PPP Isn’t Convinced!

That this is the day as faiz said ‘woh din kay jiska wada hay’. I reckon you can put MQM and ANP in that list as well. All this pandering to the presidency, appointment of Mehmood Ali Durrani and Rehman Malik, failure to remove Malik Abdul Qayyum, all these are signs that military/civil establishment isn’t blinking just yet. The restoration of judges therefore isn’t than a simple matter. Amir Ahmed Khan of BBC is right on the money when he says that Asif Ali zardari and PPP has real evidence in the ancestral cemetery in Garhi Khuda Baksh that this is a ruthless establishment that doesn’t hesitate to kill if challenged openly. As a romantic I wish that Zardari assert the power of the mandate of the people of Pakistan that was rendered against the establishment but as an independent observer I understand that he has enough reason to be careful.

I think I have said it before and it’s worth repeating that in order to do away with the status-quo in Pakistan you can take one of the 2 routes. One is slow and peaceful and the other is quick but bloody. Another question is that if the players that are actually playing the game have a vested interest in maintaining the status-quo but in a different garb, just to give the nation a feel-good factor?

I am not a cynic by nature so my hope is that both PPP and Muslim league N especially is sold on democracy. In order for them to be able to benefit the people of Pakistan they would have to overcome some colossal barricades. Power Shortage, inflation, unemployment, corruption, accountability, huge budget deficit, major inadequacies in defense spending are just but few monsters that are staring them and the clock is ticking. I reckon the people of Pakistan however will give them time GIVEN that they make some gestures of goodwill towards the people of Pakistan. Restoration of judiciary is one major step. It will not be an easy decision but it’s a decision that they would have to make and they can’t afford to be cute by coming up with ‘minus –one formuale’ etc. either.

They also would be better served not hosting fancy dinners and musical shows at the P.M house at the expense of people of Pakistan while there is almost famine in the country. At the least it’s in bad taste. I understand that to avoid these minor expenses are mere political gimmicks but at this juncture the nation is so severely wounded that every little bit will help. Besides even if the dinner and the show didn’t cost too much to the public exchequer, whatever that money was, would it not be better spent buying a hot meal for nomads in a katchi-abadi merely miles down the road from the PM house? I am sure Yousuf Reza Geelani, mush-mush and the gang can afford a square meal on there own dime.

I must say that if establishment doesn’t back away and these democratic forces in the parliament fail to assert there right that was given to them by the people of Pakistan than Imran Khan, Qazi sahib, Mehmood Khan Achakzai etc stand vindicated. I pray to the good lord that it isn’t so but there is a lot of posturing going on.

Whoever thinks for a second that Army is done with politics and isn’t backing there man mush-mush than they are smoking some pretty darn good Mary Jane. I am all for being careful but pretty soon the verdict needs to be heard whether we have ‘will of the people’ ruling or ‘will of the uniformed’? And if it’s the former than like I said earlier there has to be some tangible differences. For the love of God, at least fire that clown naseem ashraf who has made a mess of cricket. Give us something, anything to work with.

My advice to Zardari would be to trust the mandate and assert. But like I said earlier, an elected PM was hanged in broad daylight in this country, his kids were shot dead at a point blank range by the infamous establishment so PPP’s paranoia has a valid basis and Muslim League N’s bravado is convenient.

Two things have changed however. One, if they reinstate the judiciary than all the signs are that judges wouldn’t be willing to date Army anymore in future and second and this one in my opinion is the real change; the media in this country has really broken shackles and more than judiciary in my opinion will be the guard of all that is sacred and holy.

We all have to realize that this status-quo in Pakistan (which in opinion is headed by Army and bureaucracy, landlords, industrialists, land mafias, stock-exchange magicians are there minions) are not going to let go of this cash-cow that is Pakistan without putting up a fight. Hopefully we can fight the fight without a bloodshed but rest assured no one lets go there influence happily and voluntarily. Musharaf is still sitting in COA’s residence literally; this is as much symbolic as it is a threat of a sort. The civil forces in Pakistan who want the rule of law, democracy and want to curb the powers of armed forces need to join hands and devise a clear strategy not just for day-to-day affairs but for the worst case scenario as well. And while they are joining hands they must be cautious of snakes in orange head-gear, who goes by the name of Maulana Diesel. Slowly but surely they must attempt to de-claw this vicious establishment.