Iftekhar A. Khan After a full bench of the Supreme Court unanimously struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), President Zardari has been lashing out at his so-called enemies. He has been firing salvos in all directions without identifying his targets. So far he has been content with calling them non-state actors. Understandably, the nation must treat the enemies of its president as its own. But that is possible only if the president makes up his mind to name those conspiring against him. As he wishes to keep their identity secret, the people assume they have the right to guess. Hence the first question that arises in public mind is, what is it that triggered Mr Zardaris verbal blitz? It is clear that he went on the offensive binge after the Supreme Court annulled the ordinance. Remember, the NRO was an ingeniously orchestrated document by its schemers as long as all dices fell in the right places. Plainly, the deal was to enable General (retd) Pervez Musharraf to remain president, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to return exonerated of all money laundering charges to take up premiership, Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and independent-minded judges to remain suspended, and the US-UK agenda of the fake War on Terror to continue unimpeded. But, unfortunately, with the restoration of the deposed judiciary the plan went awry. Imagine. Could such a clear picture of corruption develop into a major issue without an independent judiciary and print and electronic media playing their proactive role? Indeed, an independent judiciary and fiercely independent media have changed the political scenario. Certainly, times have changed. The people are more informed and now they are intolerant of corruption whether by the dynastic rulers or other sets of politicians. And undoubtedly they want it to end. More so, the presidents loyalists in the PPP lament that he is undeservedly being singled out for the shabby treatment even though there are many other NRO beneficiaries. However, the argument is not plausible because the public eye always focuses on the top of the pyramid, which Mr Zardari occupies as the head of state. Had he not been holding that status public criticism against him would have been much less. In any case, the charges of money laundering against him are not new; he has been living with them for the last many years. But for a president to live with the stigma of corruption is morally incorrect. It seriously erodes his authority as head of state. Strangely, while Mr Zardari faces these charges, the role of the main opposition party, the PML-N, is mystifying. It claims not to destabilise the system but at the same time it wants the plundered wealth to be repatriated to the country. The partys stance is neither here nor there. Actually corruption is a public issue and not merely of the politicians. Were politics totally purged of corruption, not many politicians, it seems, would find it worthwhile to dabble in it. All the theatrics you see them perform to uphold the cause of democracy are meant to keep themselves in their privileged positions and enrich themselves and their families. This unfortunately has become public perception of politics in practice in the country. It is not too difficult to determine how politicians have plundered the national wealth. Just find out what they owned when they stepped into politics ostensibly to serve the people, and what they now do. It will simply shock the nation. If the loan write-off of Rs 193 billion is not massive corruption, what else is it? What is likely to happen now since the Supreme Court has turned down the NRO? The court ordered the reopening of Swiss cases, which are against the top most hierarchy. Will the government take the initiative to reopen them? But quite interestingly, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has already stated that the people voted Mr Zardari to power when they knew he faced corruption charges. Does it mean that the 'public court has absolved him from any wrongdoing? If public court were to judge the culpability or innocence of politicians, why did the people have to mount an unrivalled movement for the restoration of an independent judiciary? The writer is a freelance columnist. Email: pinecity@gmail.com