Against Zardari's Pakistan

Pakistanis should get comfortable with the concept of a failed state. Like the idea of Islam, it is one of the things they must learn to carry in their backpacks. Add to this a pocket sized photo of Jinnah and the constitution of Pakistan and you have the complete guide to understanding the idea that is Pakistan. It might be a little expensive these days but it’s an investment you would want to make.

A few years back, on a BBC show celebrating 60 years of independence of India and Pakistan, an American caller in his very American manner suggested that the failed states such as Pakistan should let the Americans at least guide them if not completely take over. I was mildly offended then. I argued that we haven’t had enough time as a nation to implement a thoroughly western concept of democracy which is perhaps inherently flawed. But democracy being the Madonna queen beyond reproach these days, to which we must bow down without question and bow down we must in that particular manner dictated by the select few who are enlightened, I did not voice my sentiments. After all, more than half of Pakistan’s political history has been dominated by military rule. After all, we do make it to the top of UN’s list of most corrupt nations. After all, Amnesty International does point out Pakistan for its record human rights’ violations. In the face of these statistics, the lack of a suitable duration of time seems like a weak if not an absolutely untenable argument. I, nonetheless, held on to my conviction that in due time that elusive queen along with Lakshmi will ascend the throne of Pakistan, with Quaid-e-Azam’s saintly portrait hanging in the background of course. Perhaps we will also sing the “corrected� version of Iqbal’s "sare jahan se acha". However, things have changed now.

States exist for the express purpose of furthering the interests of their subjects. If a state fails to achieve this, it might as well cease to exist. To argue that Pakistan was a flawed solution because it imposed an artificial identity on an ethnically diverse population that did not even have a language in common seems justified in the light of the current situation. But modern States are artificial. There is no such thing as a natural state. If we are going to question history, I’ll concede that Rehmat Ali’s confederation of India would have been a more viable solution. The truth, however, is that Pakistan exists. No debate about history will solve its problems right now.

I started writing this article after the February ’08 elections. The country was in turmoil and I was naively hoping for a bounce back. It didn’t occur. On the other hand, the war on the western front grew malignant with the accompanied economic plunge. And then, Zardari happened. He should not be dismissed as an individual in Pakistan’s history; he deserves to be evaluated as an event, a specialized phenomenon of our nation.

If direct general elections were held in the country right now, not a significant population would vote for Zardari but ironically, he is the most powerful president in the history of Pakistan, elected with the highest mandate in the National and provincial assemblies. Is this not suggestive of something bordering on the sinister about the whole process? When I put forth this question to my friends I’m handed the obviously unquestionable truth that, “’it’s the system yaar.� So this vague concept of system has become the shariah, and the constitution the divine word for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. You may choose not to follow it, but you can’t question it. There was not one public demonstration in the nation of a hundred and sixty million against the election of Zardari. It was not even suggested.

When a people become this apathetic, they forfeit the right to a decent life. They have made their peace with the circumstances and deserve no struggle in their name. Human beings are resilient; they manage to survive however hostile the conditions may be. Merely surviving though, is not what being human is.

It would be easier if I could pass this verdict definitively. But I see abject poverty and the use of force, and people like Faiz whose claim to Pakistan is more profound than Zardari’s.

I am forced to reconsider.