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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Pakistan: Elections or Revulsion against Hall of Shame
Nawaz Sharif has been sentenced to 10 years on corruption charges but he will not serve the sentence because he already fled the country. Why did the higher court allow him to leave the country?
Are the Pakistanis living in a Fantasy World?
(July 9, 2018, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The
logic of July 25 parliamentary elections in Pakistan is questionable as
being a ceremonial stunt to undermine the reality of a highly corrupted
and disoriented political culture. For decades, Pakistan lacks
systematic working capacity to organize fair and honest election
campaigns representing the interest of the masses. Foremost, the intent
to hold elections on a short span of time. Why the interim government
was not formed a year or at least six months ahead of the planned
elections? Given the extreme hot climate and the month of Ramadhan in
between, it should have been a rational discourse. This should have
helped to organize the necessary systematic mechanics of an election
body to plan and organize all facets of the complex elections. For the
missing political accountability and fearful of the on-going legal
actions against Sharif brothers, the whole scenarios of hurriedly
arranged interim government tells a lot. The Sharif regime had no
interest and priority to hold fair elections or to transfer power to
another legitimate political party. They were all sadistic maniacs full
of greed and mismanagement to dehumanize the Pakistani masses. Leaders
are supposed to enjoin a vision of the future, creative thinking and
selflessness, ethical character, a sense of positive thinking and
commitment to serve the interests of the people. None of such profiles
exist of any politicians in the recent history of Pakistan.
Pakistan needs a major change in its constitutional framework, political
systems and the role and responsibilities of the political
establishments. None of this is available in any rational context. If
Pakistan is to spearhead as a sustainable democracy, it needs Major
Planned Changes – a New Constitution, a Presidential system of
governance (elected directly by the people), new political institutions
enriched with young, educated and people of new generation having
proactive vision of articulating a sustainable socio-economic and
political future for the country. This rebuilding of the Nation cannot
be done by just one group or one party already operative under highly
charged corruption and dysfunctional political legitimacy. Have you ever
read “Pakistan- Enigma of Change”-1999; “Pakistan: Leaders or Political
Monsters” 2015, and “Pakistan in Search of Political Change”, 2015 by
this author? Our nation has been robbed by its own so called political
leaders- Bhuttos, few Military Generals, Zardari, Sharifs and Musharraf.
Truthfully, none were leaders except being military backed opportunists
and thumb lickers who could be used for all purposes in all seasons –
legitimate or illegitimate – this is the Pakistan’s junk history for the
last 50 or more years. How could you imagine regaining that precious
time and opportunities for change and development for socio-economic,
political, moral and intellectual infrastructures to sustain the present
and reconstruct the Nationhood? Could this forthcoming July 25
elections make any remedial work for what is required to be undertaken
by hundreds and thousands of thinking people, strategic planners and
political experts? Those who imagine miracles out of nothing, must be
living in a self-engineered fantasy world – a world that does not
corresponding to the prevalent realities of the 21st century.
Could Pakistanis Learn from others and the Challenges of Time?
South Korea sentenced to President Park to 20 years or more on
corruption charges. It was done in a visible systematic legal framework.
Why could Pakistanis not hold Zardari, Ms. Bhutto, Sharif and Musharaf
to the same legal criterion action? Is Pakistan a legally dysfunctional
State? See how Brazilian legal system dealt with the past two
presidents. Now, see how Malaysia handled Najib Razik’s corruption
scandal and being held for a court trial. If the Pakistani political
elite and judiciary were honest and effective, should they have not
taken tangible measures to exercise the legal accountability in a public
court of law against so many political gangsters?
Nawaz Sharif has been sentenced to 10 years on corruption charges but he
will not serve the sentence because he already fled the country. Why
did the higher court allow him to leave the country? Were the Supreme
Court judges ignorant of the fact that he could leave the country and
avoid all measures of legal accountability? This was nothing new in
Pakistani political culture.
Rationality and truth has its own language. Everywhere blame game is
used by the corrupt politicians to cover up their cruel impulses. The
insane egoism does not recognize its own incompetence, criminality and
failure. Across the nation, agonizing situations warrant urgent
attention to deal with insecurity, conflict prevention and conflict
management, Pakistani Taliban’s terrorism, problems in responsible
governance, disdain trade and commerce and to revitalize sustainable
national unity. The dismissed PM Sharif and his colleagues amassed
wealth, stolen time and opportunities for political change and killed
peaceful civilian demonstrators. They react like paranoid and maniacs as
if masses are the problem. If conscientious Pakistanis living abroad
are concerned about the decadent political culture and rebuilding of the
moral, intellectual and economic-political infrastructures, the ruling
elite will ensure to deprive them the opportunity to be heard at a
national level. When people are forced to live in political darkness,
they lose sense of rational direction.
