Black orange

The city of gardens and greenery is now the city of signal free corridors and signal full pollution. This project itself is going to cut hundreds of trees in its way

Even the Prime Minister (PM) rebuked the younger brother. In a rare display of displeasure, the PM told the Chief Minister (CM) that there were other projects besides the Metro. The very next day the CM signed up a deal for the loan of a colossal Rs 162 billion from the Exim Bank of China to build the Orange Metro project. At the same time, a few miles away from this flamboyant, record-breaking ceremony of the most expensive 27 km project in history, 19 small children died in Children’s Hospital due to the non-provision of anti-diphtheria serum (ADS) by the Punjab government. As I write, the death toll has reached 32 and is increasing. Lack of medicines and lack of ventilators due to lack of funds is the reason. Just imagine the agony of a mother, parent or family who sees their child die due to the misplaced priorities of the government. Just imagine trying to explain to them that this metro will make up for the missing vaccine, non-functional ventilators and the death of a child on whom their happiness and hopes centred.

Now just try to understand the campaign going on to justify the Orange train. It is the cure for all diseases. It is the bane of happiness. It is an environmental gift. It is a heritage dream. It is history in the making. History in the making it surely is. Never has such an expensive project been built since Pakistan was created. Spread over 27 km it is going to benefit 250,000 people daily. This practically means that it will benefit 0.48 percent of the people in Punjab. What about the remaining 99.52 percent of the people? It is indeed a record breaking project as it is going to cost six billion rupees per km, definitely worth going into the Guinness records and other world records as the most expensive of its kind. But then it is all for a good cause and even if it is for a tiny portion of the people and even if it is at the expense of millions of lives, once the orange colour starts running up and down Lahore it will silence all the critics. The fact that in the year 2015 we have slipped to 147th position in the human development index, placing us in the countries least caring about their people’s development, is also something 70 percent of this population is too unaware to care about.

Financial feasibility aside, the socio-cultural imperatives should make this project questionable even if the budget is not an issue. Activist, architects, town planners, environmentalists, lawyers, citizens, UNESCO and civil society have all — with legal and hard facts — protested for months against this encroachment on the land, degradation of environment and damage to the heritage. However, the CM and the administration of Lahore have brushed aside such allegations and have termed them ignorant rants. Their logic may be that these are old timers who want to keep Lahore backward and cannot understand the grandiose vision of the CM to turn Lahore into Paris.

Lahore is the cultural capital of Pakistan. No other city has the diversity of heritage and history comparable to Lahore. Take this away from Lahore and it becomes another soulless town that has no identity and character. According to the Lahore Conservation Society’s report, almost 15 major law protected heritage sites will be affected, including Shalimar Gardens (protected under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention), Gulabi Bagh Gateway (protected under the Antiquities Act 1975), Dai Anga’s tomb (protected under the Antiquities Act 1975), Buddhu ka Awa (protected under the Antiquities Act 1975), General Post Office (protected under the Antiquities Act 1975 and under the Punjab Special Premises Preservation Ordinance 1985), Chauburji (protected under the Antiquities Act 1975), Mauj Darya shrine (protected under the Antiquities Act 1975), Zebunnisa’s tomb (protected under the Antiquities Act 1975) and the railway station. The bureaucracy has been assigned the job to counter these protests with letters to the editors and advertisements showing how far from the truth these claims are.

Environmentalists have been trying their best to explain how dangerous this fatal attraction for brick and mortar is. Their cries have been dismissed by people who travel by air and sit in air-conditioned cars, and thus can never understand the importance of transport in the lives of the ordinary man. The city of gardens and greenery is now the city of signal free corridors and signal full pollution. This project itself is going to cut hundreds of trees in its way and, though replacements have been promised, when and where on these hard surfaces it would be possible is anybody’s guess. The fact that Lahore has reached another milestone of being classified in the top 10 most polluted cities in the world may be one of the reasons why at the onset of every winter babies and elders suffer at the hand of outbreaks of strange lung diseases. But then a few deaths here and there are all justified when we envision the Orange train juggernauting across the city.

Government departments not sharing this noble vision of the CM are duly taken to task. As reported, the district officer in the environment department of Punjab had reported that the installation of a wastewater disposal station at Bhobtian Chowk was not only illegal but would affect two schools as the noise pollution and foul odour would affect the students. The result of this report was that the Water and Sanitation Authority (WASA) advised the CM to transfer this shortsighted officer, and he was. This follows the Director General (DG) Archaeology being made Officer on Special Duty (OSD) as he was insisting that Chauburji and other sites would be harmed. When Shahjahan made the Taj Mahal, he cut the hands of the labourers so that they would not make that design again and now it is classified as a wonder of the world. Thus, the CM understands that a few dismissals here and there will fade in the memory of the public when the Orange Metro will be classified as the wonder of Lahore.

It is not just the rejection of a few officers or a few sites or a few laws or a few trees or a few reports, it is the rejection of the best minds in the country that have devoted their lives to giving this city and country the glorious memory of its unique culture and heritage. But then the intellect of the likes of Nayyar Ali Dada, Kamil Mumtaz and I A Rehman cannot compete with the indecent obsession of somebody bent on turning this city into the underpass capital of the world.

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Malicious obedience

When the men who run institutions are always under the line of fire for going against the grain of people who can fire them, then institutions become contests for political muscle mania

How can those you rule go by rules that are against you? How can those who report to you give reports that are against you? How can those who obey you take actions that are against you? This seems to be the classic duel going on between the men in charge of the country and the men in charge of the institutions of the country. In this duel the obvious winners will be those who rule the country but the obvious losers will be those under their rule, including the public at large. The state’s institutions are supposed to be independent and empowered enough to demand explanations and actions from all involved in any relevant case or matter. However, when those who rule think that rules are made for those who are ruled but not those who rule, then institutions become victims of power play and politics.

The recent overspeak by Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is a typical example where, displeased by the Elections Commission (EC) for even entertaining a petition against the voters’ list of the recently held NA-122 election, he lashed his fury at an institution that his party had defended despite pressures from the opposition. He called them incompetent and people with mal-intention, and warned them that this was a soft warning and harsher things may follow. What was this furor about? It was about the NA-122 petition filed to the ECP by the PTI that at least 30,000 votes had been transferred before the election and only 7,000 of them had a valid record of transfer. This is not the first time Mr Speaker spoke with disdain about institutions questioning him and his party. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was similarly warned about its “misconduct” on enquiring into high up affairs. He warned that a reference would be filed against NAB for informing the Supreme Court (SC) that it was pursuing 150 mega scams involving a colossal amount of Rs 428 billion. This included reference against the Prime Minister (PM) and Chief Minister (CM), and many other illustrious names of his party from Punjab.

A similar fight is now going on between the Rangers and Sindh government. Dr Asim is the present bone of contention. But there is a larger matter at stake. Dr Asim’s confession of involvement in terror facilitation and corruption has links to the top ranks of the party. Dr Asim must be saved to save the bosses. Thus, the Rangers, who had become symbols of saviours in Karachi, have now been declared by the Sindh government as encroachers and destroyers of the “legal boundaries” of the institution. From Qaim Ali Shah to Khursheed Shah to Maula Bux Chandio the typical plea of being unlawful, unconstitutional and undemocratic has come to the fore. The only question to this political chagrin is why is this great defence of the sanctity of institutions and their boundaries, and their legality always limited to incidences where the big guns are gunned by their own subservient.

