Crumbling down…. Raoof Hasan
As the stock of problems faced by the country crosses the danger mark, it is being met with palpably diminishing resolve, making it abundantly clear that the incumbent conglomerate would much rather let the country sink than nurture the prospect of an Imran Khan comeback. Preposterous that it may seem, it is not difficult to comprehend.
What is difficult to understand is not the inimical approach which some external forces and interests had taken to the changes contemplated in Pakistan’s foreign policy. The shock was internally used as an alibi to uproot a democratic government and replace it with a bunch of crooks and criminals who, in line with the despicable tradition of plunder that they have been the authors of, have since ravaged the state further of its assets and potential. In less than a year, the country has been effectively pushed to the verge of administrative malfunction and financial default. The pressure which has increased with time has been met with diminishing resolve and even lesser urgency.
What is it that Khan’s political adversaries and their ultimate handlers had against him that they were compelled to remove him from power and have since launched a vituperative and draconian drive to eliminate him from the political domain altogether? The reason is rooted in what he was trying to accomplish in the context of elimination of corruption and asserting Pakistan’s sovereign independence to ensure provision of welfare to its people.
The unbending resolve to extricate Pakistan from entanglement in unnecessary wars and becoming partners in peace with countries of the world was the other major benchmark that distinguished his rule as compared to his predecessors, which included the military dictators. He wanted Pakistan to stand on its own feet as a dignified and self-respecting country that could manage its affairs without unsavoury interference from others which was earlier necessitated because of culpability of its rulers and consequent bartering of its interests.
The attainment of these objectives encompassed, among other things, the elimination of corruption as also its numerous perpetrators who had indulged remorselessly in a spree of loot and plunder through their years in power to build their financial empires in foreign lands and their dynastic fiefdoms within the political domains of the country. This would have resulted in not just losing an election to bounce back in the next. It would have meant the end of their kind of political meandering and busting of the dynasties they had crafted with much labour to perpetuate their hold from generation to generation.
With this kind of agenda, Khan not only antagonised Pakistan’s so-called foreign ‘benefactors’, he also endangered the political future of the local corrupt dynasties. What, however, was alarming was the extent of support they were able to generate from domestic forces which not only became active sponsors of their corruption, but ensured to plant this coterie of convicts, under-trial criminals and absconders in power through a crass, foreign-dictated and locally collaborated conspiracy which ran counter to all democratic traditions and norms. The media was also bought over to vilify Imran Khan and his anti-corruption drive that aimed at the evolving of a genuinely sovereign, independent and self-reliant Pakistan.
Since his ouster, the dream of putting Pakistan on an upward trajectory, as projected at that unfortunate hour, has been effectively busted and, today, the country is perched on the verge of economic default and institutional collapse. Notwithstanding that, under the direct tutelage of their patrons, the ruling conglomerate has moved with speed in getting themselves freed of being held to account for indulgence in corrupt practices and stuffing their personal coffers at the cost of the state exchequer.
In the meanwhile, the ongoing talks with the IMF are unlikely to yield any results in the absence of political reconciliation which is considered an essential prerequisite for sustainability of the extended fund facility. That is why the idea of the All-Parties Conference (APC) was floated expecting that the PTI would walk into the trap amidst an environment when the party and its supporters were being routinely subjected to the worst state torture and repeated pronouncements regarding an indefinite postponement of the projected elections.
Obviously, the PTI leadership has made its presence at the APC conditional on two things: a categorical announcement of firm dates for holding of the national and provincial elections, and immediate cessation of state torture and arrest of its supporters. There has, so far, been no progress in that direction and chances are that there will be none in the future either as that would be generally perceived as signing their political death warrants by the criminal cabal.
With the induction of this conglomerate in power, the presence of a legal and constitutional government could never become a reality. But it is the state that is also crumbling now – both administratively and economically. These last nine months have been the worst possible in the history of a country – an atomic power per se. In addition to begging the IMF to relent, the prime minister is out with his begging bowl asking the world for alms to survive another day. The reserves are down to below $3 billion which would cater to a few days of meeting the costs of imports. The country is practically on the verge of imminent default. If that is not everted, it will lead sequentially to a series of catastrophic developments of existential proportions. With few stakes in the country, the ruling cabal may just relinquish charge and decamp to their palatial sojourns away from Pakistan.
Beyond the ambit of political affiliations, and notwithstanding some egos which Khan may have bruised in the course of implementing his anti-corruption agenda, did the state deserve the punishment of seeing crooks and criminals returned to play havoc with its fate – only to dismantle Khan’s government and unleash state brutality to stop him from coming back into power? In the chequered history of Pakistan, nothing would match this vile experimentation in its utter disembowelment of the entire state apparatus as it crumbles under the unbearable weight of the evil doers, and their complicit perpetrators. No magnitude of penitence could atone for the manner the state has been pushed down on its knees.
The writer is a political and security strategist, former special assistant to former PM Imran Khan, and currently a fellow at King’s College London. He tweets @RaoofHasan
Courtesy The News