Pakistan must revert back to a modern welfare democratic state, instead of distorted version of a security state that it has been forced to become by military dictators in collaboration with corrupt civil bureaucracy inherited and trained by ‘Colonial Raj’ to rule an occupied colony.
The armed forces have a role in the country that of protecting the geographical boundaries, not to assume unto themselves supra constitutional powers to detain citizens in times of peace and be allegedly involved in missing persons case. They lack the intellectual capacity and foresight to rule and set priorities for a sovereign state to develop its infrastructure and become self reliant both economically and technologically, nor the political wisdom to be respected in comity of nations.
It were corrupt adventurers like Ayub, Yahya, Zia and Musharraf, who abused their offices to illegitimately occupy power and deliberately introduce culture of institutionalised corruption within the forces by legitimizing plunder of real estate and involvement of security establishment in corporate business ventures.
The British distributed land, titles and jobs as bait for natives to buy their loyalty, such tactics are rarely resorted to by sovereign states, which focus on welfare of the most deprived sections of society, instead of welfare of its paid elite civil and uniformed servants, for doing jobs that they are paid for.
With the Quaid-i-Azam‘s death, elements of the Unionist Party, that had joined the bandwagon of Muslim League prevailed and the establishment resorted to large scale allotment of vast evacuee property on fake claims, to plunder assets left behind by affluent Hindus and Sikhs, thereby creating a new class of novae rich who then assumed political power and laid foundations of a culture of corruption that has now eroded the very foundations of Pakistan. Our founding fathers led by Quaid-i-Azam, Allama Iqbal, Fazalul Haq, Abdullah Haroon, Malik Barkat Ali etc could never have visualized that ‘Land Mafia Dons’ would emerge as kingmakers of Pakistan, who could defy not just our highest judiciary, but get away with robbing the poor and destitute, a country where institutions of state, meant to serve public, such as Railways, PIA, OGDC, FBR are handed over to thugs, crooks or dual nationals to be destroyed systematically.
ALI MALIK TARIQ,
USA, October 2.