NOW, MORE THAN EVER!

After considerable time, I desire to write again for my country; Pakistan. The reasons for not writing before were many. However to keep it brief, one of the main reasons was that so much has been going in Pakistan since last two years that it had been hard to come to terms with.

We have been hearing since last two decades that Pakistan is standing at a ‘critical juncture.’ I believe that never before we have been in such a state of turmoil like we are in now. We, the privileged class, have miserably failed in aiding Pakistan. Pakistan has been wounded for last two decades. However, since the last five years Pakistan has faced some serious injuries. These injuries have not been attended to and unfortunately, there has been enormous bleeding. We are racing against time. During this time, the momentum has already been built to critically damage Pakistan. The ‘Great Game’ plan is coming closer to its climax. Today, we have been forced to believe that we are the warriors against ‘terrorism.’ We have been forced to understand that our prestigious Pakistan Armed Forces is no longer required against our traditional and geo strategic rivals. However, our glorified soldiers of the Pakistan Armed Forces are mere tools which they want to be disposed only to aid the anti-Pakistan interest in the region. The notion which is being marketed by the western powers is that ‘India is not the greatest threat to Pakistan.’ It is true indeed. The ruling class of Pakistan is our biggest threat. This threat endangers our existence; the very existence which allows us to have the potential to become a glorified nation.

Pakistan has become ‘democratic’ indeed. The democracy has flourished so much in the last few years that our self-centred leaders have become capable of running their own mini-states. The so called ‘provincial autonomy’ is a sword in disguise intended to threaten the existence of Pakistan. These so called leaders are all tainted with allegations of corruption, extortion, and all sorts of heinous crimes. They have succeeded in allowing the cancer to breed within Pakistan. Now, they will preach their own thought to tell our future generations that the only Quaid, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was less important than their sub nationalist heroes. Quaid had envisioned a state where ‘a Muslim will seize to be a Muslim, a Christian will seize to be a Christian, and a Hindu will seize to be a Hindu.’ However, our leaders will preach a state where a ‘Punjabi will seize to be a Punjabi, a Pakhtun will seize to be a Pakhtun, a Balochi will seize to be a Balochi, a Sindhi will seize to be a Sindhi, and not to forget a Mohajir will seize to be a Mohajir.’ All these ethnic classes are today represented by selfish opportunist waiting to ‘seize’ their moment of glory.

Once again we look towards the creators of the brand ‘democracy.’ We forget again the recent past where we were stranded by them after the fall of the Soviet Union. We forget again that they are the ones who led to the embarrassment of Dr. AQ Khan. We forget again that they are the ones who incite our so called leaders to tame the army through their ‘Kerry Lugar’ bills. We forget again that they are the ones which are constantly caught red handed taking information about our nuclear assets. We forget again that they are ones which strive hard to equip our neighbours with hi-tech equipment and nuclear technology. We forget again they played their part in all major events from assassination of Liaqat Ali Khan to the demise of Benazir Bhutto. It seems like our both long and short term memories have been weakened. It might be possible that we have a clot in our brain. This clot is not red but it has the colours of the flag of the United States of America.

Yet, we try harder to please the oppressors. We travel thousands of miles to seek an aid of USD 1.5 billion from them. Yet, we fail to control the corruption in tenure of a government which seems to exceed hundreds of billions of dollars. We fail to extract our resources which have been gifted to us by God when Pakistan was made. We only strive to become the blue-eyed boy of them knowing that they have only blurred our vision.

Our ‘brotherly’ countries are looking towards our neighbours for avenues of ‘economic cooperation.’ The Sino Pak relationship is just on paper due to our immense interest in aiding China’s real enemies. We face our backs to our natural allies in the hope of becoming modern. We force our traditional allies to rethink their views about us. We force them to believe that we have already gone too far. As a result, we allow our leaders to make a mockery of our nation.

We are today worried about removing our leaders in order to save the ‘federation.’ The ‘federation’ in which no leader of the parliament believes in.

My advice to them would be that the ‘federation’ lies with the power of the people of Pakistan. This Islamic Republic of Pakistan was meant for the welfare of the people. These people are neither represented by a leader nor an ethnicity. They are represented by their current state of affairs. Poverty is what they are represented by. These people wait when they will smile again knowing that they have forgotten how to smile. These people still hope for a miracle because they believe that Pakistan was God’s miracle on Earth.

Yes, this is the time when we need it the most; a leader which can spark the flames waiting in dark. A leader which truly possesses the traits of a tiger defined by courage and dignity. Before the arrival we desperately need to seek forgiveness from God. We need to understand that God will reignite these flames if we place ourselves under Him. Because He is the one which has glorified us before. He is the one who has made Pakistan possible. And, Inshallah He will be the One who will make a leader rise from within. This leader will Inshallah cure our ‘cancer.’ We need this leader now, more than ever!

Zia Ul Haq - The forgotten culprit: Part II

I am not defending Bhutto on these grounds. In fact, I am defending him on other grounds. Yes, he used power to kill opponents. There is no doubt about that. But, the reason for which he was killed was unjustified. His death was unjustified. We agree that he was a charismatic leader indeed. My point of view is that in Pakistan there are a lot of problems.

