Political Ripples

Third month running, neither the optimistic scenario nor the pessimistic one has come to pass, however, current political power struggle in the country is anything but a stalemate. Government is following a simple policy line rather word “inaction”. Hawks in the Government ranks, in their sporadic outbursts, never miss an opportunity to antagonize the opponents. The obvious lack of imagination and haughtiness of the government ministers has already done enough to politically discredit PML (N). In a pigeon like approach, government is hoping that current wave of political

gatherings around the country will wither like Azadi March and Inqalabi Dharna. As lack of imagination may have it, this assertion lacks substance. It is the direct fall out of March/ Dharna that people have starting coming out. As a well thought out move, the leadership of PTI decided to cash in on the sentiments of people and began these mammoth Jalsas. If dots are connected, we are heading for an agitation movement in the country. Prime Minister is being stalked by GNG slogan. VIPs are already in discomfort because their undue perks and privileges are being questioned. In another big shift, previously indifferent educated lower middle class has also started taking interest in politics. Youth is already weary of stereotype politics which hurled this country in to wastelands of corruption, hereditary politics and incompetence. Social media has also offered a platform to youth to vent their feelings without a cut. These factors are snowballing the change in the country. Despite certain grey areas in decision making, credit must go to PTI and PAT for spearheading the drive for change.

PPP has made wise choice to flex their political muscle by sizeable gathering at Karachi. It served multiple purposes. Bilawal has been incarnate. PPP’s strength in Sindh has been reasserted through relatively weaker ground of Karachi. Probably this gathering was extremely necessary for PPP to stay politically relevant in political landscape. How much ground PPP has gained from this show of power, needs to be seen. The timing of this Jalsa was also important as PTI has already announced

the bid to hold their political pageants in Sindh in following month.  It was well planned and executed political move to reinvigorate their support in areas of strength. Something PML (N) failed to do in Punjab. Except Karachi, PTI has very weak presence in Sindh. PTI’s Larkana Jalsa next month will have far-reaching effects on the political balance in Sindh in particular and country in general.

Government’s inaction is being dubbed as a shrewd political posturing. How much political genius is dictating government’s political moves will unfold in due course.  The human side of the Prime Minister must be kept in mind. The sum total of his ego suggests that he might be infuriated by the GNG movement and might be cooking up a serious revenge on his own countrymen for not letting him ‘peacefully’ enjoy his third term. The sum total of his political acumen suggests that he might not budge from his stance of sticking to power ‘no matter what’. Combine the disastrous couplet of his ego and political wisdom, the emerging scenario is at best detrimental. Politics is synonymous to pragmatism. He could have traded some space for high moral ground. Would that, we someday have leadership at the helm which is capable of politics.    

It takes generations to shake the political settings. We are witnessing that golden transition in our age. Change is in the air. Status quo is in peril due to gaining inertia. PTI may be credited for flag-bearing the drive but it has to carry out some regrouping. It has to forego her addiction for fielding time tested flops of the yesteryears. If they have learnt anything from Javed Hashmi episode, they must avoid recruiting failed political ‘noteables’ when they march on Sindh next month. This habit has already cost PTI a great deal. Besides other relatively lesser chinks in their armour, they must protect their vulnerable Achilles Heel and weed out the wild undergrowth eating up on their party’s success. We have waited long and hard for change. And we must see a lasting change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wave of Change and Uneasy Intelligentsia

Those who wrote editorials in newspapers have always been held in high esteem by every thinking mind. They are in different league. They are a notch above the rest. They have an opinion and they articulately share it. Growing up in a country where culture of reading was diminishing because the culture of writing had already deteriorated. These columnists were really the icons. Unfortunately, like all other noble vocations in this country, journalism has seen a decline. Plummeting quality of thought and questionable integrity of editorials due to 'inclinations' has taken away their true strength. Most of the columnists have blatantly chosen sides with political forces in the country.  

For the last couple of months, newspapers have been bombarded with editorials which focus mainly on two aspects. Firstly, the biased media coverage of two dharnas which is mainly a media wrangling issue. Secondly, they speculate on the script writers of dharnas and do not stop short of blaming the hidden hand of establishment for articulation of current situation. The scribes of the articles rightly bash biased TV/ media/ anchors for shaping public opinion. Likewise, they try to prove that there is only one villain in this country i.e. establishment and to be more precise military establishment. Well decency warrants that we must admit, everyone has an opinion which should be respected. Yet, we must run the issue  through furnace of intellectual rigor.

