I am sick of the stuff that is dished out day and night by politicians and pseudo-experts on how to make things right in the land of the pure. I have also developed an allergy to the words awaam, jamhooriat and qurbani, as these have been tossed around with such callous abandon, so as to lose their true meaning.
Pakistan suffers from a cancer that has spread to its very vitals and reached a stage where only the most radical of treatment is likely to reverse the disease. This treatment does not lie in democracy as the civilised world knows it, for we do not possess the pre-requisites for reaping the benefits of such a dispensation. What we have to offer instead, is the scourge of putrefied political leadership, a devastated economy, illiteracy and non-existent writ of law. It is, therefore, no surprise that the stereotype Pakistani is an embodiment of corruption, vice, undignified behaviour and callous disdain for law.
The current state of affairs has left the nation with two stark choices - democracy in its present rotting form or a system that leaves niceties aside and roots out the evils plaguing this land with a single-minded purpose - Lee Kwan Yu style. If we choose the latter, for that appears to be the course of salvation, then we must cast aside our blind loyalties to the ‘families’, who have brought the country to the brink of destruction. We must discard the current coterie of self-serving men and women, who appear on television and sing praises of their respective leaders in a shameless, brazen-faced manner.
We have at our disposal a weapon, which can destroy those that have perpetrated misery upon us. This weapon is our right to vote, effective only if it is wielded by the hitherto silent majority. Let us, therefore, rise and lend impetus to the tsunami of change that looms on the horizon. But as this huge wave gathers impetus, it will be threatened by the machinations of those that fear defeat, accountability and retribution. Some of these threats will manifest themselves openly, while the more dangerous ones will materialise in ways that for all purposes will appear to be benign.
The other day, during my frequent sojourns to wayside dhabaas for doodh patti and grist for this column, I overheard a group of construction workers discussing a possible pre-election scenario. I listened fascinated as they predicted an end to power and gas shortages in the near pre-election period. When one member of the group laughed and said that this would never happen, the old man sitting opposite him interjected saying that the current government would print more money and pay their debt to the power producing sector. He added that large amounts of this money would also be distributed to recipients of the income support programmes and other groups. I sat riveted to the spot and ordered a second cup of tea, so as not to miss any part of the ongoing conversation.
There was a pause in the discussion, as a cigarette was lit and passed around the group, before the old man resumed his thesis: “By enacting this ‘drama’ of providing temporary and jhooti relief, this government will gain two benefits. One, it may retrieve its lost vote bank to win a successful second term or in case of defeat would leave enormous problems for the winner. These problems would also provide enough leverage to make life difficult for the new incumbent.” As the group dispersed, I sat on the charpoy amazed at what I had just heard - words that far surpassed the high sounding intellectual data thrown at us by experts and analysts. I wish some television channel would start a programme that features this conventional wisdom.
I for one, have no faith in the present government to conduct free and fair elections. For all what this memory is worth, the last fair (and this is in the relative mien) balloting was conducted under an army dictator in 1969, so why can’t we have the army and the judiciary supervise the forthcoming elections and ensure that no entity tampers or taints the process.
I also have no faith in the electoral rolls prepared by the Election Commission, as I know that no one visited my family to verify our names as voters and my visit to the Commission’s office was marred by the absence of the required person at his desk.
It is through this week’s column that I urge my readers, especially those that form the ‘silent majority’ to exercise their right to choose. I urge you my friends to take the short walk to the polling station and vote for whoever you think will steer us through the mess we are in, for even now, time may be running out to secure a prosperous future for our coming generations.
The writer is a freelance columnist.