My country, ’tis of shams

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All of a sudden Maulana Fazl ur-Rahman that unabashed political acrobat, a man who somersaults in the name of God and on whom one can spot thick folds of lard even from a distance but nary a spine from up close, has started to appear most angelic by comparison

By Anwaar Hussain

pk1.jpg What a country my country has become. Let us start from the very top.

It is a country where an Army Chief can take over the country, hold its constitution in abeyance, suspend the basic rights of its citizens, beat up and imprison at will an enlightened section of its society, have a sitting Chief Justice of Supreme Court manhandled by lowly cops then fire him from his job, sack dozens of other judges who refuse to play to his tunes, shut down all private television channels daring to show his truth to the nation, compete in bogus elections and address public rallies in full uniform, hobnob with the vilest of the vile politicians to prolong his rule, appoint high school qualified military generals as Vice Chancellors of universities, sacrifice hundreds of his soldiers in the wild goose chase of Kargil, ‘disappear’ scores of Pakistanis in the phony ‘war on terror’, wilt like candle wax on a single phone call from Colin Powell despite commanding a nuclear armed 8th largest army in the world, admit to selling scores of his countrymen to other countries for bounties, claim tongue in cheek that none can undo what he has done and rather than having to pay for his crimes, goes on not only to become the President of Pakistan but also cling to that appointment for dear life.

It is a country where a man who goes by the name of Asif Zardari and who was once affectionately called “Mr. Ten Percent” because of the alleged 10% extortion he forced on people during the PPP governments, who in 1990 was arrested on charges of blackmail for attaching a bomb to a Pakistani businessman, who stands accused of taking unaccounted millions of Rupees from local Pakistani banks for forestation of Pakistan, who maintained a polo ground in the Prime Ministerial residential compound, who finally admitted owning a £4.35m estate in Surrey, England after denying its ownership for years (including a 20-room mansion and two farms on 365 acres, or 1.5 km², of land), about whom a Swiss investigating magistrate has amassed enough evidence to indict him for a proper jail term, who is alleged to have a role in the brazen murder of his brother-in-law can rise up to become the arbiter of the destinies of the unfortunate multitudes of that country grinning like a cheshire cat all the way.

It is a country where another man who goes by the name of Nawaz Sharif and whose political mentor was another general of the yore, who was twice sacked for corruption as Prime Minister of Pakistan, who wanted to himself become the Ameer-ul-Momineen once, who launched a physical attack on the Supreme Court of Pakistan through a goon squad, who was elected as the Leader of the Pakistan Muslim League and subsequently the IJI (Islamic Democratic Alliance) by the ISI (Pakistan’s Intelligence Agency) as documented in the testimony of the then Army Chief in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, who groveled at President Clinton’s feet to extricate Pakistan from the Kargil misadventure, who ordered Pakistan’s airports sealed to prevent the landing of an airliner carrying his Army Chief even if it had to land in India, a supposedly enemy country, who got thrown into a lockup for that from where he managed to slink out after accepting exile to another country in the most shameful of manners, can today take up the flag of justice and cry himself hoarse hurling threats all around with not a morsel of shame visible on his well fed façade.

With all these double dealing, forked tongued, fake, crooked, cheating impostors running the country, no wonder we are where we are. Pakistanis are burning without electricity in this scorching summer heat, suicide bombers are hitting out at will, impoverished people are committing suicide rather than having to beg, Americans are killing our soldiers and citizens with impunity and the only thing happening with the speed of light in Pakistan is the swift disposal of court cases against Asif Zardari. While even a two-bit toady like Karzai, the ex-UNOCAL employee who was one of the very first supporters of Taliban when they emerged and now the mayor of Kabul impersonating as the President of Afghanistan, threatens an invasion of our country, our tricksters travel first class to fairy lands holding meetings in 5-star hotels stuffing shrimps into their faces while discussing animatedly what to do about Pakistan.

All of a sudden Maulana Fazl ur-Rahman that unabashed political acrobat, a man who somersaults in the name of God and on whom one can spot thick folds of lard even from a distance but nary a spine from up close, has started to appear most angelic by comparison.