This just about tells the story of what has gone wrong with the country’s ability to grow and develop. Countries depend on institutional development. Institutional development depends on system development. System development depends on merit based leadership development. When the men who run institutions are always under the line of fire for going against the grain of people who can fire them, then the institutions become contests for political muscle mania. Politicians have in the past threatened institutions and individuals running these institutions to the extent that either the individuals have resigned or the institutions have become lame extensions and execution wings of political parties. Some outstanding institutions reduced to mediocrity by this forced threat technique are the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) whose chairman, after being removed and restored many times due to disobedience to the rulers, finally left the country to save this family. He is now helping the US government to develop a system that Pakistan could have immensely benefited from. Similarly, the tribunal judge who dared to give a sentence against Ayaz Sadiq in NA-122, Kazim Ali Malik, reported that he had been threatened by the law minister, Rana Sanaullah, and when he refused to bow was duly retired from his post.

This is a form of autocratic democracy where all institutions like parliament and public regulators are used to keep up the label of democracy while inside prevails an autocratic grey matter of “do as I say or...” If all institutions have to work on their dictate then it is very difficult to keep up the democratic facade. Recently, the spat between the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and ministry of water and power is just one of the many examples of this attitude. NEPRA’s very purpose is to highlight gaps in the energy sector to help the ministry improve its performance. However, while the government has been advertising massively on its progress in the energy sector, the NEPRA report clearly pointed out that the energy sector was not progressing. When this report was published the ministry of water and power launched an attack on NEPRA and there were reports of the NEPRA chairman’s job being on the line.

The role and jurisdiction of the Rangers is rightly being questioned by many analysts. Ideally it should be the police that have the capability of safeguarding the lives of people living in Karachi. However, it was the failure of the police that led to the Rangers being invited to clean up the city. The failure of the police both in Punjab and Sindh is a direct result of the politicisation of these institutions. An ex Inspector General (IG) Sindh confessed in the SC that the 50 top jobs in Sindh police are decided and divided as a quota between various parties, and they then become party guards and henchmen rather than public guards. The tragedy is that under such bosses the many who do want to do a competent and fair job become rebels to be crushed. Recent question marks on the sudden disappearance of Ayesha Mumtaz from the Punjab Food Authority are still unanswered. Some say she has been indefinitely sent to a food conference to rethink her adventure of declaring Hamza Shahbaz’s company unhygienic.

The Nekokara incident perhaps best describes what disobedience against wrongs can cost you. Mohammad Ali Nekokara was not only an officer with impeccable professional credentials but is academically very well qualified too. A graduate of public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy’s School of Government, he was too competent and conscientious for the government. Instead of making him a role model he was removed from his service for disobedience against use of force on a protest. When obedience to rule of law is punished and obedience to rule of ruler is rewarded institutions and nations become playthings to be toyed with by those who are savvy at gaming in the house of thrones.

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Private deals

The government makes plans of privatising public sector entities with ordinances issued without consultation or debate on any forum of public representation

In a democracy this talk is dangerous. The government has been privatised. Its shares have been given to the Sharif group of industries. Parliament is just a political hangout. Senate is just a rubber stamp. These are some of the loud headlines in media that make breaking news. The government says this is a conspiracy by the opposition that is jealous of its development work. Analysts say there is truth in this. The opposition says it is a fact of governance in the country. Why has this controversy on the style of governance reached a level where the credibility of the claims of the government has become a matter of ridicule? Is it because of the selective use of parliament to suit its own requirement? Is it because of weak legislation that has made these upper and lower houses of government become a liability instead of an asset to governance? The question on governance is not new but what is new is that in recent times statements on the quality of governance by the army and the Chief Justice (CJ) himself have added fuel to the fire. Oblivious to this the government keeps on ignoring parliament and keeps on imposing taxes on the public. Dismissive of this the government makes plans of privatising public sector entities with ordinances issued without consultation or debate on any forum of public representation.

The state of governance in state owned enterprises has been pathetic. An estimated Rs 500 billion is leaking annually due to corruption and mismanagement in them. Unfortunately, whichever organisation starts with Pakistan in its name has an image of politicisation, zero merit and massive losses. This image has been built on years of horrendous performance be it PTV, PIA or PSM. These organisations have been subsidised heavily to survive and are a burden on the economy. The solution suggested by the government is: let us privatise them. Is privatisation the cure to all these problems? Is privatisation an admission of failure of governance by the government? Is privatisation a confession that public sector enterprises cannot be managed efficiently and honestly? Is privatisation a cure for all ills to the revenue shortfall due to tax, budget and trade deficit? Previous experience shows that without answering these questions privatisation turned out to be a loot sale of assets that were sold at throw away prices to people with clout in the ruling government.

Every analysis of these state enterprises has shown what needs to be done to turn around their performance. The PML-N government also promised that competent people from professional backgrounds would be hired on strict criteria to make the energy sector, the airline and the steel mill sustainable. Advertisements were also placed in the newspaper but neither the best were hired nor the criteria of merit adhered to. This was done to accommodate their own interpretation of what merit was i.e. friends and relatives of those in power. Take PIA’s case: President Zardari appointed his close friend Captain Ejaz as the head, which resulted in a huge protest by the PML-N and other opposition parties. However, as soon as the Noon government took control in 2013 it appointed a highly controversial man, Shujaat Azeem, as advisor on aviation to manage the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). He fitted on merit as defined by the party i.e. he was the brother of PML-N big wig Tariq Azeem and had impressed the Prime Minister (PM) with his loyalty to the family. In 2013, the Supreme Court (SC) had expressed concern over the appointment of Shujaat Azeem as adviser to the PM in the CAA, as he had been court-martialed by the Pakistan Air Force. In view of these concerns, he tendered his resignation. However, he was again appointed as special assistant. In recent times, the case has resurfaced again. The SC last month took strong exception of appointing Shujaat Azeem, a convicted person, as the special assistant to the PM on the CAA, the position equivalent to that of the status of a state minister and the case is still sub judice.

How can those very people who fail to manage public sector organisations manage their own similar businesses with efficiency? Is there no conflict of interest when people who are running competitive businesses are also policymakers? The minister of petroleum and gas is running a competitive airline, Airblue. Even Shujaat Azeem, apart from being the brother of Tariq Azeem, is the co-owner of Royal Airport Services at Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar airports. It handles terminal services, cargo/ramp and airport traffic control. Among his clients are Saudi Airline, Etihad Air, Gulf Air and Qatar Air. While their own businesses do well, PIA’s losses accumulate to almost Rs 300 billion as flights are late, services are poor and costs are high. So how would privatisation change this constant decline? The answer given is that it will bring revenue through shareholders investment. But the money was coming in any case from the government. Then what went wrong? It is the professional management that is missing. It is honest and merit based leadership that is missing. That itself means governance failure.

The severity of losses in these public sector organisations makes them case studies for sell off. The government has promised to sell off almost 60 organisations and IMF loan extension is dependent on it. But the problem is that the IMF will never care about the socio-cultural issues or national security requirements. Another problem is the sale price. When any asset becomes saddled with debt, losses, bad machinery and poor HR, it will be sold at junk value. That is why even when logic is given on how privatised banks have become more efficient, the counter question is that if they had been turned around and then sold off they would have fetched multiple increases in value. Thus, these continuous allegations on deliberate attempts to devalue them to buy them at cheap prices and then make phenomenal profits is given some substance by the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB’s) cases on many such dubious sales.

