fatman17
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Silence of the lambs
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Nawab Mumtaz Ali Bhutto
What became of the promises of roti, kapra aur makan and revenge against the murderers of Benazir Bhutto, grounds on which the PPP received a mandate? How much betrayal will the people tolerate while allowing themselves to be treated like lambs? Of course, they come out and protest, in separate groups, when the festering problems become unbearable, which the government ignores. But there is no organised and united movement as we saw against Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, or that of the lawyers against Musharraf, even though conditions are much worse now than ever before.
The glaring difference between those uprisings and the scattered demonstrations these days is lack of leadership and the non-involvement of political parties in the protests of the people. The smothering factor is the curse of reconciliation which has done no good to the country and is visibly another term for widespread corruption and chaos. Why complain? Join the feast of government and load up to your heart's content with total impunity, is the essence of politics and governance today. Reconciliation has given us democracy based on one-party rule, in which absolute opposites have combined to let the government run amok while they get their pound of flesh.
Transparency International has disclosed that while in 2004, 45 billion rupees were lost in corruption, in 2009 the figure went up to 195 billion rupees, and now it is a whopping 245 billion rupees only until the middle of the year, while the doors of all anti-corruption and accountability institutions remain jammed shut. No surprise at this, when we have a president who is under trial in multiple corruption cases which, as always, he refuses to face and is surrounded by his jail mate criminals, ministers and advisors who, like him, were absconders in a variety of corruption cases and have been salvaged by the American-sponsored deal with the military dictator. Under this, while Musharraf's sins have been forgiven, the current rulers came into assemblies and government shielded by the unconstitutional and immoral NRO which has, not a moment too soon, been struck down by the Supreme Court. But to no avail.
The NRO-produced setup continues while the restored cases are either not being faced or are being dismissed for want of prosecution. The net result is bad governance and loot and plunder with a vengeance, not only of public funds, but also any other source that can be accessed.
Since all anti-corruption institutions have either lost their teeth or are themselves drowned in corruption, the only remaining hope are the courts. But these also seem to have exhausted their punches and are reduced to the last blow under Article 190 of the Constitution which will bring in the armed forces. The better solution, then, would be for the people to shed their somnambulism and take charge.
Change of government has become a desperate need, but Zardari will not quit. Right from the start he has had to swallow one indignity after another: He transferred the ISI to civilian control but had to hastily return it the next day. He restored the judges in panic at 2 a.m. in the face of the long march after having broken his promise to do so four times. Similarly, he had to withdraw the emergency and governor's rule in Punjab which he had imposed some days earlier. The National Security Authority was suddenly taken away from him and given to the prime minister reportedly because Zardari could not be trusted in such a sensitive position. He finally caved in on the issue of giving extensions and appointment of new judges to the Supreme Court after adopting a stubborn negative position.
Most important of all, he had to do after two years of resistance what he should have done within fifteen days of the PPP government's coming into power, and that is to pass the 18th Amendment and do away with the harmful contents of the 17th Amendment. Of course, the 18th Amendment is a trick amendment and lacks honesty: what has been taken away with one hand--i.e., presidential powers--has been sneakily given back with the other--i.e., dictatorship for life for the party chairman, with powers to sack the prime ministers and members of the assemblies.
So far so good for the conciliators, but the people are in agony and angry. They can no longer be manipulated by fake jobs and charity under the Benazir Income Support Scheme. (It is reported that out of the Rs70 billion provided for this purpose in the previous budget, only Rs17 billion reached the people while the rest disappeared into bottomless pockets.)
How much more pain can the people endure and when will the nation rise and express its will?
The political parties and leadership have let the people down. Nothing short of a genuine revolution will suffice now to uproot the deep moral degeneration that has taken hold at all levels of our society. There is urgent need to change the mindset of the people. So now sights have to be focused on the lessons of history. When life becomes unbearable and a movement is born, new leadership emerges from within the revolution. Who had heard of Robespierre and Danton before the French Revolution, Lenin before the Russian Revolution, Mao before the Chinese Revolution or Castro before the Cuban Revolution? The people must not look outwards for guidance but search for leadership within their own ranks. In a country of more than 170 million people clamouring for redemption, it should not be hard to find.