My country, ’tis of shams.

Copyrights: Anwaar Hussain



Comments

15 Responses to “My country, ’tis of shams”

  1. Tariq Masud on June 20th, 2008 3:38 pm

    AA Anwaar,

    How true you can be? This is exactly the face of my beautiful country that these leaders have made. We are so unfortunate, and so naive, that we forget what damage these characters have inflicted upon the nation. We still believe in them and we still listen and follow them. My heart bleeds to see all these well fed all smiles LEADERS in posh and luxurious palaces talking about the problems of POOR masses. Just to add insult to injury, it was in today’s paper, that Hamaza Shahbaz has been elected unopposed from Lahore. Another addition to great leaders?

    You are doing a great job; I really appreciate your feelings and love for the mother land, which is at the mercy of vultures.

  2. Richard on June 20th, 2008 5:39 pm

    Great article. Enjoyed reading it.

    Richard

  3. Pervez on June 20th, 2008 8:55 pm

    Yes, my friend, you are right. In fact we can enrich this list manifold; the retired horses, just monkeys, black jackals, and a whole bunch of diseased rats needing a pied piper to flush them out.

  4. ahmed sheikh on June 20th, 2008 9:29 pm

    Truth lives on in the midst of deception. Excellent article but what is the solution? A firing squad!

  5. Michelle on June 21st, 2008 1:07 am

    Nice job flushin’ out the vermin, Anwaar.

    Tariq this is the face of politics here there and everywhere! Politics always have been the conduct of public affairs for private advantage; haven’t they? And of course, we must not delude ourselves by not admitting the public’s place in all this: Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they’ve told you what it is you want to hear.

    Rejoice People! You’re finally coming out it droves to voice your disgust and dissatisfaction with the status quo. Now maybe you’re ready to choose those whom you’ve always said about: “Yeah, they’re right, they’re good candidates…but they’ll never win.” There are qualified people in every country waiting in the wings for you to support….search for them; start at your local and district levels where things are more transparent and you have a real feel for your candidates.

    Invest your time in your young people, talk about these things with them; don’t trust your schools to instill values in them…they’re your future leaders. What kind of values does anyone think Asif Zardari’s teenage son Bilawal has been raised with? Yeah, he’s been primed for leadership, just like his parents were.

    Michelle

  6. Shaheen on June 21st, 2008 8:51 am

    Sir,

    Please do not use too big a brush to sink us into depths from which it may be difficult to come out. NS did not grovel at Clinton’s feet. He went there to get us out of someone else’s shit.

    Regards

    shaheen

  7. Khalid on June 21st, 2008 11:13 am

    Excellent article, says it like it is. Kudos! What a shame that millions of Pakistanis will not read it.

    To Shaheen; why did NS go to Americans to extract Pakistan out of somebody else’s shit? What had America to do with somebody else’s shit i.e. Kargil? And if he did, like all Pakistani leaders do, then why do we Pakistanis cry ‘conspiracy’ every time Americans twist our tails in their own interest? Aren’t we a funny nation? We invite them to all our shenanigans, ask them to foot the bill and then cry foul when they want to amend the rules of the game. What a theatre of the absurd.

    Khalid Kidwai

    Karachi

  8. Irfan Mirza on June 21st, 2008 2:40 pm

    This article gives us a bleak picture of what is going on. Zardari and NS cannot be equated as equal. Now they are partners in crime.

    If the nation has happily accepted Mr. Zardari as their leader, then we must not crib. Mr. Zardari and his likes are the fruits of “Parliamentary Democracy”

  9. Hanna on June 21st, 2008 9:58 pm

    This is excellent Anwaar - quite an education, thank you. My knowledge of your country of birth is limited to the last few years. I’ll cut’n paste and send it around to the Issuesonline group, they are international and not as limited in their interests as are my American groups.

    Thank you again!

