A cuckolded country

By Anjum Niaz

[It is perplexing why Asif Zardari is using up all his political capital to frustrate the restoration of the judges even though Benazir Bhutto, before her assassination, made the ritual pilgrimage to the Chief Justice House and declared that her party would restore the CJ and all the judges dismissed by General Musharraf? Clearly, Asif Zardari has his own agenda. He has been on the wrong side of the law much of his life and stands indicted for serious crimes in several countries. He is single-minded in subverting every institution of the state that might make him face the scrutiny by the public or the law. He holds no office of the state and yet he is the sole ruler of Pakistan. After all, if Musharraf could rule the country for nine years and get away with undermining every institutions of the state with the help of a "˜political party' banded together in haste, why can't Asif Zardari whose party is really hungry for power? The party system in Pakistan is used to serving civil or military dictators, not the people. The country needs a directly elected President for a fixed term as in the USA, Russia, Iran and Afghanistan. Without that, the Chief Executives would be either powerless (as he is now) or be so powerful (if the party leader became the CE) that he would be worse than a military dictator.

The quest to restore the Judges dismissed by Musharraf is the only meaningful quest in the country. Everybody should be judged by the stand taken on that vital issue. Asif Zardari stands indicted in the eyes of the people for being on the wrong side of the law and the aspirations of the people. Like Musharraf, who could have saved his life if he had gone quietly and not insisted on being re-elected while still in uniform, by assemblies whose own tenure had come to an end, Asif Zardari has left himself no exit door in linking his "˜package for subverting the Constitution' to the restoration of judges. It is sad to see what is being done to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's party by his son in law. It is sadder to see enterprising and valorous 165 million people being led by nincompoops and traitors. But the products of the system cannot cure the faults of that system. Perhaps the zealots from the North would save Pakistan from the traitors from the South. The Long March of Pakistan could have become the Orange Revolution of Ukraine. But its end would have been no different. I am not disappointed that it ended the way it ended. It is not democracy's fault that Pakistan has hereditary leaders; the fault lies with the party system. It is not the constitution of the country that needs a change; it is the constitution of the political parties that need change. Usman Khalid]

Once more the people have been cuckolded. They dreamt of a soft revolution in front of the parliament house. They dreamt of a positive change. They dreamt of jumpstarting Pakistan's destiny to make it move forward. In sum, you and I dreamt of days ahead to be free of bad laws, bad men, bad judges and bad governance. We hoped things would be different this time around.

Instead, what did the day after look like? It looked like exactly the day before the long march. Flaccid, impotent and obsessive.

Either I am stupid or the organizers of the long march. Perhaps you and I are out of the loop, but I still don't get it why the march was organized. It is difficult to get inside Aitzaz Ahsan's brain to figure out why he gathered a storm of animated men and women to march to his tune. Was the idea to scare Asif Zardari into on-the-spot acquiescence? Was the idea to chase out Pervez Musharraf from the presidency? Was the idea to change the rules of the game by bypassing parliament and making the masses the final arbitrators of the PCO judges?

If the above were the reasons for the millions to march into Islamabad last Friday night, why did the millions disperse without their demands being met? What's going on? Why are the people not being told the truth by the organizers? Why is Asif Zardari taking shelter behind his interior adviser who is trashing the massive event as a small time affair while reminding one that is was the PPP who began this march? Mr Rehman Malik should be looking after our security and nabbing would-be suicide bombers instead of sticking his fingers in the judges' issue and frittering his energies trying to play politics and belittle the movement which has won the hearts and minds of all Pakistanis. Instead of building the PPP's image, Malik could well be pulling it down by such blasé statements.

He should attend to Karzai's venomous statements threatening to attack the militants in Pakistan. It's not something to be pushed under the rug.

Conspiracy theorists are declaring a deal struck between Aitzaz Ahsan and the coalition government. Aitzaz has hotly denied any such deal. Like Zardari, Aitzaz has taken refuge behind rhetoric. Why? What has he got to hide? Is it a state secret that cannot be shared with the millions who made Aitzaz's call a bumper and made him their shepherd? The easiest way to fool the people is to gobbledygook your words to such an extent that the people get confused and give up.

That's what most of us are doing. Giving up and not thinking.

