What a fall!

.. By Islamuddin

The Supreme Court decision to disqualify Nawaz Sharif presents Pakistan with a defining moment to break from the past and make a beginning to bring full benefits of freedom to the people who have waited for 70 years to see their dreams come true. One politician after the other got into power promising just that but the same was kept only in breach. Army and the Judiciary could not escape their share of blame for the persisting malaise. At last both have now redeemed themselves by saying that enough is enough and it is time to put things right lest the very survival of the state would be in grave danger.

The culture of impunity perpetuated by successive governments appears to have emboldened the rulers and their cohorts in the bureaucracy to a level where the country?s vital interests stood compromised to advance personal interests of the mafia. The situation has been succinctly pointed out in the Supreme Court decision under reference which discusses the way Sicilian mafia and the godfather operated to establish their writ. Their modus operandi was to put their men on key positions, buying and blackmailing opponents inter alia through character assassinations and finally to intimidate and physically remove them. This was exactly been done in Pakistan. Army and the judiciary either stood by or connived until it became clear that corruption was beginning to be done at the cost of the state.

Had it not been for the pressure brought to bear on the establishment by Imran Khan, things would not have moved to the direction that we see now. In the 70 year life of Pakistan Imran Khan is the best thing to have happened to Pakistan after Jinnah and Bhutto. A man of impeccable character in public life he was the ideal leader to expose the mafia. In the face of smear campaign let lose by the mafia targeting his personal life, Imran was undaunted. He was right to say that he should be judged by his public conduct and his private life was for Allah to judge. His argument won the hearts of the right thinking people but the mafia continues to confuse the simple populace.

Not many people in power have offered themselves for accountability but Imran Khan has even though he has never been in power and enjoys the reputation of being Pakistan?s Mr.Clean. The only asset he has earned is his fame which he used to raise funds for his charitable cancer hospitals and university. He shares the fame with Edhi of being honest with people?s donation which motivates them to pay more. In contrast other politicians get away with similar funds or use them for tax evasion. The best in Imran came out recently when he refused to defame his renegade MNA Aisha Gulalai who leveled serious allegations against him involving moral turpitude saying that he did not want to defame a female in a society where women are already vulnerable. This he did to a woman who appears to have made politics a business just like Nawaz Sharif.

The timing of this onslaught gives ample reasons to believe that money appears to have changed hands via her father who has been her handler. In his zeal to settle scores with Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister overlooked the credibility issue of his new found weapon. It is a measure of Imran Khan?s belief in the basic human goodness that he ignored past record of the woman while welcoming her into his party. There was enough material on record to show that this woman was so impatient to be rich and powerful that changing loyalty became a trait with her. A recent disclosure of her confidant about the saga of her and her father?s corrupt practices is a measure of poor governance of the Chief Minister or his connivance in corrupt practices. It is therefore not surprising that Imran Khan is being accused of turning blind eye to the corruption of Pervez Khattak. This incident would prove to be a blessing for Imran Khan as it would further expose the mafia and bring out the qualities of Imran Khan to the public domain. Nawaz Sharif would sink deeper into the quackmire. He traded fame for money but now he is on way to losing this money after the trial which he now desperately wants to sabotage.

The doubters of the current accountability process can only be silenced and won over if the process is expedited and supervised closely by the judiciary. The army must back the process by ensuring full security to those involved in the process. COAS did well by proclaiming that rule of law and equal treatment would be ensured at every cost. This much needed assurance would go a long way to strengthen the hands of our investigators and judges to do what the entire nation is waiting for- bringing back the looted money. Hopefully the process would be extended to everyone including those in PPP, ANP, PML, JUI, MQM, PMAP, Watan Party and NP besides those in other sectors. Starting the process with politician is a logical thing because they were primarily responsible to stop corruption and not indulge in it. Had they been upright no one could have dared to turn the other way.
The younger generation wants to believe in Pakistan. It is time they are given reasons for this belief. They want fearless, incorruptible, honest, frank and proud Pakistani to lead them. Presently Imran Khan fulfills this qualification but his life is not safe from the mafia. He must get fool-proof security.?.. Islamuddin, Garm Chashma Chitral 06 Aug 2017

5 thoughts on “What a fall!