Pakistan has reached where we brought it as a nation. Each one of us and every single institution has to accept the share of blame. In editorials, our respected columnists take on only aforesaid issues, whereas, corruption in all institutions, poor governance, absence of political acumen, foreign involvement in our policy decisions, unconditional surrender to foreign powers’ demands and the list goes on, does appear to them to sit at the roots of our troubles which is not different from how media dupes this nation. It is biased and meant to serve some vested interest, as is the custom these days. Journalistic integrity is under scrutiny for right reasons.  

Current wave of political awareness among the commoners has broken inertia of status quo. Stereotyping in politics and in other fields is a thing of past now. Like all harbingers of status quo, it has perturbed our stereotype intelligentsia as well. It seems that intelligentsia is singing to the same tune as our nervous conventional political entities and other champions of status quo. They also seem too concerned about the changing canvas of the nation’s outlook. Select few read in this country and very few read editorials. It has been an easy medium to share or shape the opinions of those who could read English because they are the ones who really mattered. Things have changed. Now, every evening, most of the writers of editorials come on air and share their opinions with public. People can clearly see the bias, inclination, changing tone and tenure and vulnerabilities of these opinion makers. Typical status of Holy Cow to concerti of cognoscenti is no more.  Duping public is not that easy anymore and our intelligentsia is visibly upset about that. Consequently, the hatred and condescendence for the forerunners of change like Imran Khan and Tahir Ul Qadri is obvious in words and opinions of our intelligentsia.

Well, intelligentsia has a larger role than just shunning off the wave of change that also threatens the niche of status quo where they have been basking for over half a century. They must step ahead and put in their share to steer the ship of this country out of dire straits. They must correct

those dharna parties and render valuable advice to govt and establishment to mend their ways and apply corrections to their adopted strategies. Whether someone pays heed to it or not, journalistic responsibility warrants that thinking minds of opinion makers must continue the good work. They must not choose sides. It should not appear from their writings that they are on payroll of any stakeholder in the power matrix of this country. The nobility of this profession must not be tarnished.  

Ten Points of Difference with Imran Khan’s PTI

There is a need to take stock of PTI’s approach to politics in the wake of Azadi March. There are many loose ends which warrant tidying up like vision, leadership, decision making, organization and performance. Time for PTI to face few facts:-

1.            Timing of Azadi March. Mere fourteen months in to the govt, PTI should have given time to the ruling party to commit more blunders. PML (N) leadership is prone to axing own feet e.g. Model Town massacre, ever expanding family business, nepotism, abuse of power through police and other institutions of the state.  It was a matter of time, ruling party, would have lost moral authority to rule the country. Rigging allegation was a potent tool to maintain requisite political pressure on the govt but all out Azadi March should have waited a little more.

2.            KPK Performance. Having formed govt in KPT, PTI needed to make a difference with her performance. There were few heartening indicators of good governance in KPK which needed to mature to create an impact. Secondly, PTI failed to promote her good work which it had done so far in KPK.

3.            Political Support.          IK has opted for solo political flight and appears to be politically isolated. Let alone parliamentary parties, Jamat-e-Islami, despite being his ally in the KPT govt, did support his political move. Although, Dr Qadri’s PAT is in direct support of Azadi March, yet it is not being recognized as a relevant political force. PAT is not part of parliament and partly for her peculiar theological undertone. Concerted effort must have gone in to muster sufficient political support before embarking upon an Azadi March of this scale. Indeed other political forces prefer to maintain status quo, still their political relevance should have not been disregarded. Extensive political maneuvering before Azadi March could have pacified synchronized opposition by govt and remaining political forces.

4.            Nexus with PAT
.           Aura of romance keeps us from realistic appraisal of consequences, naturally resulting in unhappy & untimely breakups. This is the story of love affair between PTI & PAT. Commonalities are few and far between like unison march to Islamabad and political support to each other’s agenda. However, destination of both is wide apart. PTI stands for fall of govt and re-election remaining within current political system. Whereas, PAT stands for complete makeover of the system. Suppose if PM resigns, PTI would want quick re-election but PAT will not be satisfied with this. In short, it seems that no real deliberation has gone in on end state of current political crisis by PTI & PAT. They seem content with dealing with things on issue to issue basis but there is a strong possibility that there will be serious consensus issue between these parties if things move to next level from current stalemate.

5.            Party Organization. Tremendous amount of work needed to be done on party organization of PTI. It is a GT Road and internet party. Except Karachi, PTI has zero representation in Sindh. Situation is no different in Balochistan. At least, couple of rigorous years were needed to establish the party where it was non-existent. Likewise, in Punjab and KPK, further strengthening of party roots was required. Even if elections are announced today, PTI will face serious problems like 2013 General Elections to nominate the candidates. Party is banking too much on personality and charisma of IK. This may yield short term political gains but philosophy of ‘Naya Pakistan’ may be laid to rest with IK’s exit from political scene.

