Afghan Press Author: Rooh-ul-Amin

There has been a great deal of discussion on this hour of multifarious challenges.

Starting from terrorism, financial crisis, price-hiking, judicial crisis, good governance, restoring the 1973 Constitution in its genuine form, the cabinet issue with a queue of politicians for getting ministries, ruler’s foreign trips and the their prodigality, joblessness, to the US drones intrusions, there is a long list of afflictions. Contrary to the cries of politicians, the series of crises is intrinsic rather than extrinsic. When a party comes in power, its president, prime minister along with its beneficiaries shares the bacon equally with great relish. When the party fame starts waning, the news start trickling down that the party had been involved in corruption and defalcation. When Musharaf was in power, he had given a piece of land (reckon it in acres not feet), to the gang of MMA government. The piece of land was already allocated for Army in D.I Khan. But there was no name of any army-men or martyrs in the list of its receivers.

The nation is not weeping that why the former president Pervaiz Musharraf gave it to the MMA, as a bribe, for prolonging his issue of uniform which he had promised the nation that he will shed by 2004. But it’s weeping, why the news was kept under a thick layer of darkness for such a long time? Since long every leader has entrapped the nation in linking the challenges and problems to the blunders and dishonesty of the past government’s, coupled with extrinsic plots instead seeking ways and means for overcoming it.

Right from the out set of the acquisition of Pakistan, the elite of the country is addicted of begging and then lavishly using it, just with a few exceptional characters. When the saddle of the country was in his hands, Nawaz Sharif, used state treasury on foreign trips but his adversary Musharraf, after toppling his government went ahead of him. He clinched the title of championship and trounced his predecessor Nawaz in the race of foreign trips.

Every second month, he circumambulated the Khana-e-Kaaba (The House of Lord), with a flock of his yes-men and photojournalists.

It was then the duty of those journalists to manage for space in front pages of newspapers to achieve the wish-image of their present. During his regime a retired Army official, who was running a private hospital at Rawalpindi, beguiled a naïve kiln-lady-worker into selling her kidney for getting rid of loan and its interest, which she had taken for the treatment of her son.

The owner of the hospital brazenly said this inhuman sentence that it’s the gift of God that a human has two kidneys and in case of poverty s/he can sell it. The event went unnoticed until the BBC leaked it, and it was then, the public gave vent to its resentment. When PPP was in opposition it used to beat the drums against the profligacy of the rulers on foreign trips. But now the same PPP and its leadership have fallen prey to this leper. The headlines in national and local dailies regarding the flight of the two top leaders of the present government eclipsed the importance of the news events of suicide bombing incident, death toll in Swat and Bajuar, the suicide of tow youngsters of 18 and 22-year because of poverty. The caravan of the president with a legion of 300 VIPs was to make its flight to Saudi Arabia. While, the same day, the Prime Minister along with his gang was on its verge of flight to Turkey.

If we analyse the record of his foreign tours during his rule of 9-10 months, it is obvious that the new government towered above its predecessors in its marathon of foreign trips and shopping. It is estimated, if the president keeps his pace with such a ratio the day is not so that his name will find place in the “Gainer’s Book of World Records” for winning and making a new record in this race. Before embarking on his flight the president gave a tiding of enlarging his cabinet to 55 ministries to his nation.

The US, the solo super power that is striding to bring the entire world under its ambit of influence, has only 15 ministers for running state affairs while here is a flock of 55 ministers. It shows as if our country is four times greater and influential in world community than US.

England has been running it affairs by 12 ministers for the past century and plus but no leader could dare to increase its numbers. It is only here that every leader considers this land of gullible masses as its own exploratory laboratory.

Canada, which is the second largest country of the world by virtue of its area, has a cabinet of 38 ministers. Brazil, which is the largest country of Southern American, keeps only 23 ministers. China, which is an emerging power of the world, where our legion of beggars went for mendicancy, has 25 ministers. France, which can boast for a pool of GDP, more than the entire Muslim block of 57 countries, allows only 21 ministers to run state affairs. Iran, which is striving hard to win a mirror image in world community, has 31 ministers. This is the difference, which has divided the globe into developed or first world and developing or third world. Now, it is obvious that it is the ministerial profligacy of the governments, which has sapped the resources and economy of Pakistan. When Zardari went to participated in UN Security Council, the minister for information Sherry Rehman started singing that the president set an example of political frugality by making flight in economy plus class of the plane. The same minister was never tired of beating the drums that the president has not taken any unwanted person on his tour to china. Actions speaks louder than louder than words so where are her tall claims now. Though the holy Quran has declared it succinctly “Innal Mubbazereena kanu ikhwanashayateen—those who are squanderers, are the bothers of devils”.

Zulfiqar Ali Bhuttu, second legend character in Pakistan’s political history, is still under battering just for a laps for violating the traffic rule at a chowk of Rawalpindi when he ordered his driver “don’t stop, go ahead, for I am the prime minister of Pakistan”. But history did no condoned his trail off, though he was endowed with a host a qualities. But they are doing it with such a political jugglery that the nation has been deceived for a couple of times but every now and then the political class is the winner and the public is the runner.

Today, even for a low profiled political figure, roads are blocked for hours of hours, but the pubic is in no position to grudge this discriminatory attitude of the leaders. It is totally numbed with mind-reeling price hiking and poverty, thus it cannot come out in the streets against its leadership. Because of this pro-upper-class ruling system the rich and tycoon class is rising with a catapulted speed while the poor and slum class is tumbling with a windfall.

The definition of democracy in Pakistan must be the government of oligarchs by the oligarchs for the oligarchs. It is the backlash of this oligarchy that today the entire nation is hugged with a congregational suicide. It is not an individual that is committing suicide rather no body is safe across the country, which is in a sense congregational suicide of the society itself.

No body is born-poor or born-rich rather it is the class conflict that has brought this discrimination among human. The nation has sustained nearly every political party in their office but it is futile to hope for a positive change in the country. To dream for an emerging Pakistan, will come true only, when there will be new faces and entirely new leadership instead these political conjurers. In other words the story would be running for centuries unabated, with no sign of betterment for working class in the country, where the quandaries of poor will go unsung.

The writer is a FATA-based freelance journalist.