Dear Readers,
The post-World War II period saw many nations gain independence, in Asia that included Burma (Myanmar), Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Laos, Carnbod’a, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and a few more. Where do we stand compared to many of these countries in respect of progress, development and economic prosperity? Dark clouds have hung over Pakistan’s future almost perennially since independence, except perhaps for a handful of its early years and some years down the line. Today, the story remains the same; the only difference is that the situation has gone from bad to worse. Doomsday sayers and those who want to harm Pakistan predicted imminent collapse of the State, while that is not impending, a slow-burning fuse has been lit that does not bode well for us.
Even after sixty plus years Pakistan has not been able to mature (or allowed to mature) into a polity ruled by elected representatives and today it is suffocated by the greed, corruption and incompetence of its leadership and their kith and kin yet there is no remorse or regret and no shame, the plunder goes on. Perched on a fragile base, the government faces very harsh economic woes coupled violent protests against electricity shortages and a host of other serious problems. With PM Gilani having to bear the ignominy of ouster from office by a verdict of the Supreme Court and earlier being convicted and sentenced by the same court, one does not perceive any change in their outlook, it is business as usual. When one of the PM’s foreign interlocutors remarked that one-third of Pakistanis wished to leave the country out of deep despair, Mr Gilani very prompt reply was, “Why don’t they? Who’s stopping them?” Can anyone imagine the PM of a country ‘encouraging’ his people to leave the country, what kind of message does that give to foreign investors? The number of scandals (Hajj scam, Memogate, Ephedrine, etc) that have erupted during this government’s tenure must also be a record of sorts. For the benefit of readers I am reproducing my article “THE ROAD TO PERDITION”.
That Yusuf Raza Gilani continued as PM for 54 days beyond April 26 illegally was no big deal given that he alongwith his entire family were playing fast and loose with the rule of law (ephedrine case, Haj scam, etc) for the 1494 days he remained the Chief Executive of the country. PPP’s choosing discretion over confrontation was also no surprise, one must congratulate Zardari for successfully using Gilani as a sacrificial lamb in keeping with his gameplan to divert the Supreme Court focus away from himself. Zardari always compromises in the face of danger, whenever in trouble he buys time to survive. After all the grandstanding, when push came to shove Zardari let Gilani go without so much as a whimper!
Consider a somewhat similar politico-legal situation in India in the 70s and 80s responsible for the culture existing in business and politics today. Former Chief Election Commissioner of India TS Krishnamurthy says that two people most responsible for the decline of public morality in India were Indira Gandhi for political morality and Dhirubhai Ambani for business Ethics. In his article “Success sans ethics” of June 4, 2012, S. Gurumurthy quotes an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer known for his honesty and integrity as saying “political morality crashed with the “advent” of Indira Gandhi, and business became “buccaneering” with the “rise” of Dhirubhai Ambani”. Indira Gandhi blatantly used political power and discarded political morality. Raw power became her weapon to subdue her own party and government and ultimately the country itself,” unquote. Indira Gandhi made political success, not political morality, the ultimate test. A leading interpreter of Constitutional law, prominent lawyer Nani Palkhivala, who successfully moved the Indian Supreme Court to declare clause (4) Article 360 of the Indian Constitution excluding judicial review of Constitutional amendments was unconstitutional, said, “she “defaced” and “defiled” the Constitution”.
Gurumurthy added, “during Indira Gandhi’s time the office of the Prime Minister, always beyond reproach, lost its moral stature, faced charges corruption (Maruti affair) and was even suspected of other crimes (Nagarwala scam). Renowned Indian activist Jayaprakash Narayan wrote to Indira Gandhi from jail that she had inherited great institutions and values but was leaving behind a miserable wreck of all that. Politicians charged with corruption and other offences shamelessly sought protection under rules of criminal law like criminals do – namely proof beyond reasonable doubt in courts,” unquote. Sound familiar?