  10. Tom Edgar on June 22nd, 2008 8:06 am

    I was wondering if you were writing of Zimbabwe, Myanmar, or maybe a prescient view of U S A. But No. You were speaking kindly about the Dictator of Lahore.

    I wonder if the Paki Tribune will print it. No I don’t, they won’t.

    I have a way with words in English, but bow to the Master.

    tomedgar@halenet.com.au

  11. Jonathan Stephenson on June 23rd, 2008 6:43 am

    The more things change the more they stay the same. With slightly different names we could go back to the 1940’s and the situation would be the same, but the Brits were the overlords then, and the complications of a greater India, so similar to what we now have in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, all being played like bad actors in a cheap c-movie dramatic production, with the new marionette, the USA now guiding the strings of the players.

    Yes be angry at your leaders, but realize that they are only players at a mid level on the world stage, until immorality at the top of the heap is ended, these chess games at all of our expenses will continue, and these men will use religion and racism as primary weapons, and find all too many willing enlistees to their game of bait and switch, the bait, the enemy of course, be it Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddist, or race be they white, brown, yellow, black, red, and enough of the locals go along to allow the game to go on, and on, and on, and when will we ever get smart enough to get rid of these cretins?????

  12. Tahir on June 23rd, 2008 10:05 am

    I think Mr. Khalid put it very aptly, “What a shame that millions of Pakistanis will not read it.” And probably that’s what we need the most.

    How long will our generals abuse us, Sharifs use us, Zardaris decide our fate and clerics exploit us in the name of God? The way things are, we could be fast heading towards utter anarchy. Can anyone stop this down slide? What happens if a civil unrest breaks out? To what hunting grounds will all these poachers go? Does anyone give a darn that we can plunder a country only if we have one. Is our leadership so dimwitted that they can’t fathom this reality. I guess not.

    As long as our populace is ignorant, uneducated and at the mercy of “Jageerdar” + as long as we are intolerant to other humans in the name of religion + as long as we don’t become good humans first, our destiny will be no different than our present.

    “Pakistan Zinda Bad”

  13. Alee on June 29th, 2008 7:35 am

    Dear Mr. Hussain:

    It is easy to find faults and convenient to rant about them. NS may be spine less, Asif Zardari may be a crook and Maulana Fazal ur Rehman an unscrupulous mullah; but can you deny the fact that they all have a huge following in Punjab, Sindh and Pukhtunkhaw respectively?

    Dictators ofcourse are unacceptable as rulers. People with largest vote banks in different parts of the country are Crooks, Mullahs are unacceptable because they sell religion and indulge in sacrilege in the name of God…… What is it that would appease you and others who write in a language that only a few in Pakistan can understand. What is it that you want to achieve through your articles?

    Mr. 10%, the Sharifs, the Gilanis, or the Mullahs are returned to the legislative assemblies by a majority vote in free elections. Unless the masses: the people of Pakistan can discern between good and bad people to represent them, nothing is going to change.

    People of your caliber have to undertake a crusade against illiteracy in Pakistan. Illiteracy unfortunately in not the only problem though.

    If you have tangible plans to do something, there are many who would join you. If you are a thinking man, be pragmatic too. What you do through these articles of yours is as hypocritical as the lip service rendered by the politicians, generals, mullahs and everyone else in Pakistan.

    Please understand that I am not trying to undermine your effort. I am trying to give all of your readers: the great “patriots” some food for thought. If you do not have any concrete solutions, please look around, you will find many Pakistanis in Pakistan and outside Pakistan doing great work even if it is at a very small level. Help them in whatever way you can. All one can do is make a sincere effort, positive results would come as a natural consequence. Thanks

    Alee

  14. Anwaar on June 29th, 2008 2:48 pm

    Dear Alee,

    Thank you for commenting.

    A dissenting argument is most welcome. But a self-contradictory one would create more confusions than the commentator intended. I personally went into such a state of mind after reading your comment. Please let me explain. I will copy/paste relevant portions from your comment and then respond.

    You say ;

    … but can you deny the fact that they all have a huge following in Punjab, Sindh and Pukhtunkhaw respectively?

