The Mother Of All Follies

From the stock of political jokes of Pakistani politicians comes a new joke. But before we get to it, let’s have a flashback. Our beloved President and Prime Minister are still spending as much money as they can on all the perks, gloss and glitters that they can get their hands on. In the last 6 years alone the President and PM house expenditure combined was at least Rs.860 Million. Now be imaginative and add up the cost of all the Governors, Chief Ministers, Ministers, Secretaries, advisors, their families, servants, dogs, and cats.

The last government had for itself 80 federal ministers; I wonder why the previous government did not induct 20 more for it would have been a century of its own kind. Well now something special has happened, the newly elected Baluchistan Assembly has taken for itself 32 ministers. This is the ugliest joke in a series of jokes that the beloved citizens of this country are used to.

What will Baluchistan do with 32 ministers; well I am sure they will all be busy squandering every single penny they can get hold off. Oh yea if they ever get tired of looting and plundering, some time can be spared to make two teams and play 20-20 cricket match, oh yeah I forgot there’s actually no stadium in Baluchistan where you can play cricket. Well there is one in Quetta; it’s more like an abandoned piece of land. 32 ministers for Baluchistan, so we can all imagine how many more will follow for other provinces.

Bush runs USA with 20 cabinet members, out of which 15 are Secretaries (Ministers), and 5 are equivalent of Secretary. Unfortunately we need more ministers than US Government.

This latest God Damn charade in the name of democracy will not last long in Pakistan, Inflation is 25%, and rising and the Wiseman of Gotham have no solution for solving any ills of the society. Actually I am sorry I forgot they are not there to solve the problem of the rotting people or hungry rib bludgeoning tummies, or patients suffering from power outages in government hospital wards, or those who are about to end their lives out of sheer helplessness and misery. King Goon Nawaz, and his Tag team thug Zardari, are here with the lot to fill their bellies with as much flesh of Pakistani people as they can. There after they can rest in peace in there villas in Switzerland, Saudi, UK, Dubai where ever they may be.

Let us remind our audience that right after the 98 Nuclear Tests, Nawaz imposed emergency, then froze all foreign currency accounts of citizens of this traumatized nation. For himself he made sure that banks were open as late as 4 am, so that money could be transferred into his off shore bank accounts. I am sure he needed it when he was living in comfort in Saudi, and habitually performing Umrah.

Our beneficent Mr. 10%, who claims he is here to change the system, (whoever believes that bunch of bulls***, is either high, or receiving personal checks from Z Party, [in fact, Mr. Hamid Mir believes in Zardari, God bless his intellect, or save him from whatever he has been smoking]). Coming back to point yeah Zardari, hmm what can we say, Horses from Argentina, Villas in UK, Dubai, Swiss accounts, 5 sugar mills under his belt in Sind, making him virtual monopolist of sugar in Sind.

With Finance Minister saying that fuel cost to be increase further 25%, serious power crisis looming over our heads, severe food shortages expected, PPP and MQM ready to test each other’s muscles, and last but not the least the never die, Hollywood style lawyers movement raging to go after the red cloth like a bull I am sure we are in for a great journey under the umbrella of Democracy.

THE END OF HISTORY?

“This mic device
I spit nonfiction
who got tha power
this be my question
Tha mass of tha few in this torn nation?
Tha priest tha book or tha congregation?
Tha politricks who rob and hold down your zone?” (Rage against the Machine)

While Musharraf clings onto his seat of power, the nation is being pushed to the brink of disaster. I once wrote that Musharraf’s political journey is on a highway where the end leads to a big pit, and there are very few exits left to take. The last exit is where Musharraf should resign. If Musharraf falls in the pit, he will not fall alone entire nation will fall with him. Unfortunately it seems that Musharraf has chosen to stick it to his opponents for as long as he can. His glory might not be reminiscent of Shah of Iran, but certainly his downfall will be. As Robert Fisk eloquently puts it in his bestseller book “The Great War for Civilization”, “The fall of Shah was an epic. His downfall has about it something of a medieval morality play, even ancient tragedy. It might have qualified as Greek if the Shah had been a truly great man who fell from grace through a single flaw. But he was not a great man and his sins were many. Hubris was perhaps his greatest crime;...One of the most impressive of the revolutionary posters depicted the Shah in his full regalia, crown toppling from his balding head hurtling towards the everlasting bonfire as the avenging Ayatollah swept above him on wings of gold.”

