Zardari – My Bit for Change

Goodbye Mr President

Good Bye Mr.President. Those who announced to drag you on streets gave you an honourable farewell in the end. Five years of Zardari regime will be remembered in the history of Pakistan. Corruption, incompetency, lawlessness and ‘mofahimat’ (reconciliation) are the ‘golden’ words of Zardari’s era. If our memory is not too short, we must not forget the long list of corruption scandals PPP government got on its credit. It can easily be marked as the most incompetent government of all times which failed to solve any crisis whatsoever. Rather, it made everything worse. No doubt, it inherited a lot of issues from the regime of Musharraf but it is also a reality that people think of Musharraf era, a’ lesser evil’ in comparison with Zardari tenure.

When Zardari came into power after assassination of his wife, he raised the slogan ‘Pakistan khappey’ which was welcomed across the board. But his decisions/actions were contrary to his slogans. Main goal of the regime was to install Jiyalas on every post and reward PPP stalwarts as if Pakistan was their inherited property.
Incompetency to solve the economic, energy and security issues proved to be disastrous for Pakistan. They raised the slogan that Democracy is the best revenge and indeed the nation felt the revenge. Moreover, murderers of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto remained at large throughout PPP era.

It’s easy to criticize a government which is gone now. Especially when people have given them a real life feedback for their bad governance in the recent years, yet we should not forget that Pakistan touched all lows in Zardari’s era. Zardari has left the office thinking about reorganizing the party to get the next turn or may be bringing Bilawal Bhutto forward to take the next turn. But political legacies and their alternating turns should come to an end now.

PM Nawaz Sharif bade farewell to Zardari in a cordial manner. Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif must be reminded of their speeches of the election days when they were openly abusing Zardari. That’s the dilemma of Pakistani politics. The language of public gathering is totally different from drawing room meetings for our politicians. Whatever they promise with public, they easily forget it behind the close doors.

Will Sharif’s be any different in the office? We have to see carefully. They have installed a puppet in the President house. PM holds key ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence with him and Finance ministry is already out for loans. But I hope that they work responsibly towards national issues. The government has five years to go and I believe they should be given a fair chance to show their real face or service. I believe if Pakistan can survive the disastrous era of Zardari, it will be able to survive the era of Nawaz Sharif also and then people will realize that they are two sides of the same coin.
Zardari era is gone, but the memories will chase us even in the nightmares.

And the legacy goes on..

And the legacy goes on.. Part I

Jeay Bhutto! That was the slogan being heard everywhere in Ghotki on 12^th May 2012, when a million people gathered for a PPP rally in which not even a national level leader was present. And mind you, they were no T-shirt/jeans clad Pakistanis on whom everyday problems of load shedding, high fuel prices and unaffordable food don’t make an effect. They were ordinary people most of them from villages who are supposedly hardest hit by the policies of this corrupt and inefficient PPP government. If our biased mainstream media is to be believed, then these very down trodden people are so fed up of this government that they are ready to kick their leaders out into orbit as soon as they get a chance. However, ground realities paint a totally different picture: Just the figure of 1 million far exceeds the ‘Tsunami’ Khan’s all jalsa attendances put together – OK maybe not quite. Add to this most by-elections won by the ‘People’s Party’ in the last 4 years and it will make our media people look like they are reporting from another planet.

We know for sure that the government is corrupt and inept, that everyday items are getting out of reach of the common man, there is no electricity, no gas, no fuel available; so the million dollar question arises that why do people still flock to the Party? Is it still Bhuttoism 33 years after his death that attracts them? We take a critical look.

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the founder of PPP was a very able intellectual.He was a born leader and a shrewd politician. Ok, he came into recognition riding on a dictator’s shoulders but that doesn’t matter because everyone does that in the Land of Pure. After all, dictators have ruled the country – directly or indirectly – for the better part of our country’s existence. But ZAB knew how to get people behind him, he knew the raw nerves of the nation and he knew how to exploit situations to his advantage. As we see here, he was an opportunist.

After remaining in Ayub’s cabinet in important ministries for years, he broke ranks with him when he sensed that the dictator was on a decline and formed his own party. In the 1970 elections, barely 3 years after the creation of the party, he won 81 seats out of 138 on offer in West Pakistan (no mean achievement), while Mujibur Rehman’s Awami League clean swept whole of Eastern Wing by grabbing 160 out of the 162 seats.

There is no doubt that the seeds of hatred with the Bengalis were sown by the military dictator, but Bhutto had the opportunity to save the country had he accepted Awami League’s landslide victory and not refused to attend the inaugural session of the National Assembly in Dhaka scheduled to be held on March 3, 1971. Instead, when military action was ordered against East Pakistan by Gen Yahya Khan, Bhutto supported it and is on record to have said, “Thank God, Pakistan has been saved”. Here is he publicly abusing our Bengali brothers and calling them swine.

