysis to throw up an explanation. The people of Pakistan were celebrating their liberation from what they believed to be a sentence of death. The leaders who had imposed this sentence of death on the people whom they had been elected to serve, were seeing in the smiles and hopes of these people, their own walk to the gallows. And the manifestation of constipation on their faces was merely reflective of their ultimate resolve to take even their shit to hell with them. And this collection in their rectums, it must be confessed, is the best about them. That they are committed to taking even this with them is, what I would call, the scorched earth yardstick of generosity!!
On the other side you have the army being acclaimed and applauded. And this is an army which delivered to the country so many tin pot dictators, each leaving behind in his legacy so much to be ashamed of! That this very army would attract so much popular acclaim is the ultimate verdict rendered upon the “democracy” inflicted upon the hapless people of Pakistan by a gang of thieves who worked in concert with each other, without let or hindrance, to wreck and destroy all the good that survived in our country.
That Pakistan was broken by Zardari’s five year term as President and sent into a free fall because of Nawaz Sharif’s “friendly” opposition, was clear to all, except to such beneficiaries of the system who were too dishonest to care, or the fools too thick to discern. The intellectuals could clearly have seen what was happening. They could have sounded the alarm. But being intellectuals, they must suspect the straightforward observation, and issue only convoluted whimperings. The judges could have seen it as well, but the “free” judiciary was led by Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhary who, it eventually turned out, was more committed to guarding his son Arsalan’s freedom to commit theft, than to any other freedom. The army could have seen it, but decided not to, because the entire Kayani litter was feeding at the trough of Malik Riaz Hussain, and picking up Zardari’s table scrap like most mongrels are wont to do. For six years therefore, while the innards of Pakistan were being hollowed out by those who were its greatest beneficiaries, there was no one to speak for the country, except 99% of the people of Pakistan. But 99% of any population means nothing if it is leaderless. Our 99% had its leaders of course, but these leaders had joined forces with each other against these very people, who were therefore left to bawl and howl and shriek and scream at cross purposes. Thus there was a lot of noise in the country without there being a voice.
Redemption could only have been expected from the sole institution still standing i.e. the Pakistan Army. But there was no hope for this till Nawaz Sharif, the most stupid man on the political firmament of Pakistan for the last three decades, and the leader of the constipated brigade of today, let the media loose on the army.
This led to murmurings among the junior ranks of the army manning the trenches and suffering casualties on a daily basis. It is always such murmurings which wake up the generals.
As the generals were waking up, Nawaz Sharif was trying to put the terrorists, [ with some of whom he had political alliances], to sleep by his novel approach of talking them into surrender. And then came the attack on Karachi airport, and General Raheel merely extended the courtesy of informing Nawaz Sharif, and launched Zarb e Azab.
That day power shifted in Pakistan.
Zarb e Azab got extended into operation clean up in Karachi. Arrested terrorists started to spill the beans. MQM lost its terrorist command structure. And the beans spilled started leading both to Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. Files started to build up. Zardari asked Nawaz Sharif for help and recalled for his benefit their pact of mutual support by which each was to guard the interest of the other at the cost of the interest of Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif refused to come to his aid. Too much evidence had piled up against him, his family, and his ministers. Zardari gave his speech and ran away to be close to the wealth he has plundered from Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif, his partner in crime, had no such option. So he is playing possum which is showing through in his look of discomfiture because of a blocked rectum.
What Nawaz Sharif and his innermost circle is debating now is whether to cashier Gen Raheel Shareef, or to nominate his successor right now.
Nothing will happen if he does either. But it will be very good for Pakistan if all ambiguity in the matter was removed, at least privately. The General should make it quite clear to him that there was a war on. That in the conduct of this war he has the overwhelming support of those he commands, and also of the people of Pakistan. And that he has absolutely no intention of giving up a job half done i.e. breaking the back of the terrorists and chopping off of the hands of those who have hollowed Pakistan out.
P.S. Whenever our private businesses go into a mess, what we do is to dismiss a few idiots and get the best men in the market to replace them.
This is also done by governments when there is a commitment to improve governance. In KP Imran Khan took in as IG of the province Nasir Durrani, a man who had a sterling reputation. My friends in KP, even those opposed to Imran Khan, vouch for the fact that Police performance has greatly improved in KP.
But there is not a SINGLE example in Punjab or at the Center of a person being given an important slot on the basis of his reputation for competence and integrity–not even after so much dirt lies exposed. This can only mean that there is no will to improve governance.
Indeed, there never was.
The people who have brought Pakistan to its sorry pass must pay for it. The fear among the leadership is that at long last they might have to do this. It is this fear which gives them their constipated look. And this look is the sole reason which brings smiles to the people of Pakistan.