  1. “Army and Judiciary says enough is enough”,,,,,,,,hahaha, what a logic? what a justification. It is not the responsibility of public servants to decide fate of the people and state. It is the responsibility of people representatives who can call the shot like other democracies of the world. It is establishment and judiciary who conducted judicial murder of Bhutto and now judicial murder of political system in the name of corruption. It is a gimmick to divert people attention from real issues, that is supremacy of civilian set up. Judiciary and armed forces are public servants and they are taking salaries from people’s tax income and they must play their role mentioned in the constitution of Pakistan. It is parliament and executive, it is civilian set up who should decide what should be and what should not be in Pakistan. Just imagine the establishment role in case of Ramin Devis case then decide. Army should play its role in protecting incursion of terrorist from boarder and obey defense ministry orders which is mentioned in the constitution of Pakistan. Judicial role should be interpretation of the constitution which is developed by the parliament. In 21st century people of Pakistan will not allow any public servants to interfere in political matter it is the mandate given by people to their representative to do decision making about the state.

  2. If the public representatives were doing their job well, neither the army nor the judiciary would have interfered in their affairs. Unfortunately elected representatives consider the procedural election results (and we all know how elections are conducted) as a license to loot and plunder the country. Otherwise how could Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and other top politicians become some of the richest men in the world hailing from one of the poorest countries in the world.
    Constitution has not descended from heaven. Same frail politicians have made it. It can always be changed to suit the changing environment of the country. And then there is something superior to the constitution and that is ‘well being of the country’. If the country is being plundered and raped, and the constitution is happily watching, of what use is it. We should keep changing our constitution to meet the requirement of the time.
    Arrest of corruption and establishment of rule of law through honest and selfless governance is the supreme constitution and whoever can administer this should be welcomed whether he comes through the ballot or the barrel of a gun.

  3. We have had Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ziaul Haq, Musharaf and a few political leaders. If we compare role of these dictators with politicians like Z. A. Bhutto, Banazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif etc then role of the former in development of the country is more vibrant than the latter. Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan policies resulted separation of East Pakistan, Ziaul Haq introduced militancy and extremism in Pakistan and even now we are in quagmire which was developed by Ziaul Haq. Before Musharf there was no suicide bombing and terrorism in Pakistan it was Musharaf whose polices put Pakistan in such condition. Z. A. Bhutto role to develop Pakistan and to establish its foreign policy is before all of us. Benazir Bhutto was great leader but she was also murdered like her father. Just refresh your memory, Mian Muhammad Sharif established his business in 1936 before creation of Pakistan. In 1960 onward he was business man and developed Ittfaq Foundry in which more 10000 employees were working on daily basis. Nawaz Sharif developed Motor Ways, made Pakistan nuclear power after resisting US and world pressure. In order to malign politicians the rumor has been created that politicians are corrupt. Because you can,t use this word for other institutions after considering the consequences. There were same allegation against Iftikhar Muhammad Choudery when he was ousted and made house arrest by ex-dictator Musharaf. That Arsalan Iftikhar was involved in corruption of petrol etc, these were concocted evidences to black-mail the judge by Musharaf. At that time people came out and out rightly rejected the allegations and restored judiciary. Just refresh your memory who introduced NRO just to protect his uniform in which 9700 criminals have been pardoned by Musharf in blankat just to protect his uniform. Is this not corruption…………………?. Musharaf also has flats and bangla in London, having flats by big business man like Nawaz Sharif make sense, how a retired govt servant having limited source of income acquired the flats (bangla) in london, Dubai, USA, etc and how can a retired general afford such expenses. Can you give me an example that a general of India, Bengladesh, Sarilanka etc have such life style which Musharaf has…… In the region all the countries are on the way towards development and even Bengladesh development indicators and exports went ahead of Pakistan. When East Pakistan was with us these mindset called them incompetent, after separation within no time they went ahead of us. These policies made us so vulnerable that not any sports team is ready to play match in Pakistan. Because we are looking at our personal interest instead of national interest, we are myopic, we are selective, we apply the rule on one person and not on the whole situation……Before Remin Devis we were castigating political leaders and Hussain Haqani as traitor, when Remin Devis exposed the truth it was General Pasha who paved they way to release Remin Devis.

  4. It may be recollected that during the tenure of Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister, the first ever conspiracy was started by few millitary officers in corroboration with some civilians. This conspiracy was leaked and all the planners were arrested and probed. Subsequently, they were awarded punishment of 10 years. Soon after, Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated while addressing a public meeting. The assasin was also shot dead on the spot. Liaquat Ali Khan was not accused of any corruption. He was a very honest and humble leader. The present strip of Aad Kashmir was retrievec in his tenure. It was retrieved by civilian volunteers. My father was also a part of the Raza Kar force. The Raza Kaars would have captured Jammu if not called back as a result of conspiracy.

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