Preview of Looming Democracy - Two Months of PPP in the Limelight

Now that the charismatic, brave, and attractive leader has been buried, along with some sixty odd lesser beings, it is time to focus on the lethal activities of the living. Immediately following BB’s demise, I had been feeling guilty for my vehement opposition to a third term for her. I almost felt that we needed to start a campaign to offer the PM job to Sanam, or young Bilawal, or (God forbid) Asif Ali Zardari. Pakistan’s destiny must be fertilized by the seed of Sir Shahnawaz.

With such naïve thoughts, so typical of Mohajir compassion and desperation for Pakistani unity, I joined my compatriots in mourning the loss of our fleeting flirtation with democracy. It wasn’t long before I was rudely brought back to reality by images on TV of PPP workers, supporters, and what looked like ordinary goons, mercilessly beating up helpless old refrigerators, These images of shameless disorder, wanton destruction, and absolute disdain for life, property, and national image left me utterly speechless and emotionally void. How the looting of hundreds of banks would somehow mitigate the extreme sorrow over her loss escaped my Urdu logic. How burning poor workers in their factories, passengers in the buses, and commuters in their cars substituted for solemn grief was not obvious to me.

I started reviewing the short but painful history of BB’s return that began with her momentous, joyous, and fatally disastrous return from self-exile. Even then, the creeping caravan of her victory parade snaked halfway to its destination with all the signs of an impending disaster visible to any novice. There were no controls, no barriers, no checkpoints, no distance between the crowds and the snail-paced procession.

As we all saw later, there was a suicide attack resulting in the deaths of approximately 150 people. Thankfully, only nameless, faceless, ordinary, and innocent people were killed and injured in the explosions. BB and her entourage of elite politicians, PPP bigwigs and the future movers and shakers of Pakistan all survived miraculously. These important people who make frequent trips to civilized lands seem to return and remember nothing about what they saw or learned in those societies. Of course, police lines, protective barriers, and organized traffic flow are not meant for backward Pakistanis – just give us the F-16s, M1 tanks, and those Apache and Cobra choppers that real men use.

Well, thanks to the organized manner of campaigning, the self-discipline of PPP workers and officials, and the world-class security provided by Musharraf's government, BB’s demise was a foregone conclusion. If it didn’t happen in Pindi, it should have happened in NWFP earlier – in fact the real surprise is why she survived her trip to, what’s that cliché - the “Switzerland” of Pakistan?

One thing became instantly clear to me. We were witnessing the culture of the upcoming elections, including the usual violence, and if successful, how the PPP victors would govern Pakistan. Before long, we would have rural elites running every department, tinted Pajeros with private bodyguards, and preferential treatment for employment, licenses, and admission to schools. The 80/20 rule would be instantly replaced by the rule of Mr. Ten Percent (10 %).

The disorganized, undignified, horrible and insulting manner in which the Dukhtar-e-Pakistan’s coffin was juggled from the hospital in Pindi to wherever it was headed was a display of senseless and utterly stupid behavior. It was shameful to watch the spectacle and simultaneously reassuring to note that PPP rule was thankfully not going to be implemented anytime soon. All noble feelings come to an end and I sighed with relief as the familiar presence of Pakistani paramilitary forces and police took over the cities that welcomed BB only to be looted, burned, and defaced by her party.