Ever since our founder's death there has been a lot of corruption of all sorts in our government. They range from political corruption to financial corruption. Politics is a dirty business in our country and this is a known fact. Yes, I agree that it should not be there and Pakistan should have no corruption at all. But, the truth is that when you have so much dirt to clean we cannot be picky. You take things one at a time. As a start I believe that no change can come in Pakistan overnight. It has to be in phases. The utmost priority of our government should be to eliminate corruption. For that to happen, we need to first control the financial corruption or change the system. In Pakistan, no leader except the Army people are powerful enough to do that. Bhutto should be given the credit for uniting the nation on a constitution. This is a big achievement because a country whose politicians are so diverse and dynamic and who are not even able to settle on an LFO, then it must have been a brilliance of an extraordinary man to pass a whole set of laws, the 1973 constitution. Not only this, he organized the world's largest Islamic Summit in Lahore, which was attended by one of the most prolific leaders. In addition, he got Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan to our country. If he was not there, would we have been the first Islamic nuclear power? Ofcourse not.

Second, there is no doubt in my mind that Bhutto played a certain role in splitting the country. I will not even say anything else to justify that. But, I do not defend him on this ground. I defend him because after the separation he made us powerful again. He picked a country from bits and pieces. Yes, he came to politics through Army, Mr. Ayub Khan who belongs from my maternal roots, but he came to power through the people. And, we all know that Army was already involved in its atrocities with the Bengalis way before the separation. This was bound to happen anyway. If we did not, do you think the Western powers would have allowed such an arrangement of a divided country to take place? Would India have not tried its level best to separate us at some point in time? The truth is that East and West Pakistan was never a reality. But, yes the separation was one of the saddest time in our country. But, we recovered after that. And, we recovered well only because of one man; Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Yes, he nationalized everything and that hurt the industrialists in Pakistan. But, that also was necessary during that era. Because, 22 families in Pakistan had 90 percent of the wealth of Pakistan. He did not loot them but he only took over their business with not so appropriate compensation. We all know that if Bhutto was born in this era then he would have been in favor of privatization because times have changed. At that time, we were against the imperialists and we were starting from scratch.

I do not understand some people. They tend to overlook the fact that Z.A. Bhutto had never been allegedly involved in any financial corruption. Is this not enough to prove a leader's worth? Again, in a country where billions of dollars have been looted during the 1990s it is a shame that people overlook the financial aspect. There is no rocket science involved in it. The money which has been stolen from our national treasuries, if recovered can make a significant difference on our poverty levels. We, the blessed class of Pakistan, can sit in our air-conditioned rooms and talk about the minute issues such as Bhutto killed opponents. Or, he separated our country even though it was bound to happen. But, we do not represent the masses of Pakistan. The masses of Pakistan are impoverished and deprived. Their utmost concern is being able to eat 2 times a day - 'do wakt ki roti.' I have seen these people closely because I, myself, do not belong from the metropolitan cities.

Bhutto, a man who slapped his own cousin because he wanted to study abroad in Germany on governments expense, could not have been a man of financial greed. Yes, he was hungry for power. But, if a man has a desire to serve the people and that is his appetite, then doesn't he be rightful of that hunger for power ? If a man understands the need of our masses and says he will provide them with 'Roti,Kapra Aur Makan' - (Food, clothes, and shelter) - then isn't he a class of its own. I would suggest everyone to read the manifesto of Pakistan Peoples Party and discover what Bhutto really was.

Again, Bhutto was not the factor that caused the separation infact he was the catalyst who caused it. If the Bangladeshi administration was ever loyal then they would not have allowed India to enter the war. We all know that we would have surrendered anyway. See, if a father and a son in their house and the neighbors are involved, it takes the matter into another context. This is what happened with West and East Pakistan. No family likes the interference of outsiders in their internal matters. But by calling the neighbor you make the thing more public and therefore more egos are involved. Therefore, no sensitive matter is successful if it is publicized too much.

Now at the end about Zia Ul Haq. He was not forced to come in. If he hanged Bhutto and would have left power, I assure you I would have respected him a bit more. But he stayed in the country for 11 years after taking oath on the Holy Quran. If people are so concerned about killing people who opposed Bhutto, then is this not a biggest 'sin' to move away from an oath taken on the most religious book for our people. Isn't that more embarrassing for Pakistan when a nation is lied on religious grounds? Or is it more embarrassing to have elections rigged to gain an overwhelming victory? We all know that even in fair and free elections Bhutto would have won with a majority. But, his problem was that he wanted complete power which would have extended to around 90 percent. Again, I never claim he was an angel. But, he was one of an intelligent devil's mind who was dealing with fire when our country separated. I reiterate that we are not Denmark or Sweden where there is no sorts of corruption at all. We have to make the most out of what we have. Moving on, about the 'achievement' Zia Ul Haq in getting the American government sided with us.

Please do not tell me that America came to us because of Zia. Zia was so unpopular at the beginning that no one was talking to him at international level. Americans needed us and we helped them. I support Zia on this decision. But, what about the aftermath ? Did we forget the Ojri Camp 'accident' ? The amount of people killed from early 90s to today through countless AK 47. The bullets have come from where? Do you know that ? The whole culture of guns came from where? Karachi has become a playground but where did the toys come from ? Who killed Zia in plane crash ? Are we so insane now that we still think that America can be of our help ?

I support Bhutto for what positive he has given. Yes he had flaws like any other human being. But, to even his opponents he was the most intelligent they have ever encountered. He was the youngest minister when we became the Energy Minister during General Ayub Khan's reign, at the age of just 29. I support him because he had achievements. Importantly, he got Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan to Pakistan. If there was no N-bomb then India would have been one, ruling Pakistan, God forbid. Yes, N-bomb should not be our priority because we are a poor nation. But when you have to choose between standing up against a size three times bigger than you, and going to slavery I will never hesitate in choosing the former.