The Centre can not hold.

The political cauldron is on a boil, every master chef,apprentice or busboy throwing in a pinch or two. The resulting concoction is not smelling too good. The appetite for the present dispensation seems to be on the wane. The recent events in Karachi ,the apathetic attitude of the government towards the carnage, all indicate a complete disconnect.The general malaise afflicting our country political and economical, all indicate something is askew. Karachi is our only port and the gateway and hub of commerce, if it comes to a standstill so does all commercial activity in this country. It is also a microcosm of the larger picture, all ethnic components of the country are represented there. The strife and tensions amongst them are reflective of the tensions and forces of dissent at play in Pakistan at the moment. To use them for any short term advantage or political clout is perhaps the most foolhardy approach. The failure to bring Karachi to normalcy will signal a failure of the conventional forces, political and military and certainly signal a beginning of the end.                                                                                                                                                                                         The forces who will benefit are the extremists who thrive on chaos. They come into play whenever there is a crisis in this country be it natural disasters or man made ones. They are organized and somewhat united while the so called liberals are fragmented. They have at their disposal sizable resources, human and material and use them well. It is a time to wake up and smell the coffee for the moderates  or else they shall be history. Stand up and be counted. Bickering and trading insults over the raison d'etre of this country and whether it was actually born on the 14th or the 15th of August 1947 is just strengthening the hands who are waiting to hijack our country. Let us not walk into this trap. Extreme views whether left or right have to be shunned.
The mainstream political parties also must understand they can not continue to exploit Democracy any  longer. If indeed it is a system promising a government of the people, for the people and by the people, then they had better start delivering the for the people component. Time is running out and sadly so are excuses. 

lessons from history...

It almost seems like there is a free for all show playing out in this country. All institutions are under attack and their credibility being questioned. I dare not suggest this is without reason but at times it almost seems excessive. Also the platforms being used to launch these attacks themselves are not above reproach. There is also no credible alternative to the existing system in sight and neither is any being offered by the people clamoring for change. What sends a chill down ones spine is that in absence of this albeit flawed order will come a sort of dis-order and chaos that we can only imagine and the forces who will benefit from that are those that want to take us back to the middle ages. They are armed and waiting in the wings.                                                        These are the people who burn girls schools, destroy music shops, ban working women and all technological advances that may broaden knowledge and encourage enlightenment. What I fear most is that they will come riding on the coat tails of the so-called liberal and enlightened forces who are spurred on by the  anti-west hysteria and a zeal to bring the existing order down. We saw a pre-view in Fazlullah's Swat of what these forces of darkness can do and how they operate. Through their ingenious propaganda they convinced the people that their own security forces were against them and were infidels and hence should be attacked and eliminated. Swat was brought back from the brink by timely action but we may not be lucky the next time around.                                                                                                                                  Good, bad or ugly these are our security forces and whenever there is a threat within or without they do come through. They may be reflective of the same divisions and currents flowing through the rest of our society. However by and large and acknowledged by experts the world over, they are a well disciplined and well trained force. Undermining them at a time when they are engaged in a conflict of such crucial proportions can only prove to be counter productive.                                                                                                                                        
  The freedom the media enjoys, the democracy we so cherish all comes with  responsibility. A responsibility to exercise caution and show moderation and learn from history. Let us not in our zeal to prove our democratic credentials actually saw off the very branch we are sitting on.





                                                                                                                                         

                    










 

slaughter of the innocent....

A hundred and eighty million strong? Yes, No or maybe. At this times it seems a bit  too many, the way these 180million are being done away with. If it is not a suicide bomber then it is a road side bomb and now the latest spate of violence in Karachi where novel and gruesome methods of elimination are being used. Day in and day out the carnage continues and so does the name calling on TV programs. The experts are called in as are govt and opposition functionaries, one is increasingly reminded of Eliot's 'Hollow men', men stuffed with straw. If indeed there was a will to tackle this situation it would have come to light. Calling in the Army seems to be a common demand and an option  at the disposal of the government. However this is no solution until followed up and lent support by a civilian administrative structure.It has failed in the past and it will do so now. Our so called leaders everyone of them have their own offspring holed up abroad while those being slaughtered are the common hapless citizenry. Dynasties are built and perpetuated on the common man's blood but for how long?

