Post Premiership, our PMs get a tour of Attock - place of my birth. Lately, people are getting familiar with the name of remote and poor District of Attock for hosting IK in its jail. In year 2000, when MNS was incarcerated at Attock Fort, Attock made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Shift of focus from Attock Fort to Attock Jail has to do with ‘level playing field’ and a pathetic attempt to make it all look democratic and constitutional whereas the reality is exactly opposite. However, we can call this paradigm shift from Fort to Jail as our democratic evolution. Previously, the control over the country was exercised quite blatantly & unequivocally, however, now it’s within the bounds of constitution which ironically has already been abrogated.
It wouldn’t be far from reality to extrapolate that Attock is the microcosm of Pakistan. Rich land, people are stiff, gritty & hospitable, low literacy, backward in terms of development, no economic activity like manufacturing, construction or tourism, rain dependent agriculture (Barani), every second household has an expatriate family member all across the globe (mostly labourers and few skilled workers), land owned by those who polished British boots real well like rest of Punjab, best breed is clerks and soldiers because of lack of inland employment opportunities, hosts numerous sensitive installations from bomb factories to airbase, beautiful fauna and flora, mountains, rivers & wildlife, top of the line cattle, abundant minerals, oil & gas functional wells & reserves and list goes on. If I missed out on any of the traits, my countrymen can fill me in with that. Like the country, the district is poor. People are even poorer.
Next question should be why? By now we all know why Pakistan couldn’t progress. Same is the reason this district didn’t prosper. There is a stranglehold on its resources by the powerful mafias.
Another partial reason is the people’s representatives. Politics is the sport of rich. Eight families would always play a prominent role rather musical chair in general elections: Khatar, Qazi, Sheikh, Malik, Khan, Kunda, Kamrial and Khanzada. They have to have a fortune to be able to reach out to the people on their ‘khushi & ghami’. But problem with fortune is that behind every fortune there is a crime. As a tradition, in our country dossiers are maintained against the notables. These dossiers contain proofs of their financial corruption or immoral activities. For their compromised status, they are most ‘useful’ running affairs of the state than being kept behind the bars. They are put behind bars as and when needed particularly when there is remote possibility of them crossing the defined lines. Mostly, they cave in quite cheap as it works with little arm twisting.
Part 2 to follow.
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