Mahboob A. Khawaja, PhD.

If you wish to view the screen of virtual reality of Pakistan’s politics - come and see the mirror - how Pakistan is being governed by the wrong people, with wrong thinking and doing the wrong things. Continued daily bloodbaths of the innocent civilians triggered by terrorism, overwhelming militarization of the public institutions, destroyed commerce and trades and non-productive economic culture have incapacitated the operational body of Pakistan. Its existence and freedom are challenged by its own political rulers. The thinking hubs of the nation must initiate planned steps and organize revulsionary collective ideas and ideals to deter threats to the national freedom, integrity and future of Pakistan. Those who embrace power through intrigues, gangesterism, political killings, military coups and backdoor conspiracies are not the legitimate rulers and answer to the aims of the peoples’ aspirations for a strong Pakistan. The priorities must be focused on developing a new system of economic and political governance by disconnecting the interdependence on foreign aid, debts and dictates. The nation has been dehumanized to its critical and painful juncture of very survival. Under the circumstances, what is there to celebrate a Pakistan Day of March 23? The symbolic Pakistan Day celebrations will remain devoid of much needed change and reformation goal of the institutionalized corrupt system of governance. Pakistan is in desperate need of political change and a new political system of governance to safeguard its national freedom and a sustainable future.

How Absolute Rulers Betrayed the “Pakistan Resolution of March 23?”

Imagine, Pakistani people still celebrate the March 23, 1940 – the people’s day of ‘Pakistan Resolution’ to have an independent State carved out of the British Empire of India. The Lahore Resolution (March 23, 1940) of the Muslim League unanimously demanded a separate homeland for the Muslim majority living in the Indian sub-continent, democratic rights, and freedom to establish and practice Islam as a system of life and to be a progressive country in the global community of independent nations. The legacy of Pakistan’s formative history is full of moral, political and intellectual dishonesty to the aims and ultimate purposes of the originality of Pakistan Resolution overwhelmingly passed by democratic norms at its best. Today’s Pakistan appears in a complete disconnect to the wishes and priorities of the masses. Politically, it is not just appalling but full of swindles and perversion to the idea and ideals of an independent state. Its political freedom and rights of the people who sacrificed all they had for the new nation. The nation experienced four military coups and continuous authoritarian dictatorships for over forty years. When martial laws govern a nation, it eradicate its values and principles of civic governance and freedom to think and to manage their own affairs. Democracy, freedom, law and order and social justice have succumbed to be words without meaning. There are distinctively visible moral and intellectual disparities and contrasts between the political powerhouses and those being governed by the “no system.” Does the Pakistani nation foresee light at the end of dark tunnel? After 75 years of the Pakistan Resolution and more than 69 years of the national freedom, Pakistanis suffer the tyranny of political mismanagement, institutionalized corruption and missing systems of national politics and political accountability.

Large segment of the Pakistani nation know well how the so called political leaders have stolen time and opportunities for political correctness and looted the natural and financial resources to enrich their foreign bank accounts in Europe and America as most continued to flourish without any accountability. The system of politics is the by-product of the military authoritarianism. The neo-colonial rulers seem to be obsessed with individualistic absolutism and strong elements of indifference toward the aspirations of the people for change and freedom from the authoritarian oppression manifested by the cooperation of some of the Western military powers and increasing sadistic policies to use force to dispel the demands of change and political reformation throughout the subjugated nation.

All the Time Politicians Use Blame Game

Pakistani politics has an opposition bloc - a symbolic framework of co-existence with the ruling elite. At times, few opposition leaders raise pertinent issues for their own image-making to influence the electorates. The irony of abstract noises and shouting matches lead to nowhere to address the real political issues of political change and systematic reformation of the institutionalized systems of corruption all over the body of the nation. What has been destroyed systematically by the few military dictators and the wicked politicians, cannot be recovered on its own. Educated Pakistanis used to describe the fertile lands of Sindh and the Five Rivers-Punjab, “our culture is agriculture.” Not any more, once home grown foods like wheat, barley, sugar and other commodities are now imported from abroad. What went wrong with the fertile lands of Pakistan? Recently, an American scholar remarked on President Bush led bogus war on Iraq: “we know the enemy, he is in us”, so do most Pakistanis. The military rule has stolen more than forty years of lifetime of the country. The nation’s agriculture lifeline has been endangered by the official neglect and corrupt practices of urbanization. Economy makes no headways under the continued IMF debts of $64 billion dollars, being unable to pay the annual interest without additional borrowing. No national productivity except on bureaucratic papers, political institutions dismantled, only dummy Parliament and the Senate are in session to float the political thieves and deceive the masses. Would the Pakistani history offer any honorable reference to thugs and criminals politicians? When some legal accountability measures are taken, the current politicians blame the past rulers. It is well known that “wicked” people never harm one another.