And the worst perpetrators of this gobbledygook are the politicians on television shows, especially the PPP parliamentarians. They have become masters of spin. The million plus couch potatoes who preferred to sit in on their hinds and watch the show from the safety of their homes (me included) surfed the channels like crazy trying not to miss a single sound bite. Each channel was hosting guests pretending to be 'Mr & Ms Know-all.' It was fun to watch. But did I learn anything earthshaking that evening from the gabfests? No. It was just friendly fire and lighthearted jabber.

The diplomatic community too watched with fascination while hunkered down in the 'Red Zone' provided to the Diplomatic Enclave by a worried Rehman Malik. He alluded to this feat as a great accomplishment before the media. And indeed, Mr Malik must be complimented for keeping the diplomats out of harm's way! During the course of the evening, some channels quoted American Ambassador Anne Patterson having given an interview to a local paper. She was meant to have said that the US wanted Musharraf to quit but he must be given a safe passage. "Even the American ambassador has finally spoken up against Musharraf," said one very excited host. Another host picked up the thread and added his two bit to it. But as the evening wore on, Patterson's mention died down, as if this bit of news had never been aired; as if the anchors were hallucinating.

Sure it was a hallucination. The next day American Embassy spokesperson Elizabeth Colton put out a terse two-liner. "US Ambassador has not given any interview to a magazine or a wire service about President Pervez Musharraf."

Two of the ambassadors from the Middle East watched the whole event from Muslim eyes. "Your country is the only nuclear power in the Muslim world; your country has 160 million brave people; your country has rich potential human resources. Why then is it headed the way of Iraq? The writing is on the wall. Your people are angry, hungry and without energy. They have been kept illiterate, unskilled and dirt poor. They are now getting restless. The systems are collapsing leaving a huge vacuum of malevolent forces to take over. Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon and Sudan are examples of how outside powers have played havoc with these countries. Pakistan's geo-strategic position is the bone of contention between different powers wanting total control over this area."

The ambassador, a friend of Pakistan and its well-wisher continued: "It is a most dangerous time for you. Your country can collapse because of inner rivalries and factional fighting by groups with vested interests. You must watch out."

The second Middle-Eastern envoy too looks at Pakistan with admiration. But he thinks that unless the rapid decline towards destruction is addressed and malignancies excised with a surgeon's knife, Pakistan is in danger. "I wish your country and its dear people the very best. I pray to the Almighty that you will be able to turn the page of 2007 and 2008 with the belief that united you stand and divided you fall, God forbid."

Asif Zardari, the man running Jinnah's Pakistan with Quaid's three words 'unity, faith and discipline' is an enigma. He smiles a lot, says a lot, frowns a lot, jokes a lot and yet has something up his sleeve which we the 160 million Pakistanis are unable to figure out. So busy is he playing politics and enjoying being the king that he has yet to get down to the serious business of governance. He runs off to Karachi while the march comes to Islamabad to arbitrate between feuding Governor Ebad Khan and his bête noir Agha Siraj Durrani. The latter as we all know is AZ's buddy and therefore been placed in a strategic and lucrative post. Durrani has been told by AZ to back off. Let's see for how long.

We, the people have now another event to look forward: the celebration of Benazir Bhutto's 55th birthday. Heart-warming speeches will be made about her sacrifice and shahadat. That's fine. She must never be forgotten, but she is dead. What about the 70 per cent living Pakistanis waiting for BB's political heir and husband to bail them out of their present misery? AZ must turn to them and open up his arms and heart to them.

Maybe these miserable 70 per cent who earn less than $2- a- day need to be patient. Their turn has not come yet. It's the rich and powerful who are currently being serviced. A new clause has been slipped in the Finance Bill, which exempts former presidents from income tax on their pensions. And should they die; their widows will enjoy this benefit.

You scratch my back; I'll scratch yours. Musharraf, through one stroke of the pen, forgave the past deeds of people laden with corruption, bank defaults, heinous wrongdoing, murder and terrorism. As quid pro quo, he is not only being given protection but assured a hefty income from state coffers in life and in death!

Nawaz Sharif says "hang him;" Asif Zardari says, "PPP will drive him out."

We live in a country that has been cuckolded by its leaders for the last 60 years. The people have been deceived, cheated, betrayed and deluded in their partnership with their leaders "“ civilian and military.

"Tell us something we don't know," the readers may easily turn around and say. I have nothing new to add.