6.            On Javed Hashmi episode and many other incidences, IK appeared to be stereotype political leader, who could not take no for an answer.  There might be hundred reasons for JH’s exodus but the handling of the issue was done in an apolitical fashion. He could have called core committee’s session and sent him off in a democratic way. Patience, tolerance to resistance within and outside party and political flexibility are much desired from political leadership at national level.

7.            IK has been equated with Quaid-e-Azam by some enthusiasts. Does not seem to be a fair parallel. Particularly, Quaid-e-Azam was a political genius who was a man of principles and great patience. Being a fast bowler, IK admitted himself that he lacked patience which is amplified by his untimely Azadi March. Few are reminded of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto when they see huge crowds gathering on his call. Again, an unwarranted comparison. Political acumen of ZAB was much superior. Other pronounced difference was that when ZAB announced he was going to bring middle class to assemblies, he gave party tickets to lower middle class and lived by his word. Whereas, there are serious question marks on IK’s ticket distribution and credibility of his close aides.

     8.   

PTI fielded young and energetic spokesperson

           media and talk shows like Murad Khan, Aysha Gulalai Wazir, Naz Baloch etc who lacked political depth and authority to fight party’s case. Senior leadership was also visible but most of the air time went to these young guns. A bold initiative which did not pay off.

9.            Conservative outlook of our society is a reality. This sensitivity must be respected. Female section of crowd doing Luddi and dance moves did not go down well. Opponents exploited this for political point scoring and non-political segment of society did not really endorse this. Albeit, the tendency has been curbed after initial few days.

10.     Lastly, the Maximalist approach of not calling off Azadi March without PM’s resignation is not convincing. Govt has a right of dillydallying. It is PTI, who has to play her cards wisely. Even if PTI is handed over the country now, it is presently not in a shape to run the affairs of the state. Unless there is reliable party structure in place down to grass root level, this type of demand will discredit PTI. Leadership of PTI needed few more years to fully mature. They had a golden opportunity to fix the nut bolts of their party while running affairs of KPK. Integrity is a priceless attribute, but it is not the only attribute necessary to run the affairs of a country. IK often refers to the welfare state of Medina but somehow it is felt that he did not carefully study the political acumen, vision and wisdom of the Leader (PBUH) and Chief Executive (PBUH) of that state.

Poem: 'Roaring Lions' of The Parliament

What a spectacle, the high rhetoric at the Parliament
‘Roars of Lions’, we heard, coming out the Parliament

Hitherto, a derelict building, the ruin of democracy
Came to bloom, a sanctuary or refuge, this Parliament

Ka’aba they named it, mother they called it, when
Status quo felt danger, building which is Parliament

Champions of vested interests, business or family
Bravo Parliamentarians, have no other compliment

Buildings are sacred when men of honour grace them
Hide not behind this building, the house of Parliament

Inertia broken by tremors of change, has kindled hope
That this building, will soon become a real Parliament  

Asad Jamal, 4 September 14

Javed Hashmi- An Ego Slave 'Rebel'

Javed Hashmi’s resignation is prompted by his Ego. Since he was ignored in important decision making of the party, he could not take it. From deep inside PTI, it is being alleged that his role was extremely dubious in party ticket allocation before General Elections of 2013. This led to gulf between JH & IK which kept growing. Though, he was given due respect all the way.

His political career depicts anything but stability. PPP of ZAB, worker of IJT, JI of  Modudi, Minister of Zia ul Haq, leading figure of PML (N), joined PTI on condition of

 becoming president. His gamble of joining PTI did not pay off as PML (N), by hook or by crook, formed central govt. He could not hide emotional association with Nawaz Sharif during his first address to the parliament. It would be harsh to declare him a mole but he never made a conscious effort to dispel this impression.

First press conference of Javed Hashmi was act of resentment. However, once he was publically disowned by IK, he unleashed on PTI, IK, Army and even judiciary. It could not be termed anything other than an act of desperation. He has stepped up his allegations against Army and DG ISI in a bizarre way. His anger, dissatisfaction with his party and hurt ego, are all his personal problems. It does not give him a license to level baseless allegations against state institutions. His behavior has only dented the kind of public stature he claims to have. He is only being lauded by the ruling party whose own moral standing is under question.