The pro-PPP writers and social media people accuse the Army of eating up all the budget of the poor awaam while remaining silent on their own leader’s offspring living in luxurious palaces built by money looted from the same awaam. They say that the nuclear bombs are a waste of money while it was their founder leader who said that “Pakistanis would eat grass but build an atom bomb”.
And grass is what the poor man is eating today.

And the legacy goes on.. Part II

Bhutto’s ouster from power through a military coup in 1977 marked the start of arguably the darkest period of our history. We are still reaping the results of the seeds of blunders sown during those 11 years of Zia-ul-Haq’s rule. But it was ZAB’s politically motivated hanging in 1979 that immortalised his name. This gave birth to the term ‘siasi shaheed’ – a term which we are still getting to terms with! It is a term which PPP has cashed time and again and still doesn’t hesitate to do whenever the need arises.

ZAB’s heir apparent – yes that’s what happens in our democracy – Benazir Bhutto was again a very intelligent lady. Harvard and Oxford educated, yet not able to speak the national language properly, she after the death of her father went through very tough times languishing in jails all over the country. But ultimately, as all political bigwigs in Pakistan do, she went on her first exile to UK leaving her faithful party workers – the jiyalas – behind to face the wrath of the Monster in Uniform. With opportunism reminiscent of her father, she returned home to a historic reception in Lahore in 1986 when the dictator was on his last legs. The key point here is historic reception by the same very people she had deserted, the same very people who her father had falsely promised with roti, kapra & makaan and the same people who for years to come would still be chanting tirelessly the name of Bhuttos.

The Bhuttos were always feudals and their hold on power hinged on keeping the masses illiterate. More you educate a person, more the chance of him to recognise your true face; that was – and still is – the philosophy of Bhuttoism. Benazir, having studied and lived abroad for a large part of her life had no real connection with the common people. Yet for reasons mentioned above, people still came to her rallies in hordes to listen to her speeches which in reality neither had any substance nor sense. Like her father, she would shout at the top of her voice the same hollow slogans of roti, kapra and makaan and reminded the people of the great sacrifices her father gave for them.

Her two short reigns in power were largely unstable and her Cabinet stank of corruption, particularly her husband Asif Ali Zardari whom she had given a free hand to loot the same awaam that still chanted ‘Jeay Bhutto’. After her second exile lasting 8 years, she returned home through the infamous NRO thus cleansing her and her husband of all the sins they had committed so far. Her death in a bomb blast in Rawalpindi created yet another ‘siaisi shaheed’ to keep the PPP bandwagon rolling. But what about the name ‘Bhutto’ that she was carrying to the grave with her? With her two brothers already dead and her sister Sanam not in politics, Benazir was the last in the clan to bear the infamous name. What would happen to the PPP when the Bhutto dynasty is finished?

But out came a ‘will’ and as we all know where there is a will there is a way! Benazir’s husband, according to the will would become the new chairman of the biggest democratic party in Pakistan – yes, you heard it right: Through a will, not through an election! He quickly adds Bhutto to his son’s name making him Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, makes him the co-chairman of the party and thus the legend lives on. Zardari becomes the President of the Islamic Republic riding on Bhutto’s name and keeps his presidency and government alive with the same old words of roti, kapra & makaan and the sacrifices of the family.

But you’ve got to admit that there is something about these Bhuttos, that X factor that keeps the people mad and flocking to their calls. Bilawal, studying in Oxford and living the better part of his life abroad is just as bad as his mother speaking the language of the land, the language of the people he dreams of leading tomorrow. He is as disconnected from his people as his mother was, yet when you see the following clip, you’ll notice an air of Bhuttoism in him. You’ll notice the same rhetoric repeated again and again like a déjà vu.

Only if our people were educated enough to see the reality through this myth called Bhuttoism!

PM conviction – the battle will go on!

Though the much awaited detailed verdict handed down by the seven-member bench in the contempt of court case against PM Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani fell short of the expectations of many, but the verdict has at least cleared the mist of confusion on the political horizon, putting the Prime Minister in the irreversible process of disqualification.

However, the PPP would be getting their planned design of lingering the legal course till final conclusion of the on-going legal battle is successfully executed, courtesy the lengthy and tedious legal process. But the detailed judgment in the contempt of court case had sealed the fate of the Prime Minister who would hardly avoid disqualification as member Parliament.But the Prime Minister’s “sacrifice” surely would buy some more breathing space for the ruling coalition to sail through the troubled waters by successfully presenting the fifth and final budget, which would be the only constitutional obligation to be met by the ruling coalition.

