A Democratic Govt.: the First Challange

(These thoughts were generated by the columns of Salim Safi & Maryam Gilani in Daily Mashriq, Peshawar last week, and Hasan Nisar in Jang Rawalpindi on Saturday, March 15th; I expanded upon the two letters written seperately to the first two journalists.)

I am no sympathizer of Pakistan Peoples Party, except when it faced the calamitous moments of 27th December 2007, when the earth shook for all and sundry whether they were Pakistani or not. I was never a fan of Benazir until she was assassinated so mercilessly, so unreasonably, in the prime of her life, and at the peak of her political maturity. The fact remains that many of her actions and political twists and turns last year prior to tragic events of December made me question her sincerity in bringing back democracy to Pakistan. Now, in retrospect, many of her actions make some sense and show a political acumen that she certainly did not have in her first two stints as premier. She definitely had thought about her course of action, of delivering promises that she and her father had failed to deliver earlier. She matured as a politician as she negotiated the challenges of her difficult and restless life as almost a single mother, a lonely wife, a suffering sister, and a devoted daughter. I give her benefit of doubt because she seemed to be embarking on an independent course, and cleverly used her connections and influences to find her way back home---only to face the fate that destiny or evil traders of death had prepared for her.

Of all parties affected by this most untimely death, is her own party---the Pakistan Peoples' Party (Parliamentarians), which is of course not much of a peoples party, or else Asif Zardari, the defacto chair would heed the voice of the people.

I do, unfortunately, tend to subscribe to the theory regarding Zardari's involvement in BB's shameful murder. Zardari has gained the most from this carefully engineered situation. While Bait-Ullah Mehsud may scream from the rooftops that he had no role in BB's murder, and while Amrica Sharif is totally bewildered at the turn of events & suffers the uncertainty quietly (with its ambassadors still hobnobing with Zardari and others), and while Pakistani police may beat the pulp out of those kids caught in Dera Ismail Khan to get their confessions, I find it hard to believe that this man has truly suffered in any way (his 8 years in prison...ha!), especially the loss of a trusted, beloved wife (his years of escapades in Islamabad, as erstwhile Mr. 10 %, are no secret).

Zardari watched from the sidelines as the bloodbath played out in Karachi and Rawalpindi, pretending to be sick, sick, sick with heart ailments and whatnots. There was also the excuse that someone had to take care of the "children", while the children had raised themselves under their mother's supervision. All along, Zardari had been away, either in jail on charges of corruption, or in New York convalescing and recuperating. On the third day of his wife's burial, he suddenly demolished a much-revered tradition of his ancestors, naming his son a "Bhutto" (how I would have celebrated that as a feminist if that had happened only a week, a month, or a year earlier when the mother was alive). Then he announces that he be buried in the Bhutto Mausoleum after his own death (and what about his own ancestral cemetery, and his own status of being an only Zardari son), knowing full well that secretly, his friends, and openly, his foes are frowning upon these too good to be true shows of loyalty to his wife's memory. People know that cultural traditions should not be subverted in a moment of sentimentalism. A consensus has to be built thoughtfully, philosophically, to do away with them. In fact, his own party had nothing but an embarrassed silence after these emotional announcements which also publicly aired his desire to be the future premier. One wonders if this was the direction, the game was going to take, and Benazir was, but a pawn, not a leader in the hands of conspirators.

Now, carefully moving ahead with the game plan, comes the long and ugly strategy of doing away with one of the most loyal leaders of the party: Makhdom Amin Fahim. When even non-sympathizers like me feel like screaming out in protest, others must believe "there is something rotten in the state of Denmark." No one in the party is saying: the king is naked?

When were Asif Zardari's intentions not clear? This is what he had aspired for all along. Nature, or destiny, or a flawless conspiracy, has provided him the perfect opportunity. Now suddenly he is in perfect health; now he has become a picture of modesty and generosity. But do Pakistanis have such short memories?

I am not just venting myself; I love my homeland & I believe Pakistan is being deprived of an honest man, Amin Fahim, to lead it out of its current madness and Mian Sahib or Asfandyar Wali would rather be silent witnesses than vocal critics of these moves (and perhaps it is not really their place either to criticize or comment).

I wonder why are Amin Fahim's loyalties to the Peoples Party questioned now (a la Khwaja Asif & some journalists). The man comes from a family that has been PPP loyalist since its birth. Under no circumstances were the Makhdooms deterred by anyone. No temptation (including premiership) could steer this particular family away. What else one must do to prove himself? Amin Faheem is politically-savvy and yet a man of values; unlike million other politicians, he is educated and cultured, has sagacity and strength, and is time-tested. He has an even temper (unlike the current President of Pakistan who often acts like a street-thug), and is respected alike by friends and foes and even by those who were neutral. What else does one want in a national leader? If he has started showing signs of discomfort & displeasure with people like Zardari & Sherry Rahman, why shouldn't he? Zardari's so-called imprisonment aside, his ambitions are very thinly veiled. Sherry Rahman is of no consequences at all, and yet she dared to lock her horns with a stalwart.

This certainly does not bode well for PPP. Just like its original team that stood with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in its moments of trial, propelled it to the tragic moments of December 1971 to form the first government, and then was dismissed most cruelly under a variety of circumstances (everyone born before 1980s knows the fate of J. A. Rahim and others), Benazir Bhutto's right hand Amin Fahim is being severed, and her trusted team is nowhere to be seen.

The point is that it is not just the institutions that matter; people and their leadership also matters. People make institution and strengthen them with their ideals, their vision. Institutions are not wild, organic growths, they are conceived by great minds and strengthened and cherished by the characters of their leaders. When Bhutto lost his original magic and developed autocratic tendencies, he brought about his own tragic end ("The fault dear Brutus lies not in our stars, but in ourselves" says Shakespeare). Although one can apply the same to Amin Fahim, I suggest Zardari is a better candidate for putting the party on a course that may not have been envisioned by Benazir Bhutto.

As a concerned Pakistani in the US, I feel being let down once again, by the people who have little qualifications to make decisions of major consequences. It hurts, and it hurts deeply when you see your country "going to the dogs" literally, especially if you are far away. I never had any personal fondness for the two Makhdom Sahibs (Amin Fahim or Javeid Hashmi), but as I age myself, I realize these are the old guards of a declining order. They do not need to prove anything anymore. They are not the "salesmen" of their parties; they are the true asset and treasures of their parties. They are the leaders Pakistanis have looked up to, and hope to guide them out of this bloody scenario of their daily lives.