Marooned Again

APRIL 2002 - The good thing about columns such as this one is that they are largely irrelevant. Consider this. By the time this particular one appears, the die would have been cast again and all of us would be just as much in the dark as we were before. Therefore, the impact such writings have on the way things are can be equated with the effect a drop of water might have on a roasting boulder in the midday sun.

We are at the crossroads again and about that I now have a very strong theory. Most people and nations arrive at crossroads, having traveled from somewhere and on their way to going somewhere. Having so arrived, they can decide which way they want to go next. At some point in our history – yes, we do have a history unless they are re-writing it as we speak, we must have arrived at the crossroads. Of that there is little doubt, but it is now an undeniable fact that we have never left the crossroads and have, more or less, settled here permanently. Some people believe that we arrived at the crossroads a little after 1947 and are still there. Now, in the year 2002 with the big R staring us right in the face, there is no doubt that we are marooned here, neither going this way or that.

This country has little introspective skills, living for the moment and hoping that tomorrow will take care of itself, but given its limited ability for self-analysis, these are undoubtedly troubled times with faith in the future, already rather thin and shaky, now in a permanent state of severe wobbling. If hopelessness and downright pessimism is spreading it is because we know we are stuck at the damn crossroads and no one is going to take us anywhere. The President’s decision, in the larger interest of the nation – all such decisions are always in the larger interest of the nation, to seek a vote of confidence on 30th April, has been received with anguish and despondency. Other than those bussed and trolleyed in from their miserable existence to attend thin rallies, the people are totally disillusioned. And this time it is not the urban elite, the chattering classes of Pakistan, as Ayaz Amir rightly calls them, who are fretting and fuming, but the broad spectrum of the people who make up Pakistan. The sight of President Musharraf, sorry General Musharraf in commando fatigues with a glitzy garland around his neck, is not the kind of picture that gives you great happiness. In many ways, it is a telling portrait since the two items he wears just about sum up the situation, but it is the transformation that has depressed the public and the way forward that has been starkly lit up. Suddenly, all good intentions notwithstanding there is now a clear indicator that all said and done, the inside game is all about getting power and keeping it. All for the good of the country of course.

The disenchantment is now spreading to the beloved west and our six month old allies are finding it harder and harder to justify to themselves and their voters, their support for a man who was going to hold elections within an agreed date. We all know that once Mian Sahib was deposed, the world was not willing to talk to Pakistan, not because Mian Sahib was such a great and respected leader but because he was the elected Prime Minister of a country trying hard to gain a foothold on the slippery variety of democracy found here. The man was a disaster and so were all the advisers and ministers who swarmed around him and gave in to every disastrous idea he had, ruined the country in the bargain but had a great time as everything sank. 11/9 gave us the opportunity and we were able to ‘gyrate our hips’ and suddenly those who didn’t even want to know we existed, realized they needed us desperately. Back came the pasted smiles and toasts to a great leader and a great country began to be raised the world over. With the big R lurching around the corner, gathering pace, the great relationship we have built in the last six months is going to evaporate rather fast. In any event, our utility is largely over and the fire of the war against terrorism is burning low. The west is not going to extend its cooperation and ‘real’ democracy, as the new buzzword is called, is not going to cut much ice around the globe.

There is so much rhetoric that prevails in Pakistan when people talk about the country and its fortitudes that one must avoid as much of it as possible, but how can we deny the fantastic opportunity that came General Musharraf’s way when he took power in 1999 and promised elections only to alter the goal posts thereafter? And pity the poor people who cling to the smallest signs and feel hopeful. The first pictures of the General with two dogs sent a wave of relief amongst Pakistan’s urban classes. We were staking our future on as thin an evidence as that. Now the tables (once more boys) are turned. Why is it like this always? Is there something terrible in the atmosphere of Islamabad that turns genuine people into parodies of themselves? Why the lust for power and more power? The age old one liner from Islamabad has always been that all this is in the interest of the people, but this is a highly debatable point. Few can deny that General Musharraf’s heart is in the right place, but for him to help this country find its way and move forward is not through a referendum but a genuine, across the board, free and impartial general election. If that throws up another Mian Nawaz Sharif, the answer is not to mutate the system. The answer to bad democracy is more democracy, not less. Of course no such thing is going to happen because life is real and not a text book. The official machinery is hard at work doling out faded anthems, employing the same jaded ‘taranas’ and compiling visual footage of the great work done so far. In Peshawar, banners proclaimed ‘The hero of Kargil.’ We all thought this was one adventure the army wanted to forget!

Had the big R been the right path, there would have been widespread joy the moment it was announced. This has not happened, not because the people love Mian and BB and want them back at any cost but because they know the army cannot solve the problems of Pakistan in any long term sense. It is not a question of whether they are more competent than the civilians, but because only systems and institutions can solve problems. We have had far too many Messiahs who have promised much and delivered little. We are now looking at more of the same. What is despairing is that no longer can the blame be put on anyone else. The armed forces have held sway over Pakistan from the word go and have directly ruled more than everyone else put together. For over two years they have had absolute power but little in the way of tangible achievements. On 30th April, the result will be inevitable and we will be told that at last we are now embarked on the golden road to prosperity and progress, but we should understand that we are still at the crossroads where we always were and where, given the winds that blow here, we always will be.