Heavy Weather

DECEMBER 2003 - It takes no less than Pakistan’s top man to force the Multan police to register an FIR. It takes no less than the President of the country to bring warring TV channels to sign a peace truce. If ever proof was needed that there is no system in Pakistan, surely these two instances last week should settle that particular issue. This country runs on the will of individuals. That is about it. Nothing else works. If you are hoping to address issues through the proper channels, you have just about as much chance as polar bears thriving in the Gobi Desert.

We are experts on creating a crisis particularly when there is no crisis. We create a situation of enormous complexity, when there is a simpler way out. Unless we can blow everything out of all proportion, we don’t feel satisfied. Mr. Hashmi who can’t speak one coherent sentence, gains international coverage far beyond his expectations and becomes a prisoner of conscience just because we are unable to handle an incident that is blown out of all proportion. We reduce our own laws to nothingness, violate our own codes, yet maintain a holier than thou approach at all times. In the Hashmi case, which has caused nothing but more bad image for Pakistan, an anonymous letter from GHQ supposedly throws the government out of sync and the most heavy-handed reaction takes possession of supposedly perfectly sensible men.

The art of leaving irrelevant things well alone is an art that sadly misses the armed brass of this country by miles. Instead, every little incident is taken to the height of a Greek tragedy and honour is immediately tarnished. A cop stops a car with tinted glasses and the entire country is engulfed in a screaming match of accusations. Threats are hurled, accusations are made and insults traded. Everyone goes bananas and everyone takes the moral high ground. Months earlier, a Motorway policeman stops a speeding judge and is rewarded by a contempt of court right then and there. More knives fly into the air. The judiciary is incensed. The police, bewildered. The administration, all at sea. What’s going on? What should not have been more than a routine traffic offence becomes a matter of life and death.

Months earlier, the Okara fiasco grips the nation. A situation that is as clear as the water used to be in our streams once, gets out of hand. The good guys are turned into villains. The bad guys become the angels. The peasantry, who can’t make ends meet, is supposedly threatening the brave ‘Musalah Afwaj’. The sad farce is allowed to degenerate into a mud slinging, abusive and down right cheap theatrics. Men lose lives. No prizes which side is on the receiving end. That armed men in positions of power are allowed to play ducks and drakes with the few tottering laws of the land, goes unchecked. Instead, the entire nation is held hostage as insults are traded, right becomes wrong and vice versa – with more vice than versa. It is no longer possible to recall how many important people of Pakistan issued statements for and against the Okara incident. It is also anybody’s guess the amount of time and money that was squandered on defending the fair name of the army far beyond the ground realities of the situation. At no time did anyone step in and put an end to the farce that was enacted out in public. The dispute drags on for months and eventually is buried, consigned to the dustbin of our collective consciousness, which has been unconscious for God knows how long. Those who are dead, are dead. Life plods on.

The Cricket General is bang smack in the middle of the channel war and calls the shots at will. This time, deals are enacted without proper paperwork or procedures and the result is a war of words. After 36 years, a cricket match played in Pakistan, cannot be televised. Contracts cannot be cobbled together without seeing things to their logical conclusion and without addressing all issues. The result has brought more infamy on our reputation to botch things up, given half a chance. What kind of reputation is this? The ad hoc, free for all manner in which cricket has been managed – I shudder to use the word, for the past four years, defies description. Eleven captains have come and gone and God knows how many selectors, coaches, committees and officials. It’s been a circus. The good general may have blooded over 150 cricketers, but hell that’s nothing to boast about. It has been total mayhem and yet, it has simply rolled on and on. Finally the wandering buck, which has been on a roller coaster ride, comes to a stop and the general quits. Is there a lesson here? Of course, but who wants to understand it? Not the ones who matter. That is certain.

The problem is, time just refuses to stand still. 1999 seems a long time ago. Sometimes people complain that all that columnists do is moan and groan and inflict morose, hopeless indictments on all who are unfortunate to read their particular bit. This is true, but none of us are blessed with extraordinary abilities to steer this country out of the mess it frequently lands into. However, all will agree that unless people at the very top admit that they cannot do all the things they want to do without following rules and procedures that civilized, well-governed countries do, nothing will change. We have 40 ministers in Punjab and God knows how many more elsewhere, but ask anyone what precisely they have done and you will receive a blank look. The assemblies are a waste of time and our money. All these chaps do is loiter about, thump desks and head for food wherever it is laid. What vision is flowing out from the provincial capitals of the country? Someone said the other day that Pakistan is a country in self-denial. We have simply lost sight of the bigger picture. Trivia is the ruling king and every single non-issue is the burning issue that consumes all, from the top to the bottom and then all the way up the other way.

Another year is dying on us. The faint ray of hope for which this government deserves credit, is the tentative peace process with India, which touchwood is proceeding at a pace that is encouraging. Having been let down so many times, the people are afraid to let our their breath, afraid that it may change things. It does not require the wisdom of Solomon to understand that the subcontinent yearns for peace and a chance to enjoy its blessing. India is forging ahead at a speed that is depressing. Sure it has problems too – huge ones, but they are light years ahead already. Those who still believe that our beggars are better off than theirs are Pakistan’s real detractors, not those who say bury the hatchet and get on with life. This is a race where attrition is only going to leave us gasping for breath, a country that has failed itself in spite of unbelievable resources that all came free. Can we change? Are there fairies around? Should we believe in miracles? We should take stock and look intently into the mirror.