The difference between private sector and public sector organisations is the shareholders’ ability to hold management accountable. In the private sector the shareholder directly makes every penny count while in the public sector the actual shareholder is public and the government is the custodian of their money. With the government entrenched in unaccountable nepotism and cronyism public money becomes a loot sale. Some say it is in the DNA of the public sector to be inefficient, but in reality it is in the DNA of the people in the government who lead the public sector that defames and devalues them to become disposable liabilities instead of assets.

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An indecent confession

What destroys a society is not when men of poor means resort to unfair means to make do but when men of high intellect and great opportunities choose to put their skills in place for manipulating the system to serve their own designs

Finally, an accused of top stature confesses to appalling crimes. The doctor admits to doctoring hospital facilities to facilitate criminals. The response to this confession is mixed. The media raised it as breaking news. The PPP dismissed it as a confession under duress. The MQM typically denies any linkage vehemently. The opposition parties — the PML-N and PTI — maintained their friendly and hostile postures. The overall reaction was lukewarm, not reflecting the seriousness of the admission. The admission is of medically treating people involved in terrorism. The confession does not touch upon the cases of K-Electric exemptions where ruling party ministers were involved. Thus, it is a confession but a partial one that gives enough space to accusers to be found right, yet gives enough room to the opposers to dismiss it as more of buckling under pressure than serious evidence.

Crime flourishes when justice perishes. That is exactly what we have seen in the country. We have seen innumerable confessions of culprits who have named many people as masterminds or accomplices in ghastly operations but these confessions are either dismissed as being planted or as vengeful and not much is heard after a while. This is normally the case when small timers point fingers at big names. If the media and public continue to highlight an issue for some time, a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is formed and then, depending on how high the name is, the JIT is scripted to suit the desired decision. In Dr Asim’s case it is different. Dr Asim is a high-up himself, who was not just obeying orders out of pressure but is a very close friend of the ex-president and, thus, if he is saying something it should be taken in a different context.

Dr Asim also symbolises another segment of society that is actually more responsible for what has gone wrong with this country. He has a dream CV for any aspiring profile of an ideal Pakistani. He is an educated professional, with skills, resources and opportunities to make an extraordinary name and money based on his background. Dr Asim Hussain received his early education from the Karachi Grammar School and later enrolled in the Cadet College, Petaro. After serving a brief period in the army, Dr Asim Hussain retired as a lieutenant and chose to pursue an MBBS degree. He graduated from Dow Medical College in 1978 and went to Europe for further studies. He successfully cleared his MCPS in 1981 and continued his studies in Vienna, Austria. After returning to Pakistan, he entered politics and that is when his career took the fast track. He became a senator, advisor and federal minister for petroleum in President Zardari’s cabinet.

Thus, what destroys a society is not when men of poor means resort to unfair means to make do but when men of high intellect and great opportunities choose to put their skills in place for manipulating the system to serve their own designs. The damage that large-scale mindless wrongdoers cannot do is outdone by a few astute intellectuals whose polished and groomed demeanour keeps on deceiving and defeating any attempts to nail them down. Thus, Dr Asim is not a Faisal Mota, Tahir Lamba or Saulat Mirza. Dr Asim’s arrest and the ensuing confession is an opportunity for the country to crack down on the big fish that are not only not coming into the net but have traversed local sea shores and gone overseas. The question is whether this rather indecent confession by the seemingly decent doctor will be a passage to the crackdown on the high up ‘untouchables’. Looking back at history, the chances seem bleak.

Let us look at another indecent confession by an apparently decent man. It is Ishaq Dar and his affidavit on Sharif’s money laundering case. Again, Mr Dar has impeccable credentials. His accounting background and his loyalty to the Sharifs, which resulted in their children tying the knot, is legendary. His loyalty to the Sharif family is enough to make the Prime Minister (PM) condone his consistent destruction of the economy and award him not only the finance ministry but also charge of as many as 42 committees. But it is the same man who gave a recorded statement in the year 2000 on Sharif committing money laundering. According to legal experts, the senator’s deposition affidavit at that time was an “irrevocable statement” as it had been recorded under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). In that statement, Ishaq Dar accused Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif of money laundering in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case. At one point in the 43-page statement, Mr Dar said that on the instructions of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif, “I opened two foreign currency accounts in the name of Sikandara Masood Qazi and Talat Masood Qazi with the foreign currency funds provided by the Sharif family in the Bank of America by signing as Sikandara Masood Qazi and Talat Masood Qazi.” He said that all instructions to the bank in the name of these two persons were signed by him under the orders of “original depositors”, namely Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shahbaz Sharif.

This confession has become history in the archive dungeons of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and has been gathering so much dust that the statement has been erased from NAB’s case menu. The honourable gentleman who made this irrevocable confession continues to represent the country’s best economic wizardry. These are no ordinary confessions. These are confessions made by the high and mighty against the high and mighty. These are confessions with legal evidence and documented proof. These are confessions made in front of credible witnesses. These confessions are not made by vengeful enemies but loyal best friends. Yet the chances of them becoming turning points in our justice system are as substantial as the Orange Metro Line train removing illiteracy in Punjab. As was the case in Ishaq Dar’s confession already, Dr Asim’s confession has been rejected as being under duress. One might ask what sort of loyalties and relationships are these that crack under pressure. That may be too deep and philosophical a question for a political culture where the basic principle is that there are no friends and no enemies in politics, rather, just common interests of uncommon people who share the mindset of turning might into right.

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Lawless justice

It is the lawmakers that need to be taken to task. It is the system’s architects that need to be faulted. It is the planners and resource providers that need to be shaken up

Asif Ali Zardarihas been honourably absolved of all charges.The court quotes lack of evidence as a basis for dismissing the case.The accountability court goes by the law and dispenses justice.Déjà vu of over four decades sets forth the feeling of glee in law twisters and feeling of despondency in law seekers.Justice has prevailed but the truth may have been derailed. This just about summarises the quality of justice that is being meted out to the big and powerful, and this just about summarises the quality of progress in the country. On paper it was all correct and appropriate. The case was filed, it was fought and it was dismissed due to lack of evidence. But the question that law and justice dispensers fail to answer is how do you protect evidence, how do you ensure witness protection, how do you tighten the ability of clever exploiters of taking refuge in rusty laws, discriminatory interpretations of law and, most of all, hapless and helpless justicesystems? The best example of this is the 18-year-old case of Asif Ali Zardari and the hardly eight-month-old case of Ayyan Ali. This stagnant legal journey shows the state of justice or rather injustice that has entrenched itself in this country.

Who is to be blamed for this foolproof system of protecting the accused who matter and others who matter to those who matter? Both Asif Ali Zardari’s case and Ayyan Ali’s case were fought by the PPP legal stalwart,FarooqNaek, and he managed to protect his clients and his client’s clients with the same ease he has practised in decades. The SGS-Cotecna case is the most famous case that brought the tag of Mr 10 Percent to Asif Ali Zardari. However, the famous National Reconciliation Ordinance(NRO) of Musharraf overtook dozens of such cases against politicians. The rest,the toothless National Accountability Bureau (NAB) did. The NAB head is chosen by the consent of the ruling and opposition parties. NAB has been recently shaken up as part of the National Action Plan (NAP) and 13-year-old references have been reactivated. But the NAB head has been as controversial as the previous appointees.