    No I cannot deny that fact. But you also cannot deny Alee that huge following is no criterion to judge the leadership qualities of an individual. Starting from Hitler and Pol Pot and coming up to George Bush, leaders have had huge followings at times but to what disastrous results. I am sure you would agree that not to inform the educated members of the society about the true shades of these leaders well in time borders onto the evil. That I do it in a language not much understood by the common people of Pakistan is a sin I may be forgiven for. I simply can not write so effectively in that language. But can a one-time redemption be granted to me on the grounds that I do it at my own expense continuously, openly and without fear for so many years risking life, limb and dear ones all this while?

    Two more minor facts you tend to ignore. First, it is the educated ones in my country due to whose negligence the illiterate are staying illiterate and the poor, poor. The illiterate are not responsible for their situation. I am trying to address segments out of those responsible. They are the decision makers. I do not intend addressing the victims. They already know the perpetrators. It is the people still left with a shred of conscience among the educated ones that I try to reach out to all the time, not the illiterate. For those responsible, reading and understanding English is not a problem. It is their conscience that I endeavor to move.

    Second, in case you have noticed, the language in which the two gigantic imperialist thrusts of the past century and this one were couched in is English. I try to reach out to those voters also who may now be regretting having voted into office such monsters.

    Further;

    Unless the masses: the people of Pakistan can discern between good and bad people to represent them, nothing is going to change.

    Agreed but that will take time. What do we do in the meanwhile? Sit on our hands because Alee thinks that unless one can change the lot of the masses through education, among other things, one has no right to point out the evil to the society. And that too in English. I respectfully beg to differ, for the most obvious of the reasons of course.

    Then again;

    It is easy to find faults and convenient to rant about them.

    Allow me a bit of acrimony here Alee. In whatever few comments that you have posted on here, this trend is most discernible in all of those. You simply seem to be looking for bones where there are none. To me, and forgive me if I am wrong, it looks more an attempt to look different than any thing else come what may.

    Further down you say;

    Please understand that I am not trying to undermine your effort. I am trying to give all of your readers: the great “patriots” some food for thought.

    You also please understand Alee that I too am not trying to disparage your comment. I am also trying to return to you some food for thought. I really appreciate dissent but ones having some solid reservation, not with a bias for self adulation and dissension for the sake of dissension. I just do not have enough time to be distracted by such diversions. I could simply have chosen not to publish your comment had I wished to ignore it. I say that because it seems that you think that whatever it is that you are doing is the best and the rest is all balderdash. That is why, perhaps, that belittling others’ work comes so natural to you.

    My readers indeed seem to be great patriots because they speak out of the pain of their hearts. Any problem with that?

    Then you say;

    If you have tangible plans to do something, there are many who would join you. ……….If you do not have any concrete solutions, please look around, you will find many Pakistanis in Pakistan and outside Pakistan doing great work even if it is at a very small level. Help them in whatever way you can. All one can do is make a sincere effort, positive results would come as a natural consequence.

    I think I am doing the best that I can under the circumstances, and with complete sincerity. What is more, I also do not first seek out philanthropists like you Alee and then denigrate whatever it is that they are doing because they are not doing what I think they should be doing. I wish them God speed instead.

    Please note that in the lines above, I just told you of my tangible plan even though at a very small level i.e. continuing to inform the well-read segment of Pakistani society come what may.

    I am also outside Pakistan, care to join me?

    Anwaar

    PS : In future Alee, please try and post a comment when the article is still fresh and many more readers can benefit from your thoughts. This one is rather belated. I am publishing it only lest ignoring it leads you to some more erroneous conclusions.

  15. Abdul Kahlid Baloch on August 4th, 2008 4:43 pm

    I agree 100% what you have written and you are not the first to write this all. In reality we ALL know this is the truth for the last 40 years - but my question is WHY do the people of PAKISTAN VOTE for these people again, again, again and yet again - are we ALL….

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Anwaar’s articles appear simultaneously here at Truth Spring and at Soul Vibes in The Pakistan Tribune.


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