Educated Pakistanis to Rethink about the Future of the Nation

Ruined agriculture cannot be restored nor lands ploughed by tanks and guns and criminal leaders. Educated people educate others, and build public institutions, not the armed forces, Bhuttos, Zardari, Musharaf or Sharif brothers. None had leadership traits but were conspirators to grab power and rule the nation at will. Nobody visits a country marred by violence, terrorism, military coups and lost sense of nationhood. Traders and private investors run economic markets; but nobody invests where military dictators and political thieves control the lifelines of a nation. Comparatively India enjoins a stable culture of politics and institutions where political power is transferred to elected common folks. It never happened in Pakistan. Whether you like it or not, look at today’s Pakistan where the ruling elite and the masses seem to be living in two different time zones, without meeting of minds, necessities for survival and priorities for security. American led war on terrorism is killing Pakistanis and large scale daily civilian bloodbaths speak their own language of the political cruelty of the so called leaders. Tanks, guns and bullets produce nothing, they destroy all living things. With Bhuttos, Musaharf, Zardari and Sharif, Pakistan lost its genuine standing in global affairs, its respect and integrity. Shame to their common sense if India will talk on Kashmir. Shame to Pakistani Generals and their level of professional morality and intelligence if they expect politically strong Indian leadership to have a genuine dialogue on the settlement of Kashmir. Pakistan under Sahrif is operating from a position of extreme weakness, not of strength to search for a peaceful resolution of Kashmir. There is an overwhelming sense of political insecurity. There are widening gulfs amongst the rulers and the ruled. For over 50 years, Pakistan has not witnessed a single occasion of peaceful transfer of power. For so long, Pakistani nation has not produced a single credible leader to lead the nation for change and a promising future. To meet this challenge, Pakistan needs a morally and intellectually enriched leader of new vision and change for the future. Will you celebrate the Pakistan’s 75 years of democratic demand for an independent homeland?

Towards Political Change and Pakistan’s Future-Making

What has been lost during the past 50 years cannot be rebuilt by Sharif, Bhuttos, Zardari and the Generals. The rulers and the people live in conflicting time zones being unable to grasp the prevalent realities. Common Pakistanis breathe different air in a vicious encirclement of subjugation with a terrible sense of helplessness lacking political imagination and new ideas for future making. All public institutions look infested with indifference towards people’s interest and corruption. The so called National Assembly appears to be a lukewarm of besieged political mindset. One cannot ignore the facts that some vital segments of the Pakistani nation must have been complacent in these schemes of things institutionalizing corruption and lack of political accountability and to support a class of the ruling Elite. Could the Generals, Bhuttos, Zardari and Sahrifs have stolen time and resources on their own without the large scale participation of the complacent segments of the society? The common folks want sense of security, normalcy in daily social affairs, business and trades, not wars. The egoistic rulers show deafening silence towards public interest and priorities. The major paradox of history spell out the strategic direction that Pakistan needs a navigational change to ensure its national freedom, human dignity and sustainable political future. Would the Generals and PM Sharif and all the sadistic collaborators see the mirror - who they were and where they are in public imagination? Had there been no military coups, no Bhuttos, no Zardari, no Sharif and no Musharaf making junk history, Pakistan under educated and intelligent visionary leadership would have been in the forefront of progressive nations in South Asia. Imagine the time and opportunities on the present horizon if there were proactive intelligent leaders, Pakistan could have taken initiatives to organize Afghanistan, Central Asian States, Iran and Turkey into a viable unity to usher a new age of economic and political strength and stability. Undoubtedly, those who crippled the nation with fake 'terrorism' and stole its resources and time for change and development, Pakistan's enemies are within, not elsewhere.

If Allama Iqbal, Chaudry Rehmat Ali, Quaid-e- Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali were alive today, most likely they would have refused to be identified as part of the current Pakistani political culture. The major paradoxes of Pakistan’s history illustrate that its time for change, opportunities for development and resources for progress were stolen by its own egomaniac and insane rulers. If the Pakistani nation had produced new-age, educated and honest leadership, the nation would have been on the course of being a progressive nation and respected by the global community of nations. Not so, other nations across the globe use thrilling stories to label Pakistan as a culture of breeding “terrorism.” To undo the darkened past and reshape the present, Pakistan urgently needs educated, visionary and proactive leadership and public institutions to rebuild its essential capacity to safeguard its integrity, survival and future as a progressive nation moving forward to pursue change and social and economic development infrastructures for the deprived people. It is obvious to draw from the past that unless some segments of the nation were complacent in some ways, Bhuttos, Sharifs, Generals and Zaradris would have never come to hold the highest offices to disgrace the nation. The solution must come from the living and thinking hubs of the new generation of educated, honest and proactive Pakistanis to facilitate hope and promise for a better future. The essence of time would demand prompt collective thinking and action for change and reformation process of the corrupt political governance, not a space for neutrality, confrontational argument, unthinking and inaction. This should be the agenda and resolve of the Pakistan Day Resolution- March 23.

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Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including the latest: Global Peace and Conflict Management: Man and Humanity in Search of New Thinking. Lambert Publishing Germany, May 2012.