Take this particular case:the former deputy chairman NAB,HasanWasimAfzal, while recording his testimony, said that he himself brought the original documents that contained agreements with the offshore companies, details of bank accounts and their beneficiaries, some judicial decisions and other documents. He said he no longercarriedthe record with him since he is now retired and keeping the record with him would be a crime, adding that the record should be either with the Lahore High Court (LHC) or accountability court. During the proceedings, WasimAfzal maintained that he was a witness in 20 corruption references. The prosecution, however, did not record his statements in 19 cases while only in the SGS case his statement before investigation officer Gulshan Khan was recorded under section 161. Now that the original documents were being asked for by the court the same passing-the-buck game started. NAB said itdid not have them and maybe the LHC had them. The court says it does not have them and so, in this wild goose chase, the gander escapes.

Similarly, after umpteen attempts to file charges againstAyyan Ali, finally she has been granted her passport back with the warning that if she tries to leave the country a two million rupees fine will be imposed. This is a mockery of a penalty to somebody who is caught red handed with half a million dollars. Can we blame the judges? Not really, as the court goes on evidence and the evidence in Asif Ali Zardari’s case is nowhere to be found. Can we blame the lawyers? Not really, as the law is being followed. Then whom do we blame?

It is the lawmakers that need to be taken to task. It is the system’s architects that need to be faulted. It is the planners and resource providers that need to be shaken up. But why shake up laws, systems and plans that ensure more power to the powerful? That is perhaps an explanation for the perpetuation of a system that long has been criticised but reinforced. Lawmaking is the job of parliament and its record has been dismal. How do you expect the lawmakers to pass a law on tax defaulters when 70 percent of them donot pay taxes? How do you expect lawmakers to pass the accountability bill when nearly all prominent ministers and members of parliament have cases lying with NAB? How do you expect parliament to make asset declaration more transparent when nearly all of them are hiding 90 percent of their assets? Thus, when we are asking defaulters and wrongdoers to bring reforms, we are really just fooling ourselves.

And that is basically what feeds the rotting system of the country. Take any sector, from energy to the economy, and we see more of the same. The energy sector is bleeding as thewindow dressing of new projects diverts public attention from the main finding of every report that the same inefficiency and corruption continues to eat away at any improvement. The economy, for decades, has been fed on expensive borrowed money; this government has broken all records of borrowing internally and externally. There are no tax reforms, there are no health reforms, there are no judicial reforms, there are no educational reforms, there are no industrial reforms and there are no economic reforms. That is because reforms would mean upsetting a system that these lawmakers have perfected and customised for decades to ensure a political mafia that makes people like Asif Ali Zardari and Ayyan Ali become the most rich, the most powerful, the most famous and, unfortunately, the most attractive role models for the many who look at how to exceed laws and how to stampede justice.

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War for war

Whatever policies, strategies and actions the world has taken to suppress terrorism, it has in fact fuelled it to become bigger and stronger

Last winter it was Peshawar, this winter it is Paris. Last winter it was innocent school children, this winter it was the innocent public out for entertainment. Last winter it was intelligence failure in a country that is blamed for not doing enough against terrorism, this winter it was political failure for a country whose president happened to be part of the public watching that fatal football match. The response in Pakistan? Attack the hideouts of terrorists in Waziristan. The response in Paris? Attack hideouts in Syria. Hundreds of innocent lives lost and thousands of family members almost dying with grief is something that makes most eyes moist and many hearts heavy for a long time to come. The desire to kill and exterminate anybody and anything remotely connected with these incidents is duly justified. However, the question is: is that really effective in achieving the goal of eliminating terrorism?

The tragedy of Paris is a reminder of how terror has expanded and multiplied despite the war on terrorism that we have witnessed post-9/11. No subject has been debated more, researched more and focused on more in the last one-and-a-half decade than terrorism. World powers along with their allies have put together their best sources and resources to counter this menace yet it has increased in scale, depth and frequency.

France itself has a history of attacks that have multiplied over a period of time. The Algerian independence driven bomb attack in 1961 on a train was the most recent in memory. In the 1990s, Algerian insurgents called the Armed Islamic Group were responsible for an Air France hijacking and two bombings on Paris trains. A series of gun attacks in March 2012 targeting French soldiers and Jewish civilians came to be known as the Toulouse and Montauban shootings. Three soldiers, a rabbi and three Jewish schoolchildren were killed. In January this year, at least 12 people were killed by gunmen who opened fire in the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo. This alone is an indication that whatever the world and Paris have done to combat terrorism has been ineffective and needs a review and redo.

Compare the last attack on the World Trade Centre by al Qaeda on 9/11 and the war on Iraq and Afghanistan thereafter. The Taliban became the most popular brand of terror and Osama bin Laden the man who turned into a monster after the US/Russia conflict in Afghanistan. After 15 years, the three countries affected by this conflict — Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan — are still facing terror bombings, have ruined economies and are hotbeds of resentment against the west. The US has withdrawn troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and is now desperate to bring the Taliban to the negotiation table in Afghanistan with the help of Pakistan. The effectiveness of operations in Iraq is evidenced by the fact that the UK and US now admit that there were no weapons of mass destruction and the war was the result of “some ill-informed and ill-advised policy making”.

Is this admission to such destruction enough for those millions who were killed in this war? Is this confession enough to absolve the west of its perception of Islamophobia? Is this realisation that a whole country was blown to bits and generations wiped off not going to have its repercussions? Well, it has had serious repercussions and these are in the shape of the birth of originally Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). ISI was formed in reaction to the US backed Shia government of Al Maliki and the alienation of Sunnis in the country in 2004. As the war in Iraq raged so did the jihadi narrative of IS. In 2012, as the Syrian conflict started, the organisation expanded to establish itself in Syria and was rebranded as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). With the Charlie Hebdo killings it relabelled itself as Islamic State (IS), with a global mission.

It is not hard to assess from this analysis that whatever policies, strategies and actions the world has taken to suppress terrorism, it has in fact fuelled it to become bigger and stronger. The names may change and there may be temporary spurts of peace but they keep on coming back with ever more effective ways of defeating whatever intelligence or war skills that the world possesses. Does that mean that world powers should not hound and beat down terrorism? Does that mean criminals of this brutal nature should not be hounded and punished? No, it only means that focusing on the effect and not focusing on the cause will always result in making the cause so powerful that it will out power the terrorism annihilating the power resources of the world.

After 9/11 there have been so many studies that have proposed a multipronged approach. While you punish the terrorist, you focus on causes of terrorism and uprooting them. The main reasons for terrorism to rise are deprivation, alienation, occupation and imposition. Wherever there is perceived inequity and injustice, rebellion will be inevitable. All studies have revealed that without strategies of inclusion, engagement, education, participation and development, no rebellion in the world has been suppressed. The question thus is how much time, resources and effort have been spent on engagement strategies compared to destruction strategies? The answer is pretty simple: compared to spending on war it may be at best 90/10. The next question is: has this ratio borne fruits in making this world more secure and safe? The answer is no. World insecurity has increased exponentially.

The Paris bombing has Algerian, Moroccan and Belgian origin French involved but President Hollande’s first reaction is 20 bombs on Syria. This is almost déjà vu. The names have changed from Afghanistan to Syria and from al Qaeda to IS but the game of power versus power and war versus war remains the same. A question to ponder: while a terrorist kills people on brainwashed misinformation and ignorance, what do you call Tony Blair after confessing that it was misinformation and ignorance of the right facts that caused millions to die and decay in Iraq? If this is not a war crime and not punishable then what is? It is this perceived discrimination that spirals and fuels the unbeatable rise in rebels with a cause.

