The “government” has released a list of the top 248 out of 8000+ accused by NAB who are alleged to be hiding behind the skirts of the NRO. But from the outrage of the notorious and infamous protesting their wide-eyed innocence, it seems the right hand of the government doesn’t quite know what its left hand is doing. Even those who, like our dandy prime minister with a stiff neck, had done “muk mukaa” deals with NAB by paying off their defaulted loans and getting mountains of interest waived before the NRO was promulgated, are seemingly caught in the NRO’s damning web of perception. Our High Commissioner to the UK and Ambassador to the USA are also quite right to protest their innocence because “inquiries” have been substituted for “cases” and everyone has been tarred with the same brush. The state minister for law, Afzal Sindhu, is now talking of revising the list, a clear admission that he didn’t do his homework and allowed indifferent bureaucrats at NAB to have the last laugh. The irony is that the current head of NAB is not a fire-breathing or self-righteous general with an anti-politician agenda up his sleeve before retirement but a civilian appointed or approved by the Zardari regime which has been worst hit by NAB. This is yet another indictment of bad governance in Islamabad.
Understandably, the moral media brigade is aghast that none of the accused, barring the odd secretary who is now with the PMLN, has bothered to resign forthwith and scurry into oblivion. Nor, despite the media pressure, should we expect this to happen. Indeed, the fate of the NRO is still hanging in the balance, and it is difficult to imagine how any of the accused is liable to prosecution at the hands of the very government to which he or she belongs even if the NRO is struck down as unconstitutional!
This farce must end. The NAB list, out of which 97 per cent are Sindhis, reflecting an obvious anti-PPP bias, was originally composed by the anti-PPP witch-hunter Saif ur Rehman of the PMLN who bequeathed it to General Pervez Musharraf’s crusaders led by General Mohammad Amjad, who added and subtracted at will in view of their Boss’ political compulsions. This can hardly form the basis of any morally consistent and transparent policy of justice. Indeed, for that to happen, we would have to wipe the slate clean of everyone (politicians, bureaucrats and generals) who has strayed into politics since Independence in 1947, except Mr Jinnah. But that is the sort of revolutionary anarchy that exists in the minds of the violently disgruntled, hypocritical or self-righteous. It is a sure shot recipe for inviting the military to seize the reins of power once again.
Unfortunately, the mood of the country seems to be swinging in that very direction. This is significant because it comes so soon after a revolutionary upsurge to reinstall an independent judiciary and usher in a new era of civilian democracy. A recent report commissioned by the British Council and conducted by the Nielsen Research Company claims that the young urban middle classes of Pakistan are deeply disenchanted by corruption in a democracy (only 33 per cent thought democracy was the best system of government, equal to those who preferred an Islamic state). They feel abandoned by their government and are despondent about their country’s future. More than 70 percent said they were worse off financially now than they were last year. An overwhelming majority said their country is headed in the “wrong direction”, and 90 per cent have no faith or trust in their government. They are faced with unemployment in a failing economy only 20 per cent of those interviewed had permanent full-time jobs, 50 per cent said they did not have sufficient skills to get a job and 25 per cent could not read or write. Ominously, they are overwhelmed by their sense of Muslim rather than Pakistani identity – 75 per cent identified themselves primarily as Muslim and only 15 per cent as Pakistani – which can lead to a volatile religious-nationalist upsurge if their issues aren’t solved quickly. But this is an impossible task that would require Pakistan’s economy to grow by 36 million jobs in the next decade compared to the maximum 10 million jobs forecast if all goes well. And here’s the rub. The highest-ranking institution in the “most trusted” bracket was Pakistan’s military. 60 percent said that they trusted it and 50 per cent said they trusted religious educational institutions next in order. The national government came last at 10 percent.
These are sobering statistics. The Zardari government must get its act together and start delivering on the economic promise of democracy. The opposition must not destabilize the government to such an extent that the political system itself is irrevocably discredited. The media must not succumb to the pressure of yellow commercialism or subscribe to vindictive personal agendas. The judiciary must not think it can provide a compelling substitute for the executive. And the military must shun the idea that it can become the long awaited savior once again.