They demonstrated a dehumanized gutted culture of naïve politics, be it
inside the Higher Courts, National Assembly or the political
powerhouses, it makes no sense in a 21st century knowledge-based age of
reason and political accountability. People’s tormenting pains,,
political agony and continuing sufferings cannot be transformed into a
single portrait to show to the global audience. All of the political
monsters have stolen time and looted the wealth and positive energies of
the masses. At a glance, Pakistan appears to be reaching at a
dead-ended political discourse. The political misfortunes needs a high
power jolt of intervention to pave a smooth way out of the stagnated
political culture of the few. People are the legitimate force for change
if there is any glimpse of democracy still operational in Pakistan.
Leaders or Monsters of History – Pakistanis should see the Mirror
The military dictators, Bhuttos, Zardari and Sharifs could never have
come into power unless the whole nation had lost the sense of
rationality, purpose and meaning of its existence. These sadistic and
cruel monsters have institutionalized chaos and fear, demoralization of a
moral society and dehumanization of an intelligent nation and have
transferred these naïve traits and values to the
psychological-social-economic and political spheres of the mainstream
thinking hub of the nation.
Pakistani politics is operated by those who have absolutely no
qualifications to be at the helm of political power – yet they are
continuously engaged in systematic degradation of the educated and
intelligent young generations of Pakistanis who are deprived of
opportunities to participate in the national politics. The contemporary
history of political degeneration includes few generals, neo-colonial
feudal lords, members of the assemblies, family-vested few houses of
political power, ministers or prime ministers; they have the distinction
of all acting in unison against the interest of the people of Pakistan.
Political Power is aphrodisiac. Do the people belong to this mad scrum
overwhelmingly witnessed across the peoples’ movement against the
oligarchy? To an impartial observer the scene is clear that wrong people
are conducting the political governance where reason and legal justice
are outlawed. This contradicts the essence of the Freedom Movement of
Pakistan. It appears logical to think that at some point soon, those who
are fit to lead must take over from those who are misfit to govern with
credibility. It could be a bloodless coup – or it could be a bloody
insurrection. One way or another, the process of phasing-out the
obsolete and phasing-in the fair and much desired and deserving must
happen. Is Pakistan’s freedom and futuristic integrity being sacrificed
for the few dumb and dull criminals who wish to extend their power
beyond the domains of reason and honesty? It will be extremely harmful
and deeply flawed and dangerous ethos to the interests of the people if
Sharif brethren –Bhutto’s family including Zardari remerge in the
outcome of the July 25, 2018 elections and are allowed to continue the
crime riddled political governance while their legitimacy is under sharp
questioning. The path to peaceful change and political success requires
the wise and informed to establish an organized council of responsible
oversight to move-in to the void once the despots are ousted. That is an
essential component of any public uprising determined to manifest
genuine and sustainable political change and legal justice.
In “Pakistan: Reflections on the 70th Independence Day: Imperatives of
Optimism and Future-Making”, Uncommon Thought Journal, USA: 8/15/2017),
this author made the following observations:
The political elite and the people live in a conflicting time zone being
unable to understand the meaning and essence of the Pakistan Freedom
Movement. This purpose needs unwavering public commitment and continuous
struggle to political change. It needs not to be invented, it is living
in the mind and spirit of the people, it just needs to be revitalized
and better organized as the momentum is waiting for the grieving people.
Pakistan urgently needs a savior, not Sharif, Bhuttos or the few
Generals. The solution must come from the thinking people of the new
educated generation – the intelligent Pakistanis to facilitate hope and
optimism for a sustainable future of the beleaguered nation. This should
be the framework of the message and active agenda for change and
reformation as the core of the celebration of the Pakistan’s 70th
Independence Day.
Dr. Mahboob
A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace
and conflict resolution and international affairs with keen interests in
Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of
several publications including the latest: Global Peace, Security and
Conflict Resolution: Approaches to Understand the Current Issues and
Future-Making. Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany, October 2017.