A Cursed Nation

The year 2008 is here, whole the world is celebrating the New Year but in this part of the world, story is different. Pakistan at the beginning of the year 2008 is a country without a vision without a future, every one is unsure about the future of this country. A nation in complete dilemma after loosing another leader. One more wound inflicted on the Federation of Pakistan. We as a nation have the history of forgetting thing and events very quickly. From the murder of Liaquat ali khan till this recent assassination of Benazir Bhutto, no one really cares that why this cruel thing happens again and again. To solve a problem one always needs to identify the root cause of the problem.

In our country Pakistan the problem is that “Men in khaki” are not ready to admit that they have failed to deliver on both the strategic and governance fronts. The self proclaimed guardians with the hand picked establishment are ruining this country for the last 60 years. Till 1980s the establishment created and depicted India and USSR as a major threat to the country thus justifying the heavy defence spending and need for the fatherly role of Army. One must remember that everywhere in the world an element of fear is always needed to rule the country. The state always runs through the fear. After the destruction of USSR and then the good ties with India, establishment needed someone to portray a major threat to the “National interest”. Thanks to 9/11 and bush administration here we are with the new brand of fear. Alquaida for the Americans and the world, for Pakistan its local Taliban and Alquaida both. It is very easy to throw everything on the ghost of mullah Omar, Osama bin Ladin and Baitullah Mahsood.

Establishment till now has very successfully applied the tactics of the British, divide and rule. There is no spending on education n of the masses. Now education and awareness are the key factors for any sustainable democracy. But in Pakistan the case is different. Here major portion of the money is spent on the men in khakis and the rest is eaten by hungry bureaucrats and politicians.

People like me have now started raising questions that what is the use of saving Pakistan? and what is Pakistan? Does Pakistan mean the rule of 4 or 5 percent population? does Pakistan mean the nexus of army bureaucracy, politicians, drug barons, business man and mullahs? What kind of National interest Mr Musharraf has saved after brutally slaughtering the judiciary? Do our agencies train to kidnap our own citizens? Do we spend Money on Army to conquer our own land? There are lot and lot of questions that are going on the minds of the ordinary citizens. And I know the answer from the establishment will be the same. In the national interest of the country we must strengthen the nexus of Army, Bureaucracy and politicians.

I still remember the book Christina Lamb wrote about Pakistan the title of her book was “Waiting for Allah”. There is no other better definition of our nation than this. We still believe that some one from heavens will come and help us. We still believe that without sacrificing anything we will get rid of this slavery. We still are living like emotionless human beings. We love to hear truth but cannot stand for it. We love to see justice prevails but cannot stand with the judiciary. We want to get rid of the corrupt politicians but we don’t want to oppose them. We want to see Army going back to barracks but cannot raise our voices. We teach our children to always fight for their rights but cannot even think of fighting for any right. What a sorrow, we dream of an ideal society a prosperous country but we want someone else to fight for this cause. As a nation and society we are hypocrites and opportunists. May be it does not sound pleasing to many of you but just give it a thought. At the start of the New Year let us at least promise to do some thing if not everything for the betterment of ourselves. Let us not let the world think that we are a cursed nation.