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Politics of balance

Except for Tunisia, from where it started, the Arab Spring has become the Arab autumn where governments like Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria have all seen civil unrest and foreign interventions

The Arab Spring was a movement towards open economy and capitalistic reforms. The Western spring was a movement towards less capitalistic and more socialistic government. These are not conclusions but debates that have been fiercely fought out between various schools of thought. People across the world are more global in their knowledge and awareness. The availability of social networking tools make instant messaging possible to billions with a click and form pressure groups that can change global policies. It started with the Greek refusal to bow to the dictates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Ban,k and has now spread to Canada where Justin Trudeau has become the symbol of a new type of politics of change. What school of thought will prevail, only time will tell. However, indisputably, this is a time for historians, economists, sociologists and literary figures to sharpen their intellectual tools and come up with new research and theories that may have a profound effect in shaping the world order in this century.

It all started with a country, Tunisia, in 2010. A vegetable vendor and the breadwinner for his family of eight, Bouazizi hoped to save enough money to buy a pickup truck that would simplify his work. On December 17, 2010, a police officer seized Bouazizi’s unlicensed cart, rejected his fines and abused him. Frustrated, Bouazizi complained to the local municipality officials but his request was denied. Hopeless and forlorn, he set himself on fire, which subsequently triggered widespread protests in Tunisia that led to the Arab Spring.

Initially, the Arab Spring was an optimistic transformation of the Middle East, much like the revolutions of 1989 that toppled communism. Authoritarianism and political corruption were enhancing social inequality and hindering economic growth. Democracy seemed to promote socioeconomic advancement and defuse global tensions. The 2011-2012 phase of the Arab Spring appeared successful. The authoritarian governments in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen were overthrown in protests ranging from peaceful to violent. Governmental changes were observed in Jordan, Iraq and Bahrain, while autocrats in Saudi Arabia and Algeria assured social reforms. However, except for Tunisia, from where it started, the Arab Spring has become the Arab autumn where governments like Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria have all seen civil unrest and foreign interventions to take advantage of the socio-economic turmoil.

In the west, capitalism and open economies have come under fire due to the prolonged recession that has made many giant companies and countries go bankrupt. The excessive spend and spend consumerism philosophy made the US and Europe economies fall into recession like ninepins. Europe was particularly hit as country after country applied for bailout packages to save themselves. This gave rise to a demand for more controlled economies that were not fed on credit instruments but on austerity measures. Spain, Portugal and Italy all went through harrowing times and had people on the streets condemning government policies. But no other country has been as badly hit as Greece. These aftershocks of the recession earthquake have their epicentre in profligate spending, easy money and intoxicated capitalism. Alexis Tsipras became a brand of defiance against this form of government where the masses suffer due to deep addiction of the governments to run deficits, borrow from money sharks like the IMF and World Bank, and then punish their ordinary people for the excessive indulgence of the rich and powerful. He represents the new breed of political leaders: young, angry, defiant and daring. However, on taking control of the government he found out that negotiations with the EU, European Central Bank (ECB) and IMF were more difficult than negotiating with a dissatisfied Greek voter to vote for him. But give him credit for his guts as he called for a re-election to get backing for his proposals and won it again. The Syriza-led government re-elected in last month’s snap poll has committed to enacting almost 50 “prior actions” by end of this year, covering detailed fiscal and structural reforms. How he copes with parliament response and public response is yet to be seen.

Similar to this firebrand, politics in Canada experienced a change of heart. Justin Trudeau, young and unassuming, beat the experienced Stephen Harper in a fairy story victory. At just 43, the charismatic Trudeau spent a gruelling campaign — Canada’s longest since 1872 — beating back the Conservatives’ ad narrative that he was not mature. Trudeau is not totally centre left as they claim he is and is in favour of the “invest and spend” economy. He immediately announced the withdrawal of support for wars in Syria and Iraq though they do want to combat Islamic State (IS) and extremism. Fifty percent of his cabinet will be women. His policy of accepting a larger number of refugees also scored heavily with the voters.

While the Arab and western world are juggling with their political stances, Asia is also witnessing some historic reversals. Narendra Modi, who swept the Indian elections on his anti-Pakistan, pro-hinduvta and pro-economy chant, has faced two stumping defeats, one earlier in Delhi where the upstart Aam Admi Party took 67 of the 70 seats and now in Bihar by the veterans Lalu Parsad Yadava and Nitish Kumar, who romped home with 178 of 273 seats to let the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) know that politics based on caste and religion will dwindle away. On the other side of Asia, in Myanamar, history is being made. The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aun Suu Kyi, has won 53 lower house seats in the national parliament out of 62 announced so far. The military government that rules Myanamar handed power to a semi-civilian government in 2011 but the army still dominates politics after decades in power. Twenty-five percent of seats in parliament are reserved for the army. But the very fact that the voter turnout was 80 percent shows how strongly people voted against the dictator rule.

Political ideologies are in the process of a makeover. From authoritarianism to democracy, from capitalism to socialism, every form of political structure is being tested and sent for remedial treatment. The only common denominator in all these changes is that with this viral world where one picture of a small child lying desolate on a seashore can move people across the globe so much that government policies and election results are being affected by it, means the balancing act in politics will continue. For countries to hide behind their geographical walls and their digital firewalls is almost impossible. What is needed is not to reinvent new theories but to ensure that these philosophies do not become power play games subjugated to human desire for unbridled control.

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Elite capture

You can influence jobs, contracts, postings and transfers. You can get innocent people convicted and criminal people acquitted. You can be a thief but nobody can catch you. You can be a murderer but nobody can convict you

In the end, the Chief Justice (CJ) had to protest against the injustice. CJ Anwar Zaheer Jamali has taken suo motu on Mustafa Kanju’s smooth exit from the confessed murder of 15-year-old Zain. The Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) acquitted a murderer who had admitted to the crime on the grounds of lack of evidence. This murder took place in a public place, the firing was witnessed by hundreds, the accused was proven drunk and trigger happy, he confessed to the crime, nine witnesses were supposed to confirm the evidence and the Chief Minister (CM) promised justice regardless of connections yet Mustafa Kanju has been set free. This for the only reason that he is the son of Siddique Kanju, a former MNA and minister, and if you are the son of the rich and powerful the media is hushed or diverted, courts are put on the defensive, policemen become your personal bodyguards and witnesses disappear into thin air.

It was not just murder but the way this murder was conducted that speaks of the arrogant extremism in the power brokers of this country. Mustafa, the son of the former minister for foreign affairs, Siddique Kanju, and brother of PML-N MNA Abdul Rehman Kanju, was drunk and became infuriated after his luxury car accidentally hit the vehicle of a woman in Cavalry Ground. His fury was directed at how any other car could dare to be on the roads when the Kanjus were driving around madly. How could his speeding car be impeded by these low-lying ordinary people who needed to be fixed for getting in his way? The car he hit belonged to a woman and when he came out to tell her off, she dashed off sensing he may do more damage. This escape from his fury drove him insane and he started yelling. Hearing the noise people came out of their houses. He opened indiscriminate fire and hit Zain, the only son of his mother, a motorcyclist and Husnain, 18, who came out of the house after hearing the noise. Zain, a class nine student, died on the spot and Husnain was critically injured.