The decision of going in appeal against the judgment was already made by the PPP leadership, even much before the handing down of the short order of the court on April 26. Some senior party leader, who did not want to disclose their identity, said that the conviction of Prime Minister in the case was obvious and that was the reason they had already decided that they would exhaust all legal and constitutional remedies in the on-going battle with the superior judiciary.

Some insiders in the party said that the legal brains of the party would file appeal against the verdict in the case for which right now the court has not requisite strength to constitute a larger bench to take up the appeal. At present out of the nine available judges apart from the seven members who had convicted the Prime Minister in contempt of court case, three had expressed their inability to sit in the larger bench leaving the court with just six judges. So in given circumstances the court would be requiring at least two more ad hoc or additional judges to constitute a larger bench to take up the appeal of the Prime Minister.

The determination of the Prime Minister to go into appeal could be judged well from the fact that he did not even wait for landing of his plane in London and gave statement on-board his special plane that he would file appeal against the court judgment for which instructions had already been given to his counsel Barrister Ch. Aitzaz Ahsan.

Under the law, the Prime Minister could file an appeal against his conviction, which could ultimately lead to his disqualification as member of the Parliament, till May 26 as the 30-days time would be counted from the day of handing down of the short order by the court. In the meanwhile, the Supreme Court would initiate the legal process of getting the court order implemented by sending the copy of detailed judgment simultaneously to Speaker National Assembly and Chief Election Commissioner.

Speaker National Assembly, under the rules of business and procedure, is bound to forward the reference against Prime Minister to Chief Election Commissioner within 30 days period for action while the Chief Election Commissioner would have 90 days at maximum to de-notify him as member of the Parliament which would automatically remove him for the slot of Prime Minister.Pakistan People’s Party wants to have breathing space for another couple of months to successfully present the fifth and final budget and then the Prime Minister could even resign portraying that the PPP has great respect for the judiciary and try to mould the public opinion in their favour.

Anyone from the party would step in his shoes as Prime Minister to again defy the court’s direction in the NRO implementation case and could drag the matter till the holding of next elections and establishment of the caretaker set up. By the time they would successfully exhaust the premature campaigns being launched by some of the political parties with Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) as the forerunners. Political and legal analysts watching the situation were of the view that Mian Nawaz Sharif had made some hasty decision after the handing down of the short order of the apex court convicting the PM and should have waited till the detailed judgement. Similarly Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf and Jamaat-I-Islami have to follow PML-N and as they were not prepared for it their shows in support of the superior judiciary were off-colour or they could not leave some marked impact, which would definitely have some sort of impact on the judiciary as well.

These analysts were of the view that contrary to the political players the judiciary was playing safe and were not in haste in getting their orders implemented and that was the reason the judges of the superior courts were adopting judicial restraint in their decision and handling of various cases. Even in the detailed judgment in the contempt of court case against Prime Minister the seven-member bench could have given some clear-cut direction to Chief Election Commissioner for disqualification of the Premier but the court had once again showed judicial restraint, leaving the matter of Prime Minister’s disqualification to be executed through the laid down legal and constitutional process.

The legal and constitutional experts are of the view that despite the provocative statements and sarcastic remarks coming from PPP leadership the Supreme Court of Pakistan has not taken any hostile posture against the rulers while dealing with cases of sensitive nature and adopted judicial restraint to avoid clash-like situation to save the institutions as well as the on-going political process.

With all this battle and political tug of war going on the masses remain an irrelevant entity, busy in sorting out load shedding, protesting in the streets, committing suicides, selling their children while the convicted Prime Minister is on a lavish and luxurious ‘official’ trip to UK with a big team on Tax Payers’ money representing a poor and war stricken nation.

As venomous as it gets!

You thought they were saviours, your representatives whom you elected and sent forth with hopes in your heart and responsibilities on their shoulders. You thought they were there because their prime interest was to lead the way towards betterment of the country, and make you a force against all the monstrous problems the country is facing. How naive! No doubt we are always told “jaisey awam , waisey hukmaran”, (like people like leaders). But I must say they probably are worst of us.

Sindh’s Senior minister Mr. Zulfiqar Mirza’s tone and derogatory language, gave us a shock not for the first time. There are many others out there, who hold very important positions but have given us mini heart attacks with their venomous tongues. Mr. Mirza calls the people who migrated to Pakistan from India as “bhookey nangey” and goes on to claim to be a part of people who helped them to get back to normal life. He further attacks the leader of Karachi’s biggest party as ‘badmaash’ and urges the people of Karachi to rise and get rid of them,“In kambakhtoN say Jaan ChhuraeiN”. His eyes, language and words had nothing constructive, nothing to bring hearts close, nothing to work for the better, nothing but hate! So he was bound to be summoned by the honourable President, who must have given him a hard time extracting a quick apology for his most irresponsible speech.