Lastly, ruling party’s ardent desire to malign army has turned in to demonic obsession. They must thank army for issuing a one liner clarification on issue of mediation. Army is showing unprecedented patience and restrain with govt without due acknowledgement and reciprocation. Like past few months, ministers of govt in their private talks, do not hesitate in blaming army for their woes. We have seen few glimpses of their private talks at public forums as well. As the adage goes, a bad workman blames his tools. Govt is not ready to apply few corrections in her approach to issues rather continues to fix blame on ‘hidden hands’ for her own mishandling, high-handedness, inflexible posturing and lack of political wisdom..

Outcome of current political crisis hangs in balance. But it must be said that whole issue is not dealt with properly. Politicians failed to play politics. Parliament remained hostage to forerunners of status quo. They continued to hide behind ‘mandate’ notwithstanding the fact that those who are out on streets do not accept the validity of this mandate. Unless legitimacy of this mandate is established, it will be difficult to rule this country henceforth. Even if govt survives current political typhoon, it will remain a weak govt.

Story of a Tax Payer… Another Triumph of Status Quo

Few years back in Faisalabad, when Ali took over business from his father, he decided to pay all payable tax. He asked his staff to prepare proper tax return. The tax amounted to half a million as compared to fifty thousand in past ie ten times more. He was advised to maintain status quo which meant paying small tax and continue paying ‘fair share’ to tax authorities. But he insisted on paying the exact amount. When tax authorities were approached, they again asked for their share. The company told them that there was no tax evasion and they are voluntarily paying the true amount. Taxers began to tax Ali’s patience and made his life miserable. It took his company unbelievable amount of time and effort to pay the exact tax. If he continued to pay the full tax, tax authorities could have been deprived of their share, hence, they brought him to his knees. Finally, the young entrepreneur gave in and agreed to pay tax the old way. However, for next financial year, tax authorities doubled the amount of their share because ‘lot of effort had gone in convincing him to pay the old way’.

 

Ali is, now, Masha Allah, a successful entrepreneur in Canada.

 

We must accept the reality that a great number of people in this country are fed up with Status Quo. That is the reason their frustration is not limited to drawing room whining, they are out of their comfort zones and out on roads. No more qualms about people not standing up for their rights. Mostly, young, aware and faithful Pakistanis have rallied under the umbrella of PTI to break the status quo. The inertia has broken. But beware of the old ‘crocs’, who have buckled up to save the status quo under the garb of constitution and laws. The book of laws which these lawmakers have made to protect their interests like centralized control of resources, like becoming third time Prime Minister of the country, like immunity to the high office holders and so on. Ostensibly, the book contains all the good things and assurances for welfare and security to the people of Pakistan. However, only welfare and security to the people of Pakistan is missing. Well, it is just a book of clauses tailored by lawmakers to suit their design of play. Generation after generation, their hegemony on resources of this country and regime of organized corruption is preserved. Why can’t it be changed? But for that we need to emplace correct set of lawmakers.

Growing up in a country where politics used by synonymous to corruption, I always felt sorry for people attending political rallies. A political rally never appeared to a sign of hope rather a directionless mob pursuing pointless agenda. Always wondered why these people are wasting their time and energies on perpetuation of status quo. But now it feels different. The attendants of Azadi March and Dharna come across as hope for change. Naïve to impediments of red tape and frugal laws, people have stood up for change. Be warned, if we fail to grab on to the opportunity for change offered to us by the circumstances, our future generations will never forgive us.

 

Yet, it is sad to note that justice is a luxury in our country. Like other luxuries of life it is accessible to select few who can afford other luxuries of life. Since most the people are living without basic necessities of life, hence, they are not afforded the luxury of justice as well. As the cliché goes, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’. If FIR on cold blooded death of fourteen Muslim Pakistanis could not be registered in third month running, then judiciary and executive are just serving the political interests of the govt. No wonder Tahir ul Qadri was crying like a baby for poor and helpless of this country. However, like, Ali, the poor and downtrodden also have a better place to go…Heaven J

Matrix of Disappointments…My Best Teacher

Nothing inspires human heart as much as the Truth. I have tried in my best reckoning to put together some truth and ask you to read this passage with the lenses of you Heart. Truth of this life of fleeting attachments, deceptive temptations and foul love...is...that it is a Matrix of Disappointments. Unless you realize... that.... All attachments are fleeting away may it be the love of your life, closest relations, friends, pets n so on...either you will leave them one day or they will be taken out of your life leaving you with hurt and emotional pain. Try and understand that an attachment in love with a person or thing which has to perish and leave you with pain is basically an illusion. Love must not leave you in Pain. How can true love walk out on you ever?