Memories of Shahzeb’s killer, Shahrukh Jatoi, coming out of the van flashing victory signs come rushing back. This victory sign is for winning over justice, law, ethics and morality. This is the sickness prevailing in the social and moral fabric of this society, which has destroyed the power of institutions to prevail over individuals. This power comes from money that buys position that buys influence. This power of influence is so potent that it makes laws and justice impotent. That is why there is an insane race in this country to hold a government, public or political office. If we see the financial compensation associated with these offices, it is pathetic yet they are highly sought after, especially political positions. The reasons are very obvious. These offices give you clout over many institutions, projects and public resources. These offices become a big symbol of status, fear, opulence and manipulation. If you are an MNA or MPA you are the don of your constituency. Your influence pervades the District Commissioner’s (DC’s) office, the police station, courts and public sector project offices. You can influence jobs, contracts, postings and transfers. You can get innocent people convicted and criminal people acquitted. You can be a thief but nobody can catch you. You can be a murderer but nobody can convict you. Even the private sector’s rich and powerful industrialists align themselves to various parties and fund them in return for favours for their industries and their businesses.

To retain this game of influence the system has been designed to perfection by the power brokers. Spend money, buy institutions, script surveys and reports, and suppress evidence and witnesses to become too powerful to be nabbed or caught. The electoral process is instrumental in perpetuating this power hoarding by the elite of the country. Our present electoral system is an example and vehicle to seats of power. Nearly all feudal families, rich industrialists and top bureaucrats compete in this game of buying and influencing votes. The geo-demographic study of voter patterns also shows that the educated class, which is the minority, hardly bothers to vote while the poor and illiterate vote more either because the landlord orders them to or their own family compulsions based on loyalty make them blind to any concept of national interest. Thus, we see this absolutely amazing system of having the most incompetent and corrupt people pass through all election scrutiny, through all codes of conduct and, many times, even when they are not even present in campaigns and have been jailed for crimes, they get miraculously elected. Consider this: Naveed Tahir, who is currently in jail, was elected as councilor from Lahore’s Union Council 124’s Ward number six without even running a campaign. According to details, Tahir fled after snatching Rs 16 lakh from an excise team two months ago, was is in jail and did not even run a campaign. He managed to secure the PML-N ticket and was even elected as councilor after securing 328 votes.

These small time crooks are inspired to adopt this path to success by their mentors who are on even higher positions of power and influence despite committing bigger crimes. A glaring example of this was seen in the recent elections when the law minister, Rana Sanaullah, was alleged a number of times by his own colleagues to be a target killer who has committed 20 killings. A list was also presented to the public in the media. To add ridicule to this bizarre irony, the Inspector General (IG) of police in Punjab instead of investigating defended the minster by saying such statements were immaterial - that maybe due to the fact that his own brother has been blessed with an unopposed seat in these elections. Thus, it is a neat and compact game of power hoarding where top politicians, with the help of top industrialists, top bureaucrats and top institutions create this impenetrable fortress of nourishing each other by ensuring that the lesser masses remain too miserable to ever challenge, contest or break through this elite mafia.

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Completely foreign affairs

The psychology of exclusivity and the power attached to being the only one carrying that status is what makes the rich and famous stand out

Imagine that a country’s foreign policy depends on allowing the hunting of the houbara bustard. Most people would say it is a typo error or slip of tongue. Most people would say it is a parody show of the sitcom variety. Most people would say it is just somebody who has become tipsy after a few pegs. But it is none of the above. Rather, it is a legal case being presented by the highest legal body in the country to the highest legal court in Pakistan i.e. the Supreme Court (SC). The case is that the illegality of royal princes hunting the endangered specie of houbara bustard should be made legal otherwise our foreign policy will become an endangered species. Thus, it is a case of endangered houbara bustard versus endangered foreign policy. That itself speaks volumes about how bereft of substance and strategy not only our foreign policy is but how bereft of any legal or ethical sensitivity our government is. This is a crass case of admitting that we are beggars and that beggars cannot be choosers. This is the crude admission of the people at the top that in a country where people die a dime a dozen daily, who cares about a few thousand birds? This is a callous confession of money talking and overriding silly concerns about the ‘God forsaken’ environment.

The psychology of exclusivity and the power attached to being the only one carrying that status is what makes the rich and famous stand out. Whether it is rare editions of Rolex watches or limited editions of gold plated Rolls Royce’s, the Arabs and the rich of the world spend billions to keep these brands alive. Thus, the royal families of the Middle East are feted and bowed down to by lesser countries because, for appropriate ‘service’, appropriate rewards are bestowed on the serving countries. Pakistan has played the role of the obedient butler for a long time to princely visitors. Every government has striven to outdo previous ones in pleasing their desire to hunt rare and ‘no shoot’ birds to get this satisfaction of exclusivity. Houbara bustard hunting has been decried around the world and in Pakistan as well by conservationists and social activists but the practice has continued unabated. The law permits the bird’s hunting but in numbers not exceeding 100 birds. However, once you let ‘his highness’ be, he is not going to let the houbara bustard be when he is in this adrenaline kick drive to hunt irrepressibly.

The record speaks for itself. Gulf Arab royalty taking over huge territory in Pakistan to hunt the vulnerable houbara bustard is an old story. Recently, a Saudi prince hunted around 2,100 birds along with members of his entourage in Balochistan. The prince hunted 1,977 birds while those accompanying him hunted 123 birds during a 21-day expedition in January. The ‘special permits’ issued by the federal government only allow the holder (and not those accompanying him) to hunt up to 100 houbara bustards in 10 days. But what is permitted to the ordinary is not really applicable to the extraordinary. However, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government actually fined and penalised a Qatari prince for hunting this bird while all other provinces have been partners in crime. This serious violation has been supported by governments over a long period of time but this is the first time a government has actually called it a “pillar of its foreign policy”. This brings us back to our discussion of where our foreign policy is, what our foreign policy is, who makes it, who heads it and who implements it. Foreign policies are based on the larger vision of what relations a country envisages with different regions in the world and with what purpose in mind.

If we look at regional relations we see a complete absence of vision, stance, response, strategy and action. The perfect example of this vacuum is our relationship with India. Never before has there been a better chance of developing a policy of putting India on the defensive. Modi has been doing everything to destroy India’s secular image. Most minorities in India are being victimised. The need of the hour was to have a strategy session and develop a very detailed action plan stemming from the vision of creating Pakistan’s positive perception internationally and highlighting India’s aggression on various forums. After missing this opportunity at Ufa, one had hoped that the UN General Assembly (UNGA) session last month was the ideal opportunity for taking the Indian government to task. However, the trip turned out to be more of a family and friends’ vacation for the Prime Minister (PM) than anything beneficial as far as image building for the country is concerned.

When there is no policy, there is no plan of action. With no foreign minister and policy our relationship with India is ‘whatever you take it as’. A typical example of this was the humiliating visit of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Shahryar Khan, and Najam Sethi. Why is Pakistan dying for a series with India? Why did they have to go to India at a time when Shiv Sena is not even sparing the South African team? Why is the International Cricket Council (ICC) president, who happens to be Zaheer Abbas, not being utilised to lobby our cause? What is the foreign office’s stance on this visit and what is its response to the unprecedented mistreatment given to our officials? Guess what the answers are. None. When you do not know where you are going, all roads will lead you nowhere.

That is why the PM’s visit to the US was more of the same. There was the usual talk about strengthening democracy, fighting more against terrorism, especially the Haqqani network, and solving all issues with India, including Kashmir. There was no mention of Indian sponsorship of terrorism in Pakistan and no mention of trade opportunities. There was no mention of helping with the energy crisis and of course the cue sheet was also in the hands of the PM with the usual quick glances to remember what to say. This just about summarises the abject surrender of foreign policy in foreign hands. But if the main pillar of a country’s foreign policy is based on “to hunt or not hunt a bird” all one can hope and pray for is that the next time our PM goes to meet another head of state, his foreign policy cue sheet does not become an endangered species.

