The Credibility of Governments? By Dr. Zafar Altaf The dirty little secret is that known to some and suspected by many, denied by almost all [especially the N-leagues law ministers]-that a third world country cannot achieve first world status by democratic means. The political and social instability that lies beneath the third world systems defies any solution as there is no self correcting homeostasis in the economic or political body systems. The only hope is that the power block should close one eye and be squint in the other. The hoarse cry of N-league that the system of progress is being disturbed by the political upheaval is not acceptable to the common public. Anything can trigger any kind of protest. The ruthlessness of the power structure is such that sadistic pleasure is found in every intervention that takes place. Extensive discussions have been held on the outcome of the Model town action. The rule of law demands that the judiciary is implemented in letter and spirit. All those that have opined on this aspect need to have their head’s examined. Please go to the courts and see how they act when there is a litigation factor between the powerful and the poor. The government itself is guilty of many criminal actions. So how can they play the saint? They are worse than the devil for the devil at least was only morally corrupt and not criminally. The institutions that we speak of depend on their actions on the institutor who is the leader of that institution. The political system is based on caste, cronyism and misplaced loyalty. Only Rana’s can be law ministers and only gowalmandi bawas can be in the police. After all the police have started to refuse obeying orders unless they are in writing. In former East Pakistan the civil intervention would have been more drastic and police stations would have been burnt down. No one in the Punjab has the right to get a job who is not a kashmiri. Is this what Pakistan was made for. You have DCOs and some of the left DCs behaving criminally and Imran let loose a volley on the DC Islamabad who incidentally is the son of a bastigir and belongs to the system to which Imran belongs. But formal education in the case of Imran has changed him considerably. He is no longer a crony fellow and the evidence of that can be found in KPK. All these jokers that criticize him do so to save their back side. And what of the institution called the Parliament for whose safe custody is the speaker. The institution of the Speaker came with the king James1 Parliament. He had set up a Majlis-i-Shura type servile Parliament. When servility could not be tolerated and digested by the members the rebel group decided to have a collective speaker. The man chosen was then called the speaker and in democratic tradition the Speaker is always from the opposition ensuring that the rules are applied justly and fairly. Mr. Kamil Ali Agha of the PML Q league has not been given the chance by the speaker to make his point known yet the ruling party members have spoken four to five times each. Why? No brazenness in this kind of action!!! The Speakers own election is in jeopardy so he will do everything to stay in the chair. What to speak of morality there is no sense of decency. They have yet to pay their debts to this country and that can only be done by just and fair policy implementation. Two upfront organizations that matter in governance are the police and the revenue patwari. Try and control any of the two and you will see how the matters have been polluted and how greedy and indiscipline they are. Since the 1980’s the land record is being computerized. They have not been very successful despite the assurances of the political system. The recent report says that this not been doe despite three decades. Do the political bosses know what record the patwari deals with and what is the revenue language. Not one of the patwari’s language is known to the political elites. Some of the elected representatives were pointed out to be with the patwaris and acting as their benefactors. In Lahore Adil patwari is well known. Some of the top echelons have been his file carriers. The centralization of personal policies is an indication that the patwari is now a political coyote. He is the predator of lands and in the process of helping his political bosses he has amassed wealth himself. There is no exception to this rule. I can give you hundreds of narratives where the centralized policies are an indication of misuse of power. Go to any ministry and you will find that the institution is more or less the graveyard of Islamabad. Try and get the DC of Islamabad and you will find extreme rahem [kindness] over there. The two mobiles of the DC are with the PS who refuses to put the phone through to the boss. Why should he have the phones if they are not in the service of the people of Pakistan? His instructions, according to the PS, was that only if the political party rings up then the telephone be given. What kind of legacy did we leave? Thick skinned or donkey’s skin is what they carry. The DC’s father was a very fine civil servant. The son has not carried his legacy and in fact I feel that his civil service examination record and his psychological examination details need to be revisited. There will be flaws. When will sanity appear in the system? Who is responsible for this sanity? Will a change in government be important for this? If even then we are found wanting what will happen? Governance in Pakistan is becoming extremely difficult. The slack in the system has finally brought this country to a standstill. Paralysis has finally struck Pakistan. This is what happens when you are intervening in others work and your own work suffer. An organizational change is now to be affected. How? It will be a long haul. It is easier to break a system but it is more difficult to resurrect a system The pluralistic nature of our society depends more on regionalism. A single shoe no longer fits all. Politically it is incumbent on the center to keep the provinces informed. Please go through the letters of Pandit Nehru to the chief ministers of the country. The Planning minister talks of knowledge based economy. Instead of pontificating to others he should try his own political party and try convincing his own party on aspects of public policy. So continue as you were. Pakistan Observer. 11.4.2014.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 06:44:59 +0000