Musharraf’s paranoia has led him to be more isolated than ever before. It’s really ironic to see a leader fall as bad as Musharraf has, I remember his press conference, with Indian journalist at breakfast where for the first time he made the Indian media, people, and the Indian government acknowledge that dialogue with Pakistan is not complete without addressing the root cause of Kashmir problem. He came back from that trip as a hero not accepting any resolution or draft that ignores Kashmir. His recent press conference was also a memorable one to watch, he seemed to have lost some weight, does not wear his uniform often either, kept wiping the sweat off his forehead. After imposing emergency the elite class which had so far supported Musharraf through thick and thin, has also isolated him, because they clearly recognize that the emergency had nothing to do with terrorist or extremist, and it turned out to be a Martial Law. The purpose of which was to punish the media, and judiciary for raising its head against the government. Musharraf and Benazir’s deal also seems to be off for now at least.

The United States has also up the anti against Musharraf, I still think it is just a show for the media, given America’s history of supporting dictators and anti-democratic forces; it is too hard to believe. I think that most of the militant linked to Al-Qaeda operating within Pakistan are covertly supported by CIA, and at the moment they are told to lay low, and wait for the right moment.

As far as the opposition parties are concerned, Jamat-i-Islami showed their real face when their thugs manhandled Imran Khan. Jamat-i-Islami just like Islamic Brotherhood has always proved to be a hurdle in progress of Islamic thought in their respective countries. They have hindered Islamic political growth, totally killed Islamic Research and intellectual thinking. I am convinced that both these parties either knowingly or unknowingly have always acted as a puppet of the United States. Imran Khan could have become more potent force in Pakistan’s politics but unfortunately his alliance with Nawaz Sharif and ANP will only bring him bad name. I think that his movement to mobilize students into anti-Musharraf movement is a good step but again his party doesn’t seem to have the resources or the popular support to gather many students. Student bodies of Jamat, MQM, PPP and other political parties have been around for much longer and are more organized.

Pakistan is in a quagmire, courtesy our friends, in Washington D.C (who needs enemies when you have friends like these), and their stooge Musharraf, the totally undemocratic political parties, and other vested interest both foreign and domestic. The situation in Northern Areas, specially Swat, Waziristan is bleak. Reports coming out of Balochistan are not good either. What is further disturbing is that Indian intelligence agencies have made very strong in roads in Afghanistan since 9/11. There intelligence agencies have build a massive setup there, from there they are planning future destabilizing moves against are national interest. Members of Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) are being trained there in Kandahar. CIA has infiltrated the locals in Tribal Areas and Balochistan, for the first time they have direct on ground intelligence from Tribal Areas and Balochistan.

The situation facing Pakistan requires a tough leader. For as the going got tougher Musharraf just got weaker and weaker. Unfortunately I don’t see any real leader emerging who has the courage to pull this country out of the mess it has gotten itself into. Time is of the essence tough, as more time passes; the more it is going to hurt our country and the people of this country. Assault on Judiciary and media are just the first stages of chaos that could engulf us if we don’t rid ourselves off Uncle Sam’s chains of bondage. Let us hope that golden words may be written down in Pakistan’s history. We must act quickly as a nation and rid ourselves of Yankee puppets and their puppet masters for soon time will run out and it will be the end of history!

p.s

“The illegal we do immediately the unconstitutional takes a little longer” ~ Henry Kissinger.

Talha Mujaddidi