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Silencing truth

The reason for institutional decline is that regulatory bodies have become soulless bodies that just reveal what the government allows them to reveal

If we fail to plan, we plan to fail — a statement obviously not taken very seriously as far as planning for the future of this country is concerned. With leaders who are supposed to be planning for 200 million people and who constantly talk about their experienced team, stating that the planning commission should be shut down is inexcusable. They substantiate this statement by giving the ‘brilliant’ example that “Emperor Shah Jahan could never have built the Taj Mahal if the planning commission existed in his time.” This reply reflects why our institutions are becoming a laughing stock in the country. The author of this famous quote is none other than Khawaja Asif, who is the minister of water, power and defence. It is not hard to understand that with this attitude the water and power sector has had the worst performance in history causing huge damage to households, industry, investment and employment in the country. The reports coming from regulating agencies — also appointed by the same government — state that the power sector is almost in ICU where massive hemorrhaging is taking place. The auditor general’s report states that audits have found embezzlement, misappropriation and irregularities of around Rs 980 billion. This is almost one fourth of the total budget of Pakistan.

It is a planning failure, it is an implementation failure, it is a fiscal failure, it is a governance failure, it is a management failure, it is a leadership failure but, most of all, it is a mindset failure, a failure that depicts intellectual bankruptcy where severe lack of thinking has led to making the power sector a black hole drawing drowning the country into its abyss of darkness. This ministry has directly led to weakening the backbone of Pakistan economy i.e. the textile industry. Exports in September dipped 21 percent wasting the GSP Plus concessions to European markets. Circular debt, line losses, recoveries and distribution are all horror stories that have no end. Most new projects have become scandalous. Nandipur is a classic case study of Khawaja Asif’s school of thought of how not to plan. From plant size to the type of fuel to the type of management, Nandipur gives shivers to any Pakistani thinking about in whose hands our money lies. Small plant size, diesel instead of oil and a non-engineer as head of the plant are issues that smack of sheer mental retardation and pure mala fide intentions as even for a novice these mistakes are simply ludicrous. To add to this comedy of errors, the Prime Minister (PM) has ordered one more audit on Nandipur. There are already three audits, conducted by the water and power ministry, international audit firm, and the auditor general’s report as well. However, since most of these reports point fingers at the Chief Minister (CM) and the government, they have been hushed and a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) under Justice Nasir Zahid Aslam has been ordered. Wisely, he has also refused, probably fearing the fate of Justice Baqar Najfi’s report on the Model Town massacre.

Effective governance requires effective regulation. Effective regulation requires effective monitoring and evaluation. Effective monitoring requires adherence to audits and implementation on its recommendations. Regulatory bodies are primarily there to assess law enforcement and point out flaws that may become part of a plan by the government to improve performance. However, the reason for institutional decline is that these regulatory bodies have become soulless bodies that just reveal what the government allows them to reveal, as when they expose them truthfully they are put under scrutiny by the government for scrutinising them. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) is an example that has been warning of gross lack of planning and management in the power sector. From sending wrong bills to shutting down running plants and trying to run shut down plants it has highlighted governance failure. The reaction of government is to say that NEPRA is corrupt itself. The question is: if NEPRA is corrupt then that is also the government’s doing.

Under sham democracies, regulatory agencies are scripted report writers. The script has to be given by the government. Non-compliance to that script results in losing your job or life as well. The ex-National Database and Regulatory Authority (NADRA) chairman, who was doing the thumb verification of NA-118 a year back, was asked to change the script. On his refusal he was sent a termination letter. He went to the court and got himself restored but was again removed. This continued till his daughter received death threats and he resigned and moved with his family to the US. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has been used continuously for government intent. The recent pressure on PEMRA to reprimand the media for ‘tarnishing’ the Saudi government’s image is one of many examples. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) is another example of shutting up dissenters. In the recent petroleum crisis, OGRA blamed the ministry of petroleum for neglecting the monitoring reserves of oil marketing companies. Chairman Saeed Ahmad Khan was asked to resign or he would be sent on forced leave if he did not accept the blame. Eventually, he had to go. Thus, regulators become regulated by the whims and fancies of the ministers and PM.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan Medical and Dental College (PMDC) and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) are examples of institutions in name only. The ECP is another regulator of the election process that has shown how toothless it has become in an attempt to save skins and jobs. From scrutiny of electoral lists to compilation of results its performance has become a big question mark. Some choose to resign like Fakhruddin Ibrahim or Tariq Malik but for most it is a tough choice between careers and a life of harassment thereafter. Thus, simply making a regulatory body and appointing people on it is not the answer. The regulation part will only be conducted effectively if the people chosen for doing that part are capable and empowered enough to take tough decisions of going against the tide. That, unfortunately, only happens when real democracy exists, where the real checks and balances of government are conducted, where real opposition makes the government dance on its toes and where real adherence to laws and enforcement takes place. When ministers talk contemptuously about regulators and degrade planning, they act as guarantors of institutional failure and non-development. It is this state of mind than the state of regulation that needs an overhaul.

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Royalty incorporation

The 10 years in exile in Jeddah with close ties to the royal family had a reinforcing impact on the tendency of PML-N leaders to treat themselves as born to rule heirs to the throne, treating the public as subjects to be used for this purpose

The Saudis are not happy with us. This is the second time in six months that Pakistan has dared to be disloyal to the royals. First it was the parliament of Pakistan insisting that, as a country, we should not support Saudi Arabia in its design to attack Yemen rebels and now it is our media channels giving undue importance to such an ‘insignificant’ figure of almost 1,500 hajis dying in the Mina stampede. When the royal family of Saudi Arabia is not happy the royal family of Pakistan becomes afraid of losing its personal and financial saviour of the past. In an inexplicable response, the government has asked the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to take notice of channels and talk shows criticisingthe Mina tragedy and holding the Saudi government responsible. Who else do you hold responsible for it? Who accounts for the fact that even after 10 days of the tragedy 90 Pakistanis have been reported dead and 37are still missing? Who is there to empathise with the agony of hundreds of families that have gone through this torture of not knowing where their family members are and then going through the agony of getting the dead bodies back home or having them buried in Saudi Arabia? Is the biggest tragedy of hajj in the last 25 years not something to be debated, analysed and diagnosed to find out who all were behind this incident so that a similar incident does not occur again? Is this simple information sharing by the media or deliberate country maligning?

The answer is simple: it is an order from his highness of Saudi Arabia to the aspiring ‘his highness’ of Pakistan. With Saudi Arabia we share a relationship on multiple fronts. Being a Muslim country and host of the holy pilgrimage it is a bond we respect. Being an oil producer and helping us in tough times, economic ties are also a major factor. However, in case of the present government it goes far beyond just country priorities. First of all,the Prime Minister (PM) got the Saudis to bail him out of jail and out of Pakistan during Musharraf’s time. The 10-year stay in Jeddah brought the ‘wanna be’ royals very close to the Saudi royalty and many of theirbusiness ventures have roots there. Financially also the $ 1.5 billion ‘gift’ that was added to our balance of payments last year was officially owned up by the minister of finance as having Saudi origin. This is a list that makes the Sharif family personally indebted to the Saudi government as well. However, one of the main factors that draws them to the House of Saud is royal living and majestic lifestyles. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy and a kingdom, and Pakistan is a democracy and a parliamentary system but the mental attraction of the royal lifestyle is what creates this bond.

