So much has been happening on a daily basis that every new day’s developments simply elbow out the previous day’s news, with almost a rude shove, for top media attention. All of us have become almost immune to drastic developments and have learnt to duck for cover as well as take them in our stride quite stoically.
We had barely got the Islamabad sit-in behind us that the debate on Kargil broke, with one of the top Generals of Musharraf’s tenure coming out with his revelations and perceptions in a book titled “Khamoshi Kahan Tak”. That the book has been written long after General Aziz enjoyed various top jobs in the army and the civilian setup, takes away from the revelations but, nonetheless, it is a novelty factor given that the army likes to remain a closed club. It rarely washes its linen in public as the book has done and as ex-President and Chief of Army Staff General Musharraf has defended himself in response to it.
There are raging debates on creation of new provinces, the corruption scams, loss of lives in terrorism attacks, Kamran Faisal’s death, NAB Chairman’s stance and the deterioration in all our national areas. However, I do not want to talk about the doom and gloom and instead want to focus on the few positive aberrations in a system that stinks.
A police officer by the name of Rana Shahid was actually able to track down the untraceable ex-Ogra Chairman Tauqeer Sadiq and succeeded where the likes of ISI, MI, FIA, FIU, ANF and NAB failed, intentionally or unintentionally. It takes a lot of grit and determination, apart from intelligence, to do all that he did and to know that our public services can still boast of an occasional officer of this calibre is itself a cause to celebrate.
Despite being on the ECL since January 2012, Tauqeer Sadiq did better than Houdini and disappeared into thin air, in a manner of speaking. Most people thought that he was being protected in important residences of Islamabad and Lahore, but, in actual fact, he had flown the nest and had left for Sharjah on June 21, 2012. After the Supreme Court could not get NAB to nab Sadiq, it directed the IG Punjab to find and produce him.
The IG tasked Rana Shahid in the third week of December last year, who, with precision and in only one day, collected a whole lot of leads. In the span of a month, the brilliant police detective was able to uncover all the tracks of the absconding Chairman OGRA whose whereabouts stand fully disclosed now. What happens henceforth and whether any of the 82 billion worth of corruption is recovered remains to be seen in this unfolding story.
But the mere fact that police officers like Rana Shahid can produce successful results in a system entirely geared to protecting and covering up the powerful is a wonderful aberration and must be acknowledged.
The entire sorry episode of Tauqeer Sadiq and his massive efforts, with assistance at the highest levels, at covering his trail are themselves an indication of his guilt. People with nothing to hide are not afraid of court cases.
The suicide terrorist, who attacked a bunch of namazis after Jumma prayers, in Hangu, on Friday, was said to be only 19 or 20. I find it a strange paradox that it is possible to recruit so many young children as potential suicide bombers for their lack of education and knowledge, while there are educated youngsters like Shahrukh Jatoi, who kill for the heck of it. The only difference being that they do not want to kill themselves.
The parents of Shahrukh, the prime suspect in Shahzeb’s murder, are desperately trying to prove that their son is underage and cannot be given full punishment for his crime. In another situation Shahrukh would have gotten home free because of the ability of the powerful to influence things in their favour - but here again is a welcome aberration - the vigilantes in the media and civil society are watching closely to see that Shahzeb’s family is given justice.
The present National Assembly is just short of finish line and even had a group picture taken officially to be placed in Parliament lest their five years are forgotten. There is a sense of urgency growing in everyone that elections must be held under all circumstances and that there is spring approaching after a hard winter. The clauses of 62 and 63 in the constitution have also taken centre stage. A British politician has opined that aid to Pakistan must be reconsidered because Pakistani politicians do not pay taxes, while having no qualms in accepting British taxpayers money. The average Pakistani could not agree more with this observation.
The lasting good that the outgoing government can do for us is that it ensures elections are conducted in a manner that their results, whatever they may be, are accepted by everyone and that there are no major disputes or accusations of rigging leading to a civilised transfer of power and new beginnings. This one act could give them some brownie points and salvage a little bit of the lost image.
There should be policy debates on television among all leading parties so that the undecided can make up their minds about who to vote for. Not supporting anyone or remaining aloof is no longer an option.
The writer is a public relations and event management professional based in Islamabad. Email: tallatazim@yahoo.com Twitter: @tallatazim.