The writer is chairman Sindh National Front
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Nawab Mumtaz Ali Bhutto
What became of the promises of roti, kapra aur makan and revenge against the murderers of Benazir Bhutto, grounds on which the PPP received a mandate? How much betrayal will the people tolerate while allowing themselves to be treated like lambs? Of course, they come out and protest, in separate groups, when the festering problems become unbearable, which the government ignores. But there is no organised and united movement as we saw against Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, or that of the lawyers against Musharraf, even though conditions are much worse now than ever before.
The glaring difference between those uprisings and the scattered demonstrations these days is lack of leadership and the non-involvement of political parties in the protests of the people. The smothering factor is the curse of reconciliation which has done no good to the country and is visibly another term for widespread corruption and chaos. Why complain? Join the feast of government and load up to your heart's content with total impunity, is the essence of politics and governance today. Reconciliation has given us democracy based on one-party rule, in which absolute opposites have combined to let the government run amok while they get their pound of flesh.
Transparency International has disclosed that while in 2004, 45 billion rupees were lost in corruption, in 2009 the figure went up to 195 billion rupees, and now it is a whopping 245 billion rupees only until the middle of the year, while the doors of all anti-corruption and accountability institutions remain jammed shut. No surprise at this, when we have a president who is under trial in multiple corruption cases which, as always, he refuses to face and is surrounded by his jail mate criminals, ministers and advisors who, like him, were absconders in a variety of corruption cases and have been salvaged by the American-sponsored deal with the military dictator. Under this, while Musharraf's sins have been forgiven, the current rulers came into assemblies and government shielded by the unconstitutional and immoral NRO which has, not a moment too soon, been struck down by the Supreme Court. But to no avail.
The NRO-produced setup continues while the restored cases are either not being faced or are being dismissed for want of prosecution. The net result is bad governance and loot and plunder with a vengeance, not only of public funds, but also any other source that can be accessed.
Since all anti-corruption institutions have either lost their teeth or are themselves drowned in corruption, the only remaining hope are the courts. But these also seem to have exhausted their punches and are reduced to the last blow under Article 190 of the Constitution which will bring in the armed forces. The better solution, then, would be for the people to shed their somnambulism and take charge.
Change of government has become a desperate need, but Zardari will not quit. Right from the start he has had to swallow one indignity after another: He transferred the ISI to civilian control but had to hastily return it the next day. He restored the judges in panic at 2 a.m. in the face of the long march after having broken his promise to do so four times. Similarly, he had to withdraw the emergency and governor's rule in Punjab which he had imposed some days earlier. The National Security Authority was suddenly taken away from him and given to the prime minister reportedly because Zardari could not be trusted in such a sensitive position. He finally caved in on the issue of giving extensions and appointment of new judges to the Supreme Court after adopting a stubborn negative position.
Most important of all, he had to do after two years of resistance what he should have done within fifteen days of the PPP government's coming into power, and that is to pass the 18th Amendment and do away with the harmful contents of the 17th Amendment. Of course, the 18th Amendment is a trick amendment and lacks honesty: what has been taken away with one hand--i.e., presidential powers--has been sneakily given back with the other--i.e., dictatorship for life for the party chairman, with powers to sack the prime ministers and members of the assemblies.
So far so good for the conciliators, but the people are in agony and angry. They can no longer be manipulated by fake jobs and charity under the Benazir Income Support Scheme. (It is reported that out of the Rs70 billion provided for this purpose in the previous budget, only Rs17 billion reached the people while the rest disappeared into bottomless pockets.)
How much more pain can the people endure and when will the nation rise and express its will?
The political parties and leadership have let the people down. Nothing short of a genuine revolution will suffice now to uproot the deep moral degeneration that has taken hold at all levels of our society. There is urgent need to change the mindset of the people. So now sights have to be focused on the lessons of history. When life becomes unbearable and a movement is born, new leadership emerges from within the revolution. Who had heard of Robespierre and Danton before the French Revolution, Lenin before the Russian Revolution, Mao before the Chinese Revolution or Castro before the Cuban Revolution? The people must not look outwards for guidance but search for leadership within their own ranks. In a country of more than 170 million people clamouring for redemption, it should not be hard to find.
The writer is chairman Sindh National Front