The training and exposure of leaders does affect their mindset and attitude. The Sharifswere bred in the nursery of ZiaulHaq, who was not royalty but an autocrat who worked on his own whims and fancies. The failure of the Sharif government in the first two terms of government showed how that training affected their style of governance. The 10 years in exile in Jeddah with close ties to the royal family had a reinforcing impact on the tendency to treat themselvesas born to rule heirs to the throne, treating the public as subjects to be used for this purpose. One minor example with major impact is the way the PM undergoes foreign travel. In his two-and-a-half-year stint in the office the PM has made 20 foreign trips. One example of this royal entourage accompanying him is the BBC report about his recent tour to the UN. Rs150 million were spent taking 78 people, whose names were not made public but, according to the journalists who were there to cover this trip, the entourage included four cooks who prepared special meals for the PM and his friends. He and his party are merrily dismissing questions regarding the questions being raised by the media over why he did not attend Ban Ki Moon’s reception, Obama’s reception, the terrorist summit etc. That again is the attitude that reflects disconnect with democratic behaviour and connect with the royal ‘as we wish’ attitude. The PM’s blatant preference of taking his personal best friends to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and his meeting with John Kerry was reported extensively in the media. The only impact of this news is that he is preparing for an even more elaborate trip to the US to meet Obama, which reportedly will cost another Rs 250 million. When asked a question on the extravagance ofthis VVIP tour the minister of railways replied: “Do you expect the PMto go on a scooter or rickshaw?”

This royal style is an acceptable norm under the pretext that since army rule has dominated Pakistan for 30 years thus it will take time for real democracy to establish itself. Under this excuse, the leader of the PPP,Asif Ali Zardari, lives in his palace in Dubai and commands his party leadership to fly over to listen to his command. Similarly, the MQM leader abodes in London and every now and then asks his raabta committee to fly over to have a meeting. Like the royal families their families are also taken care of by public funds. To quote one example, according to the Punjab government, 761 policemen and 52 government vehicles have been provided to the PML-N chief, Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and their families. The Punjab police say at least Rs40,000 is spent in terms of salary, food and many other expenses on one policeman per month, making Rs365.28 million the per annum expense of just policing the family. Fifty-two new vehicles at the disposal of the Sharif family have reportedly cost the national exchequer around Rs104 million. This is just a small peep into the lavish, lordly and royal style people aspire to come into politics for. In this style, money, power and position demand subservience. That is why our royalty is subservient to the Saudis,theUS and the International Monetary Fund(IMF) to name a few and that is why being subservient to the public is just a facade of democracy covering the mentality of royalty.

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Perception matters

The people of Pakistan, with the digital and social media revolution, have accepted that military takeovers are not the answer but they want institutions to be stronger and more empowered

The ex-president says democracy is at stake. The present Prime Minister (PM) says his job is at stake. MQM leaders say the “authorities” are trying to reduce their stakes in Karachi. Is this just rhetoric? Is this just political point scoring? Is this just perception? Is this a new narrative in the making? Or is this reality? These are the questions being asked by the public and analysts, and other political science students. The answer is that even if it is perception or a narrative it matters because perception is based on some reality and has the power to mould events to support that perception to become total reality. The problem is that the rationale given by both party leaders to substantiate their fears that the democratic structure is going to be invaded by a third force is too weak to hold. Both these governments have used saving democracy as a guise to save themselves; hiding behind this plea bargain of an army takeover they have been busy taking over public money and public assets to further their own interest.

The formula is that we will have a mutual cover up for mutual wrongdoings and cry loud and shrilly against any intrusion in this treasure island full of cases of land mafias, power misappropriation, mega project payoffs, etc. It all started with the operation of the Rangers against the MQM to clean up Karachi on this party’s insistence. However, when their own people were being convicted in this drive, they started shouting murder. They complained that they were being targeted by the Sindh government while the PPP said that due process was being followed. As the heat turned towards the PPP, it started shouting first against the army and then against political victimisation by the PML-N. The PML-N denied this and said due process was being followed, till the operation entered Punjab. As ministers and MNAs from Punjab are now being investigated, the PM has started stuttering about “somebody” trying to remove him from his position. Thus the theme is that as long as operation ‘Zarb-e-Ghazab’ is not against our party, welcome, and as soon as we become part of this ‘Ghazab’, cry foul and plead in the name of democracy. They quote the Charter of Democracy (CoD) where they had signed on not committing political victimisation but conveniently forget the accountability clause where they were supposed to make a commission that would do regular accountability of wrongdoers. Instead, a lame National Accountability Bureau (NAB) existed, which has finally given in to the command by the commander-in-chief to shape up and do the job of exposing corruption rather than covering it up.

Fear is a very nasty feeling. It scares, it disturbs and it frustrates. Previously, political parties could sing a song of autocrats taking over and get public sympathy for themselves. The problem now is that the song does not hold true in the present political scenario. The army is taking most of the actions that political parties should have taken but without the intent to takeover the government. The reason why the cry for democracy being endangered is not ringing the same alarm bells is due to the fact the perception of the public about the two narratives is different. While the political parties’ narrative is about victimisation and unconstitutional forces, the armed forces’ narrative is about not being interested in power but very interested in public interest. This narrative has gone down very well with the people generally. To substantiate this fact we must look at the latest PILDAT survey on people’s opinions about the government and state institutions in Pakistan. The highest rating obtained is by the armed forces where 75 percent of the people perceive them to be the best institution, delivering results. On the other hand, political parties in general have lost the trust of the public and only 35 percent people feel that they are delivering on their promises. This contrast may ring alarm bells and give politicians a chance to scream over the dangers to democracy. However, public opinion on democracy as the best system to govern denies all this. As much as 66 percent of the people feel that democracy is the way forward and an overwhelming 80 percent want local elections as a solution to their everyday problems.

What do all these perceptions reveal? It is very simple: the people of Pakistan, with the digital and social media revolution, have accepted that military takeovers are not the answer but they want institutions to be stronger and more empowered to ensure that those political parties that cannot deliver are held accountable. In the same survey the lowest rating went to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and police. The police are the lowest with 32 percent and the ECP is at 37 percent, expressing extreme dissatisfaction towards the electoral system and the law and order management of these institutions. Not far ahead in this ranking of the lowest are civil courts that score 43 percent. The High Courts and media score 62 percent and 53 percent respectively. This analysis clearly shows that the old excuse of crying wolf by political parties when their performance and corruption is exposed will not work. Thus, the present operation against political parties over corruption is more than welcomed by the public as it is not being done after dislodging democracy.

Thus, the two narratives, one by the politicians and the other by the armed forces, present a very interesting picture. Politicians have not learned from their past and are repeating the same old stale spin that is completely off the pulse of the public. Their approach, messages, tone and strategy are all so predictable that it is at best some fodder for parody shows. The armed forces have done their homework and learnt from the past. The lesson they have learnt is that, be it Zia or Musharraf, even if the country performed better economically, public perception turned negative against them in the long run. Also, when in power, they needed politicians and had to compromise on corruption, which loosened their grip on corruption and public perception. Therefore, their approach, messages, tone and strategy are fresh, innovative and spot on the public pulse. However, the real test of this perception turning into reality will be whether it is based on just the Raheel Sharif phenomenon or, after his retirement, continues as an institutional code of conduct.

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