Ambani, Gurumurthy says, “became invincible by co-opting the rule-makers to make sub-rules comfortable for him comply with, thus making the breaking of rules unnecessary, partnering the state and non-state actors and sharing with them the illicit fortunes of his business. Media not only mocked at Tata’s ‘failure’ to succeed like Ambani but glorified Ambani’s success “sans ethics”. Ambani never fought the bureaucracy or media like Indira Gandhi did, he bought them instead. He measured everyone’s worth in cash. Today’s scams of billions of dollars or cash-for-news have their origin in the Ambani model of partnering the main state and non-state actors and sharing the spoils with them”. Malik Riaz measures the worth of people by the plots of land they accept from him.
Indians will kindly forgive us for comparing the uncanny Indira Gandhi and Dhirubhai Ambani behavioral resemblance with Asif Zardari and Malik Riaz, their Pakistani clones having far lesser moral compunctions. Generally Indira Gandhi stayed away from business and Ambani from politics, Zardari and Malik Riaz combine this in full partnership, complementing each other’s strengths and protecting the weaknesses in each other’s flanks. The Malik Riaz connection to the uniform is vital for any politician in Pakistan, he seems to have the keys to GHQ, seemingly even making inroads in the ISI. Force-multiplying Zardari’s powers as no other politician in Pakistan before him makes for a lethal combination.
Self-made Malik Riaz’s real estate business has certainly contributed to Pakistan’s economy, housing starts always do, his macho methods of acquiring land by force notwithstanding. He matter of factly admits paying bribes without embarrassment, getting quite a return on his “investment”. What happened to the Rs 62 billion (about US$ 700 million) paid to him by Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Islamabad, forcing them to re-schedule re-payments to the banks? Why did Lt Gen Imtiaz commit suicide? He has exploited to the hilt the proclivity of a mere handful Army officers (in contrast to the overwhelming vast silent majority) to acquire more than their legitimate due of one house and one plot, in some cases multiple times more. In Army parlance the presence of two Bahria employees, former Directors of the ISI and the ISPR, in the Supreme Court was “a show of force”. To quote Samuel Butler, “Morality is the custom of one’s country and the current feeling of one’s peers. Cannibalism is moral in a cannibal country”, should one censure Malik Riaz for finessing our culture of land-grabbing through paid goons quite successfully?
Nobody paid attention to my article “NOT THE NRO ALONE” of Dec 3, 2009, “With access to intelligence files denied to others, the Service Chiefs cannot continue to live in a state of blissful ignorance. Soldiers have died (and are dying) in Swat, and are dying in South Waziristan, their leaders must stand up and be counted. They have two options, to either boldly reject the data in those files against President Zardari as false and without credibility, or if there is reasonable doubt about their Supreme Commander, to put it before competent authority, in this case the SC, for further process”.
The Supreme Court (SC) must be regretting not fast-tracking the process after declaring the NRO null and void ab-initio. By the same token that they got rid of Gilani, in the face of their NRO judgment how could they ever allow Zardari to remain President? Zardari is dangerous when cornered, wounded by the NRO judgment he became lethal. To survive he had to destroy the two institutions that could bring his house of criminality down, the judiciary and the Army. While not happy at Haqqani being declared a traitor, at whose behest did he take his ill-fated initiative? While the Supreme court stand its ground in the attempted Arsalan Iftikhar blackmail, many “Dirty Tricks” (DTs) remain in Zardari’s armoury, expect plenty more in the future, Arsalan Iftikhar was just for starters. Gilani was sacked for not writing the required letter to the Swiss, how come the prime beneficiary of the letter not written gets to handpick the next sacrificial lamb who will also not write the letter? The country will be kept in limbo without an endgame because of the SC judgments.
Gurumurthy answered his question, “is everything lost?” himself, “No, there are good men and women in politics and business in India, we will await a Shastri-like leader to emerge”. By standing up, the citizens of India saved their institutions and this country. The good men and women (and children) of Pakistan are waiting patiently for leaders (in and out of uniform) to re-discover their conscience beyond houses and plots, how long will they remain in sync with those presently running amok under the cover of the Constitution?.
Who will save Pakistan from sliding down the one-way road to perdition?
