Mr Zardari is Fighting a Losing Battle

We have been warned by the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, that Pakistan is facing a mortal threat from its internal enemies. With due respect to Mr Miliband, his knowledge of Pakistan may be restricted. But what he and his advisers tell us is spot on. The only problem is that the government and the people are not listening.

We are still looking for scapegoats outside the country when the enemies are within. As Pakistanis, our biggest tragedy stems from the fact that we do not even know who our enemies are. And worse, we are happy to lie to ourselves while the state of affairs goes from bad to worse.

In this, the media has played a part. Every day, a dozen television channels churn out some of the most misguided and ill-conceived news commentary and analysis we have seen in many years. This week was no exception. Our TV champions are intent on showing that India was behind the attack on the Sri Lankan team. And they have gone to great lengths to show that the Sri Lankan attack was a “badla� for what happened last year in Mumbai.

The two most startling features of the attack on the Sri Lankan team were the very poor security cover given to the team and the fact that the attackers simply walked away after completing their dastardly task, without anyone to check or stop them. It is a sad commentary on the state of readiness of our law enforcement agencies. Twelve men attacked a high-security target and walked away, on rickshaws and motorcycles. And the police and other law enforcers simply did nothing.

When the Mumbai attacks occurred, many Pakistanis made fun of the state of the law enforcement in that city. They wondered how a couple of men could have brought such a big city to a standstill. But no city, no matter how organized, can be ready for people walking out of the shoreline and attacking hotels. Take Karachi for example. Despite the thousands of men we have employed in various law enforcement outfits, the city is poorly equipped to handle any sort of emergency. Now we have suffered the same fate.

What adds insult to injury is that no one has been punished for this massive security failure. The PML-N leadership took the opportunity to blame Punjab Governor Salman Taseer for all the changes he made once he took control of the province. But this was done for political ends. The Punjab government said that security was adequate. In all this, no heads rolled. And no lessons were learnt.

One can recall the spate of resignations in India following the Mumbai attacks. Even the Prime Minister had offered to step down when it became clear that the state had failed in its duty of providing security to its people. No such luck in Pakistan. No one offered to step down, no one did. Governor Taseer and the Punjab police chief are as unapologetic as ever.

We seem to shrug off all that is happening to us. And seem to look for the silver lining in the bleakest of situations. This may be a good quality. But we must learn from our mistakes and make amends. We never seem to do this. No lesson has been learnt from the tragedy of Swat or the attack in Lahore. Its business as usual. We get hit and we move on.

And we are still not sure who to blame. Ask anyone in the street, who is behind the troubles in Pakistan and he will say without a second thought that it is India, America and the Jewish lobby. Ironically, more people have been killed by Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan than by the three “enemies� of Pakistan put together. But no one talks about this.

This is the threat from within. The threat of organizations - with religious, sectarian, ethnic or nationalist agendas who continue to challenge the writ of the state. They are very much evident in their work but the government looks the other way. And they continue to harass the people and damage the image of Pakistan.

We also dont talk about the friends of Pakistan. The head of the UNHCR John Solecki is a friend of Pakistan. The appeal his mother made showed how much the family loved Pakistan and had given the best years of their lives to Quetta and Balochistan. And yet he is now suffering while the government clutches at straws. There is no effort in the public sphere to mount public opinion about why it is important to have this innocent man released.

The decision of the Sri Lankan team to visit Pakistan was the decision of a friend. We returned the favour by offering the team poor security. Following the attack, there are many amongst us who are keen to make capital of this incident and blame it on India. We are too caught up in our petty games to understand the implications of our actions. We are losing our friends.

It is the failure of the government and more of the media which is afraid to state the facts. Instead, we have all sorts of jokers and hypocrites on television and on radio, who are either too scared to tell the truth or are clueless. But that does not stop them from coming on air and spreading their ignorance. There is no intelligent debate.

As Pakistanis, we need to initiate a debate about who we are, what are our problems and how we can solve them. Predictably, our political leadership has once again fallen back to its bad old ways of confrontation and horse-trading. The decision to impose governor’s rule in Punjab will haunt President Zardari for many years to come.

In all fairness, the decision of the Supreme Court on the Sharif brothers was a correct one. But the centre should have let Punjab move on and solve its crisis on its own instead of coming down strong on the PML-N. This move has rejuvenated the PML-N and made national leaders out of the Sharif brothers.

Emboldened by their street rallies, Nawaz Sharif has now called on the people to come out on the streets and embark on a revolution. The lawyers and the Jamaat-e-Islami and of course the dense Imran Khan, who once used to ridicule the Sharifs, are all now on the bandwagon. We are fearful of what the long march has in store for us.

The long march means more tension and trouble in Pakistan at a time when we can least afford it. Does Mian Nawaz Sharif have the interests of Pakistan at heart as he moves his supporters to Islamabad to protest? Will there be no violence? Who can say what will happen?

The more oblivious amongst us have started to talk of yet another military intervention. Some say we need another martial law. While this is pure nonsense, it is also a wake up call for the Zardari government. The people are tired of the games Mr President is playing, even when one of his hands is tied behind his back.

Pakistan is suffering. The writ of the state is being challenged time and again. Whether it is attacks on the military and government installations in Swat of the Tribal Areas, or kidnappings in Balochistan or open violation of rules and regulations in our cities.

Why is our government so weak at a time when it should be strong? There is a feeling amongst Pakistanis that the government is not in control. In many areas of the country this is proved true through the actions of militants. The question is, how long can we continue to live in this state of affairs?