An unmanageable chaos

Cash GK · Jun 26, 2022

An unmanageable chaos

The Candid Corner

“I began a revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I’ll do so with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and a plan of action”.

– Fidel Castro

The ceaseless ravages that the country has been subjected to are symptomatic of a malady that may now have gone beyond cure through ordinary measures. A more drastic recipe may be the need to cleanse the country of its myriad afflictions which have infected its body and soul. Some say that such a change is already underway which is reflected in the presence of massive crowds that converge at every calling of Imran Khan. But there are some others who, though not denying its inevitability, contend that this may yet take a while.

The induction of the present government, 70 percent of whose ministers are alleged criminals out on temporary bails from courts of law, reflects just how deep the tentacles of corruption have penetrated, literally robbing the country of its substance and ethos. The worst part is that all its key institutions are criminally complicit in denuding the state of whatever still remains by way of its legitimacy and writ. They are determined to turning Pakistan into a mafia land that would be solely beholden to advancing the personal interests of the ruling crime conglomerate and its associates.

The excesses these institutions have committed in bringing it to this deplorable pass can be gauged from the sordid happenings of that one night when a democratically-elected prime minister was removed through unconstitutional means. While he was still occupying the office of the chief executive of the country, orders were emanating from invisible sources to push things in a certain pre-orchestrated direction. These included the judiciary transgressing into the parliamentary domain in violation of Article 69 of the Constitution, the apex court convening its session at midnight to impose its authority over the legislature, parking of the prisoners’ van to frisk away people if a need would arise, and such other matters which were guided by invisible powers. Its effects are going to be devastatingly long-lasting.

It appears that the state institutions have forgotten about their independence and are, instead, irremediably aligned with these invisible powers. Election Commission and its head operate to advance the interests of their mentors in power; the bureaucracy has become accountable to the ruling elite along the pattern of colonial times; judiciary implements the orders it receives from those who are powerful, but not visible, and the parliament houses turncoats, forever eager to sell their souls for silver coins. In the process, the country has become an object of ridicule for the world, flaunting a cabinet of convicts, criminals and absconders who accompany the prime minister on state visits and are deeply involved in managing the daily affairs of the government. It appears that a relentless drive is ongoing to further perpetuate this criminality so that the state may actually be recognised by this harrowing spectre. In spite of suffering from massive embarrassment, no one from the ruling echelons has displayed any concern. All they want during their stint in power is to make sure that their corruption cases are taken care of irrespective of whether, in so doing, they may completely dismantle the edifice of accountability in the country.

When mental perversion exceeds such limits, it should be automatically assumed that the country has gone beyond the bounds of governance through laws emanating from the constitution. Such are times when people have to resort to extraordinary measures to put things back in order and chisel a clear path for the future. If left to rot in the putrid juices of criminality, perpetrated by some invisible hands, it would sink further into pits of sickness and infamy.

What is absolutely bewildering is that some institutions could actually become partners in a plot to topple a democratic and constitutional government simply because its prime minister wanted to bring relief to its people. Instead of pursuing blind espousal of the west as our lords and masters, he wanted to realign foreign policy in a manner that it would complement its national interests. The ill-founded romance with the US has not only damaged our identity and compromised our sovereignty; it has also caused sufferings for our people and inscribed unmitigated shame across our faces. Let’s not forget that all military take-overs in the country were legitimised externally by the US, and internally by Pakistan’s judiciary through fabricating the concept of ‘doctrine of necessity’.

There are some who believe that a creeping coup is already taking place in the country with judiciary as its mask. It is what brought the institutions together with the singular purpose of shaping the policies of the state to promote their sinister agendas. Principally, this is so because these institutions do not want to let their extra-constitutional authority wilt away, thus bringing them within the ambit of the law as subordinate bodies of the government. It is also a reality that no institution and its managers would be happy with being held accountable for their (mis)deeds. The culture of the ruling elite remaining beyond the parameters of the law is an old habit which remains paramount. Since accountability was a foundational pillar of Khan’s government, and he was also unwilling to compromise it, he had to be removed with external and internal players contributing in equal measure to take things back to the sick old days and the utter rot it has automatically wreaked. That is what these people have been used to in the past and this is what they seek to keep in practice in the future also.

This mindset had a major role to play in the recent conspiracy to topple the government of Imran Khan. From refusing to alter a disdainful subservience of Pakistan before the US and its diktat and reiterating an extra-constitutional role for themselves, the institutions converged and shamelessly put together a government of convicts, criminals and absconders. In the process, the state was administered a grievous injury which may be extremely difficult to heal in these times of severe moral and economic collapse.

With these institutions remaining wedded to prolonging this criminal enterprise, the chances of retrieval through the constitution and the rule of law remain extremely thin. In the face of gross use of state authority to perpetuate the hold of the crime syndicate, the power of the people is the only way to bring order and legitimacy back to the country. If they are denied their right to stamp their voice through holding early elections, the likelihood of Pakistan plunging into an unmanageable chaos increases with every day.

The writer is a political and security strategist and the founder of the Regional Peace Institute