A survey of facts at the national level brings to view an unsettling configuration of circumstances. As a dictate of wisdom, the foreshadowing of events should be paid meticulous heed, and rapidly deteriorating situations and issues should be earnestly attended to for their resolution. The in-camera joint Parliamentary session in Islamabad on May 13 was mainly briefed by the DG ISI among other security officials. The noteworthy points made during the session included the offer of the military establishment for full accountability concerning bin Ladens presence in Abbottabad and the clandestine raid on Al-Qaeda leaders abode by the US special military squad on May 2. Nevertheless, as a matter of special significance, it was emphasised that the identification and apportioning of responsibility in regard to the dual failures should be recognised. In this regard, the military establishment did not entertain any objection concerning the formation of an independent commission. The Pakistani security set-up had already dismantled the Al-Qaeda network in the country, and the initial information about bin Ladens whereabouts too was provided to the US by the ISI. In addition, Parliament was informed that on all vital occasions the US since 1960 has ignored Pakistans national interests. Further, that the US extended aid in the amount of $20 billion to Islamabad during the last 10 years. Furthermore, the need to review the visa policy for Americans was also brought to the notice of parliamentarians. From the viewpoint of information of substantive value for the public concerned the unexpected release of a CIA contractor Raymond Davis during the previous months. The DG ISI informed the joint session that the CIA functionary was handed over to the US on orders of President Zardari and Premier Gilani. Noteworthy it is, the 12-point unanimous resolution adopted by Parliament became possible only after the apt and convincing PML-N demand for a judicial commission was withdrawn in favour of an independent commission. A brief chronological survey would disclose that the US clandestine raid on bin Ladens abode took place on May 2; the joint session of Parliament was held in Islamabad on May 13 only as a consequence of the emphatic demand made by opposition parties, especially the PML-N, and only as a result of stern deadlines offered by the PML-N for the constitution of a commission concerning May 2 episode; and the formation of a commission was announced on June 1. Due to the reason that at least some of the members of the commission were not consulted prior to its announcement as well as in contravention of a stipulation contained in the resolution adopted during the parliamentary session, making it mandatory to consult the opposition leader in the National Assembly relevant to its formation, the nascent commission was engulfed in controversy. The government in Islamabad neglected to launch any formal protest against the raid violating the national sovereignty to the UN and the US and of no less than tell-tale significance is the modus vivendi between the government in Islamabad and the US that is reflected from the unanticipated release of Raymond Davis. These facts predict the fundamental conclusion that will be reached by the commission to be finally constituted to assess the May 2 issue. As a matter of public perception, the extreme of corruption, being associated with the highest functionaries of the executive in Islamabad, should arouse grave concerns from the nationalist segments of society. The state at present is insolvent, a feat albeit negative, that could not be accomplished by the machinations of the Congressional stalwarts, in particular, Nehru and Patel through the blood-splattered partitioning of the provinces of Punjab and Bengal during 1947. The motive underlying the stated manoeuvre was to induce insolvency in the incipient state of Pakistan to make it economically nonviable in order to make the new state to seek rapprochement with India. Now, how that original Indian task was accomplished by some of the ill-destined leaders is a fit subject for exploration, harbouring wealth of instructions, by a national commission, of course, at some more opportune time. For this issue under review, the considerations are due for the hefty increase of almost $20 billion in the national foreign debt during the preceding three years. And, as during the joint session of Parliament in Islamabad on May 13, General Pasha stated that the US transferred as much amount, that is, $20 billion, to the government of Pakistan in aid during the previous 10 years. Now it is known that, beginning in 2001, the Musharraf regime was the beneficiary of nearly $12 billion in US aid, for the logistics compensation and other services. Therefore, starting from 2008, about $8 billion have been received by the present government. In contrast, the present national budget presented on June 3 showed deficit of nearly one trillion rupees. The cited figures do not comprise an exhaustive list of the foreign funds received during the present political dispensation. Any evaluation in this regard, as a mandate for credible national commission to be formed at an appropriate time in future, should also include the role of the US and money-lending global institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, EU lending institutions, Asian Development Bank, etc as to how do their policies and international conduct relevant to Pakistan correspond with the final litmus-test requirement of the principle of democracy. This principle is a vital part of the famous Abraham Lincolns definition of democracy, that is, government for the people, or in plain terms it is government in the interest of people at large, that is, the nation. And the national commission, in the offing to assess the May 2 incident, should evaluate the non-availability or paralysis of the state security apparatus as well as that of the city of Abbottabads law and order machinery in accordance with the cited principle. The popular governing political party at present, of course, is a national asset. From the attendant national circumstances, and the delay in constituting a credible commission is one such instance, it is apparent that through the vested interests of its leading figures, its political consensus, traditionally founded on national agenda, has been transformed into political cohesion based on avarice. History is a guide in regard to the economic adhesive of massive corruption in a political party in governance that substitutes its traditional national manifesto, which ultimately proves to the serious disadvantage of the large political party and the nation as well. The nationalistic sentiments are agitated due to the economic distress experienced by the public, instances of terrorism punctuating the national scene, precipitous release of Raymond Davis, paralysis of state security and infringement of national sovereignty during the US raid on bin Laden compound, and these are the volatile ingredients of a national uprising. The recent in-camera briefing by the DG of the premier national intelligence service, airing unsettling facts related to the national economy, and the explanation underlying Davis release, in particular, have acutely aggravated public sentiments. The explanation, related to the spys release on the direct orders of President Zardari and PM Gilani, offers itself to an extrapolation upon the bin Laden episode, and it is the added combustible of a revolutionary upheaval. The denouement in such a confluence of circumstances is not difficult to imagine and to state but one of its results, the entities incriminated in causing the national morass stand to face at least political elimination. In the event popular uprising takes place, revolutionary justice then may become a recourse. n The writer is Chairman, Pakistan Ideological Forum. Email: suhrabaslam@hotmail.com