Temptations are ever so deceptive...our passion for sins...may it be sin of curiosity, original sin or not so original sins...it is an unending, un-satiating pursuit of a Mirage but we never seem to get enough of it. Every temptation leads to a sin and every sin adds to the skyscraper of Regret and Remorse.

Finally, the misunderstood concept of Love which rots like a hidden dead rat and we never really find out what is wrong there. Understand that human heart is as vast as an ocean. Default mechanism of human heart is not designed to accommodate love of anything of this world. Filling your heart with love of Dunya is like filling the space of an ocean with a drop of water. And then we complain of emptiness and sadness. We have tried to invent ways to remedy this by playing video games, eating outs, smoking weed, taking hallucinogens, drinking, clubbing, listening to mind numbing music and throwing up all day next day …but… the moment our minds regain full consciousness…that sadness intensifies and that emptiness deepens. Instead of relief, our remedy back fires and continues to eat up on us. It is like taking cancer inducing drug for migraine. How absurd? Car makers issue manual which we look up for troubleshooting. Likewise, our Creator has issued a Manual to treat all our spiritual, moral, social and physical imperfections. And who knows the creation better than the Creator? Back to human heart, this pumping device is the only divine piece of equipment in human make up. It only is designed for love of Allah. Once this ocean is filled with its true waters, the droplet of Dunya's love will find its place there somewhere.

We continue to fail to understand the real face of these attachments, temptations and love of Dunya and remain sucked up in Matrix of Disappointments. Our only logical attachment is with Allah who created our souls on one day. We never really bother to look back in time that we had an oath of allegiance with Allah before coming to this world who puffed His soul in a clot of blood in a womb. He thus became our only relation before coming to this world. Protected, guided and made real nice arrangements for us as we arrived helpless in this world. Couple parents, nice shelter, siblings, appointed guardian angels on us, provided us with food all these years, carried us through times when we thought that even our shadows left us. He has already arranged food and shelter till our last day on earth. Can you find such unconditional love in this world in any relation or thing to which you feel attached to? Could there be any better attachment than the attachment with Allah? A premanent attachment without any fear of detachment ever. He is The Greatest, He is the most Merciful. Among these countless blessings He gave us Freewill. Our own wish and will to go about life. Remember, Devil incites your temptation, but it is you who decides to tread the sinful path. Life is just a little test to resist our temptations for a very short time and reward is promised in eternal peace and Jannah. But we thought this world is Jannah. All the pleasure, all the joy must come our way fast and now. And we cross the line. Commit sins. We fall prey to the trap. Just like a fly which ends up in a cobweb for her love of untamed curiosity. If this Dunya was to become Jannah then the whole issue of creation becomes pointless. In which case what would be the point of holding Jannah in store for us? We stuff our heart with love of Dunya and sink deeper in to the quagmire of sins. Not paying heed to repeated reminders in Quran about the worthlessness of love of this Dunya. Just like our loving mothers who repeatedly tells us to wear warm clothing so that we do not catch cold, He keeps warning us in Quran one and the same thing again and again. Is there a better example of love in this world than that of a mother. Well ! put together love of seventy mothers and counting...He still loves you more.

 

Do you still want to fill your heart with love of Dunya? Will you continue the futile toil of filling an ocean with a drop? Are you still willing to trade an ocean of love with a worthless droplet? If so, then you would not escape that haunting emptiness of your heart.

Today all the jigsaw pieces of my journey have been put together in front of you in the shape of whole truth. I am sure even if we persist to maintain the apparent state of denial; our hearts are always attracted to truth. Today the speaker was my heart and the audience...your heart. My tumultuous journey of disappointments is aligning to a steady route and attaining a tranquil pace. The voids are filling up with Love. All my fears were derivatives of my desires. But now they float between hopes and fears. I feared that time was running out and always questioned, Have I Gained Enough? My fear remains the same i.e. the time is slipping through but the fear has taken a different face i.e. Have I Given Enough? Have I been able to payback? Have I contributed my bit to life. But these words give me hope that they will tingle your heart. They will leave a little mark. You will share these thoughts with someone else. Light of hope will kindle in few other hearts weary of emptiness. We all shall then continue our eternal journey to our eternal destination. To a place, where our Host will be Allah Himself. He will throw feasts to His Loved ones. He will even serve drinks to His Chosen ones. I may not be among those but from among the lowest of the crowd I may get His glimpse. A look of the One who created all the that we perceive as Beautiful. The One who taught our perceptions to perceive Beauty. Should I not trade all these fleeting attachments, those deceptive temptations and love of Dunya for that permanent attachment, absolute truth and real love?

Only Allah knows what is right.

Share your thoughts on my sketchy and obscure thoughts and stay blessed.