I AM an apolitical man. Attending political rallies is not for me. In the late fifties, when I first had my common sense spurs, I became wary of all the political and military leaders. Down the road, with the passage of time, I became an eternal grumbler, a nit-picker and a fault-finder. Even when our leaders were right, which was seldom and far between, I always found something to lash them with. And when the Quixotic policies of our politicians brought nothing but woe and grief to the dear land of ours, I have been the first one to say: “I told you so”. So much so, that I have been nick named as ITYS (pronounced as itys.)
There is a ring of truth to it. Emboldened by my local forebodings, I went global. For example, after the Gul War, I predicted in these columns, as a morbid joke of course, that for want of any worthwhile adversary left in the world, Bush senior would bomb Iraq again. It continues to this day. Me and my big mouth.
Similarly, when Guls, Durranis and Nasirs of this world Talibanized Afghanistan, I predicted through this paper, that Talibanization of Pakistan was in the works. It came to pass. The jehadi sword cuts both ways. The genie is uncorked. And now we have been tribalized, too. Afghanistan has attained the strategic depth in Pakistan quite contrary to what our supposedly best brains had envisioned. The opportunity to turn Afghanistan into a moderate civil society has been lost. The baton has been passed on to yet-to-be-decided factions. With two words, ‘...or else,’ the voodoo strategy spread over 20 years, is gone in a puff. Some say we were give the Hobson’s choice. Whatever were we given, let’s make a virtue out of this necessity. Holy mackerel, how frosty the wind bloweth from the north!
What we watch with horror on the foreign electronic media, is not the silent majority but the vociferous minority, an ominous looking mob, brandishing pitchforks, swords and guns, carrying strange looking totem poles. Are we in the 21st century? Will someone pinch me or is it for real? These scenes of turban-turbulent minority, enough to scare the living daylights out of any sane person, are far more devastating than those planes running through the towers. While WTC and Pentagon will be rebuilt sooner rather than later, who is going to get us rid of this imminent threat to the peace and stability of this country?
Unless controlled, it is going to touch off a prairie fire. Who can stem the rot and reverse the slide? The wind that a late general sowed, is become a full blown whirlwind. The bitter harvest is ripe. It is only fair that a general should clear the mess created by another. Where art thou Kamal? Time to act has come and will be gone before you know it. Been shooting so long in the dark. Time for the same old game and fun as usual, is gone. Difficult decisions have to be taken; tough choices, for so long deferred, have to be made. For once the majority is behind you. Please don’t sell this majority down the Kabul river as your erstwhile colleague did.
Were did we go wrong? As good a time as any to do some soul searching. God alone knows what did we do wrong collectively as a nation to deserve the leadership that has been hoisted upon us from time to time and with such a religious regularity and fervour. Under the garb of electing the right kind of people, we destroyed the democratic system. The list of the hand-picked misgovernors qualifies for the Ripleys believe it or not. Controlled, delineated and trussed up democracy has given us tainted and visionless leaders. Learning from history is not for us. We have burnt our soles and singed our hair but we keep treading the live red hot coals, no matter what. Old habits die hard. You can’t teach old dog, new tricks.
The right decision has been taken but it has to be backed up with action. We have to discipline the frenzied zealots. Without neutralizing the diehard elements, we cannot convince the world of our sincerity. This nation has been held hostage to the hagiocracy for two decades. Tacit encouragement to the obscurants and reactionaries has stalled our growth as a progressive nation. We have been pushed to the edge of a precipice. If we are to be counted amongst the majority of the nations, we have to temper the disruptive violent minority. Our image being transmitted abroad is that of a stone age tribal society not much different from our relic-blasting northern neighbour. Instead of dyeing them in our colour, we have been dyed in theirs. What a paradox we have created for ourselves! The stables have to be cleaned. No one from outside is going to clean our mess for us. We have to fight our own battle. Today, we are as much threatened from abroad, as from within. Nay, the internal threat far outweighs the outer.
And now that we have found out that defence and security of the country is a full time vocation, let toga replace the uniform as soon as possible!