up the creek without a paddle

The riots in Britain are a clarion call for us. We are a nation with a very large chunk of young population. At present by our rate of growth, prospects for this youth appear very bleak. We need millions of new jobs every year instead we are losing millions. Every time a factory closes down or an investor moves out of Pakistan, the situation worsens. Whether it is energy shortfall or worsening law and order it is ours to fix. There can be a debate on types of policies or mis-governance but what does one say to total absence of any coherent policy and lack of governance. We can dole out any amount of money in the name of welfare but in the end if we do not actually create livelihoods we may just be a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and then Tottenham will look like a picnic. Already in Karachi  we have seen pre-views of how ugly things can get, when the state abdicates its real responsibility and leaves its young as ready fodder for all kinds of fascist organizations which can prey upon their frustrations and channel them into violence and looting. In the same vein we can continue to mouth platitudes on the importance of education and even construct buildings for that purpose but if we do not provide relevant and skill based education then all we are creating is a half educated and disgruntled youth. Which will eventually for lack of any opportunity turn on its own and result will be complete mayhem.                                                                                                                                          For us the dangers are manifold  not only by way of our worsening economic scenario and social sector deterioration but also the ever increasing religious fanaticism which is ready,able and willing to feed into this frenzy. They have the resources and man power to mobilize and step in where the government fails, whether in the education sector or social sector as we saw in the earthquake and floods. Yet time and again it feels as if there is almost a deliberate apathy to the plight of this nation and its hapless millions on the part of its rulers. The threat of rising extremism is also deliberately and perilously downplayed. One of the most active proponent in this is the Media which while actively fanning anti-Americanism downplays the ever present threat to our life and liberty by the forces of religious extremism. Americas foolhardy and bull in a china shop policy must be condemned as must the threat of a stronger than ever neighbor in India  but it does not mean we cut our own nose to spite our face.  Not one person has yet to openly acknowledge that the 35000 Pakistanis civilian and military have not been killed by the American forces but by our own home grown outfits. The day we acknowledge that without attaching an anti-American or anti-India caveat to it is the day we may start looking to tackle the problem seriously.                                                                                                    

Calling out the bullies...

Physically assaulting women for not conforming to a prescribed dress code. Assaulting and booking men because they were found eating in Ramadan. Parading women in states of undress to humiliate their men folk. Assaulting and sexually abusing little boys housed in seminaries. The list goes on... It is all about the exertion of power, of subjugating those who are physically or socially weak and making them subservient to the powerful few. This goes on almost all over the world but for us it comes with a cover of religion. Somehow, most heinous crimes, be they suicide bombings or cutting off noses and ears of so called errant wives, are all explained away through religion. Whose religion? one may ask ... Well definitely not Islam, not the religion which promises to be a code of life , which had no tradition of organized corrupt clergy and in which God promises forgiveness even for the worst sinners. Moreover with Judges, Juries and Jailors all comprised of menfolk it is in most cases the women and the underprivileged who face the entire force of this dispensation.  Those who speak out for them are either cut down in broad daylight like Governor Taseer or threatened with dire consequences and cowered into submission.  

Be it Dictators or Democrats the laws for women and the weak do not change, even the very powerful Musharraf backed down and back tracked. The present government lost a very courageous man but could not muster enough courage to outright condemn the man made law that spurred his killer. When will this outrage end? We have the Afghan Talibans to our north, the Pakistani Talibans in our midst and in between, all sorts of self-styled religous scholars espousing their mantras , aimed at mostly taming the so-called modern woman: A woman who merely wants breathing room for herself and her family, who wishes to earn her living if she needs to in peace, acquire an education without the family jirga sitting down to decide and be considered as a truly contributing if not equal member of society.                                                                                                                                         

                         

In most countries it is the State which ensures these rights. In our case it is only lip service; we twice elected a woman to the highest office, we have a woman speaker, indirectly elected daughters, sisters, wives and significant others as assembly members but do we hve a spokesperson of credibility amongst them for women rights,just basic rights? A big fat No! Those who have ever dared are shunted into obscurity and yet we hope to compete in the world. I am just taking the case of women as a very obvious example, but it is all those who are marginalized may they be our fast dwindling minorities or those who are at the lowest strata of society totally at the behest of the powerful. If we do not give a level playing field to all, all will soon be lost. This level playing field must be created by enshrining these peoples rights in our constitution in a way which cannot be subverted or misused. In this way, abuse of power in the legal system, in the law enforcement, and in the government can be minimized.