President Zardari finally left office after having completed his 5 year tenure; he left behind a nation devastated by a plethora of problems. A nation burdened with additional debt of Rs 8.2 trillion, with a crippling energy starvation, lawlessness and numerous mega scams of corruption, the likes of which this country has never witnessed before.
He deserved a token send off, not shower of tributes, and jubilation, for the mandate that was given to coalition headed by PPP, was to govern in accordance with demands of constitution, not a license to plunder, violate merit, make a mockery of rule of law and allow land and criminal mafia to kill, kidnap and extort thousands of innocent citizens of this country, for whom this is the only country which they can call their own, where their children live, and where all their assets are located.
Reconciliation amongst political parties to enforce rule of law, supremacy of constitution and protecting fundamental basic rights of people, or protecting collective national security interests is something commendable, but reconciliation to protect financial criminals, murderers and opportunists to evade accountability is condemnable and violation of constitution and therefore cannot be condoned or accepted. We are perhaps the sole unfortunate nation in recent history with a written constitution, where white collar criminals, crooks, alleged murderers and loan cum bank defaulters were given an amnesty under controversial NRO, in defiance of all holy scriptures and teachings of Islam.
Today we are facing a war within our borders, which threatens our national security, more than three wars have been fought with our declared enemy, yet the star spangled brass and ruling elite is captivated by their personal greed for real estate and corporate business interests, instead of leading our valiant soldiers and utilizing powers of state to fight these treacherous enemies, armed and funded by our sworn enemies. Are we to condemn, or praise those under whose watch, Karachi has gained the notoriety of being declared most dangerous crime infested city by prestigious ‘Foreign Policy’ magazine?
MALIK TARIQ ALI,
Lahore, September 8.