But who would summon Mr President who holds the highest office in political world of Pakistan and whose words and tones were no better than those of an illiterate/uneducated class who have never attended school and have never learnt any manners to get along in society. He makes a funny sound and labels PML-N leadership having mentality of blacksmith (lohaar) and Maulvi; both probably abusive words in his vocabulary, and leaves both his friends and foes shocked.

His obedient servant, Mr. Faisal Raza Abidi in one of the talk shows defended his master in a manner even worse. He adds the term “Burqa” in the list of abusive words which Mehar Bokhari challenged very intelligently. Mr Abidi showed same instincts as his beloved leader and program ended in a furious dog fight (reminds me of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s masterpiece in urdu literature)

The trend is not new or confined to one party. It’s become a norm to attack each other’s human shortcomings or private lives, be it personal or family.

Mr. Chaudhry Nisar, who seems to be a sensible man, in his mission to humiliate MQM’s leadership, discusses Mr Hussain’s medical /psychological problems, his rehabilitation treatment and his ex-wife’s views about him; all unacceptable on religious, moral and ethical grounds.

He gets a response, ten times worse. Mr Waseem Akhtar directly asks Sharif brothers as to “what sort of ‘treatment’, do they keep visiting London for. The nation needs leadership and their problem is hair transplant to hook girls” He warns, “we know whose daughter ran away with whom and we know all about their illegal activities , so they better keep their mouth shut”.

Mustafa Kamal is simply outraged by PML-N’s blasphemous comments and in a talk show asks one of their representatives “mard kay bachhey bano”. He asks Jasmine Manzoor to turn off his mic and labels him and his leadership as ‘pimps’ and “jaanwar log “ and again targets PML-N’s leaders’ daughters. He threatens, this PML-N man would never be allowed to enter Karachi and even leave his own house in Punjab if he uses any bad words against his Quaid. Mr Nazim finishes his talk with his favourite term, “Ulloo ka patha” (I could not find a translation for the word, can anyone help?)

Not long ago, Mr Babar Ghauri battles Imran Khan not on a logical or statistical ground but reminds him that he was a playboy in the past (which is between him and Allah, might not be true, he might have repented but Allah forgives, man does not). He waves a child’s picture in the TV show and asks Imran Khan, who her father was, as she resembles him. A cheap shot indeed!

Imran Khan with all the qualities of a true leaders, holds his anger and talks about real issues on the TV show. But he forgets it’s a YouTube world and his fans and followers proudly posted his unofficial reply on social media where he laughs and makes everyone around laugh as well, with his comments “I can show you thousands of children in Africa who resemble Babar Ghauri”; an equally cheap shot, purely based on Mr Ghauri’s complexion.

And of course we haven’t forgotten PTI Sindh’s representative hurling a glass of water at Chief Minister’s advisor as they exchange abusive language in a live TV show.

Women have been equally vocal in their attempt to be “mardoN kay shaana bashaana” (shoulders to shoulder with men). No doubt they are equally talented.

Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan engaged in shameful discussion, not very long ago, when Kashmala Tariq teases her about her background and her activities in FJ Medical college. Dr Awan throws this back in a most unacceptable fashion, leaving Javed Chaudhari and Shireen Mazari both shocked and embarrassed. She says that “She is ‘’at least’’ not from Heera Mandi and was not elected through someone’s bedroom”.

Another masterpiece, I remember was Samina Khawar Hayat’s performance in Jasmine Manzoor’s show, where she takes a ‘Lota’ out of her handbag to practically demonstrate why politicians (her opponents, of course) are called Lotas. She spins it like a spinning top (Lattoo) on the desk and as a part of her demonstration breaks a clay pot in studio, the manner in which these Lotas should be taken to task.

Enough of entertainment videos I have provided in this blog to keep you amused for days. But one question we should ask ourselves. Are they saviours? Are they capable of leading us? All they have and all they display is hate, immaturity and non-professional attitude. They widen gulfs between us and divide the nation. Their prime interests are personal or party issues. They spit venom because their leaders are targets of “blashphemy”, not because you and I are in trouble, not because we are dying every day and not because the main issue of this nation is survival. They are far from goals and far from national interests.

They make and break alliances, they stab and apologise each other, they group and regroup, they manipulate and manoeuvre, just to stay in power.

A total overhaul is required. The change needs to come from within. We need to educate masses and choose carefully. Once we are educated/intelligent and sincere to the country, we’ll have similar leaders; educated and cultured for whom national interest would be the decisive factor for making and breaking political relationships.

They are from us, so let’s change ourselves. Change the language, the patience level and mentality of the ones who elect them. We can make a better choice next time, can’t we?

Also appeared on The News and Aaj.tv