Revisiting: Pakistan – Enigma of Change :: Part Two ::

“ALLAH DOES NOT CHANGE THE CONDITIONS OF PEOPLE UNLESS FIRST THEY CHANGE THEMSELVES.” – (Al-Qur’an: Surah Al-Raad).

“Change” is a phenomenon and a discipline of life that people and nations adapt to as an aim of national policy to determine major priorities for the actualization of productivity, new ideas, challenging and innovative ambitions, creative horizons, societal development and a promising future, in a knowledge-based fast changing and information age culture. Pakistanis identity psyche appears unsettled at the grassroots of Islamic values and seem to have discarded the phenomenon of change in favor of the neo-colonial “no system” –” a self-conflicting scenario to negate the relevance of the future. Masters are the supreme rulers, and the subjects are irrelevant and subservient creatures to the system. Corrupted military-political elite exploits the poverty-stricken oppressed masses. Corruption appears to be the single most dominant issue overshadowing the change and development objective in Islamic Pakistan. Islam is missing in Islamabad. When Muslims followed Islam, they were the pioneers of ‘change’ and civilization development across the globe, contributing to European Renaissance and Industrial Revolution. Today, Muslims look tragically misinformed about the vitality of change and adaptability in a global culture of information-run changes, institutions, progress and accountability. Since Muslims left Islam and revered materialism and consumerism for change, despite increased in their numbers, their moral and political importance have diminished. Western proponents of change with established institutions from thinking to planned actions, perceive and implement “change” in major disciplines of social, educational, economics, political, information technologies and other domains as evolutionary and essential components of human development. ‘Change’ contemplates a sustainable “vision” complemented by able and committed leadership, accountable management system, teamwork and a rational policy agenda for the making of societal future. Most knowledgeable observers of Pakistan would agree on the flourishing culture of institutionalized corruption networks sustained by the politicians, armed forces, civil servants, police, court judges and other public officials where you can buy or sell anything from loyalties to trading of offices, titles right unto the President. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Quaid-e-Azam envisaged an independent Muslim Nation on sound democratic principles, Islamic values and living history. Today, Pakistanis defy the rationale of their nationhood when they use Islam and Jinnah in currency denominations for bribery “fees” and crime-ridden politics. Under General Musharaf’s “no system” of military rule, the nation is trapped again in crises, conditions are replicated to suppress the young generations with sense of freedom, creative energies and aspirations for the future by forgetting past but insisting to build future, and nobody knows, how? Will he divide the besieged nation through another “crisis” and try to forge the appearance of some sort of legitimacy to prolong his rule? Or will he jeopardize the Islamic ideology of the nation to ensure continued Presidency and other accompanying financial dividends? A nation of collapsed public institutions, no matter how and where you look for factual evidence or related reasons. With an analytical eye, ‘change’ in the recent history of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, looks unthinkable, mostly sabotaged and betrayed. However, if change is perceived and pursued with a planned mechanism, it can bring out the best and brightest of the young and educated Pakistanis with global visionary leadership, creative ideas and talents, and statesmanship to challenge ingenuity, and to revitalize the value-based politics, economy, social justice and national survival and progress. A planned change can open up the new vistas of opportunities for the educated, honest and neglected ones, new intellectual and technological horizons, unknown to the corrupt and ignorant military Generals, and unexplored by the self-centered politicians of the past and the present.

Change in Question

“Ignorant and wicked leaders imply ‘fear’ and perpetuate ‘conflict’ to stay in power but never learn to change. They view people as an object, composed of digits and numbers to play with, and nothing else.”

A nation whose creative energies, positive thoughts, solid beliefs and moral and political institutions have been dismantled by the imposition of continuous Martial Laws and the secular military rulers over the forty years, looks desperate to change and to a new political system- based public institutions and responsible government for its recognizable identity and survival. Whenever history provided a window of opportunity for change, the military-political alliance criminally subsided its vulnerability. People and nations learn by comparing similarities and differences between success and failure because in an analogical context, a military defeat and a political victory are not the same in implication and consequences. Nobody raised organized voices to reason the unreason. Leaders implied fear and perpetuated conflict to extend their power base. Apparently educated but wicked in thoughts and practices, Zulfikar Bhutto, Yahya Khan and other army Generals collaborated to undo the necessities for political change – a change for a new system of institutions and government representing fairly the East and West Pakistan, national interests, unity and progress for social, economic and political developments. The inherited ambiguities and conflicts amongst the leadership were discovered within few years. There was “no system” to incorporate change into the political lifeline of the nation for emerging realities of diverse political identities. The nation was misinformed and treacherously misguided making ways for a morally and politically corrupt culture to flourish. Six years of corrupted rule under Z.A.Bhutto, General Zia ul Haq had to intervene to install another Martial Law to restore the order into a practically lawless national crisis situation. There was once again, an opportunity for real change and to cope with the issues of corrupted politicians, but the nation ignored its relevance and importance. Time and history must have laughed at the self-perpetuated ignorant nation as to where it was heading to under the “no system”- of martial law administration. Many appraised the change as positive under a military ruler than genuinely corrupt politicians, welcoming another Martial Law replacing chaos and disorder. Soon after, Zulfikar Bhutto was tried in a civil court and hanged on the known murder charges but his unknown crimes against the nation remain a hidden asset of the Bhutto family. This could have included power greed, collaboration with Indian leaders, dismemberment of Pakistan, planned surrender to India to assume the presidency and rising sectarianism in the country. Under General Zia ul Haq, another decade of one man rule drained out all the creative thinking, human energies and national unity. Institutionalized violence and corruption bred fast under the disguise of martial law. Many observers of Pakistani politics will assert that Bhutto family with other accomplices in all the probabilities, seem to have arranged the plane crash of General Zia and other top brand of the military officials, once again changing the political landscape in favor of Bhutto family and installing Miss Benazir Bhutto to the throne. Perhaps, General Zia had some positive intentions but his professional discipline and limited intellectual and political foresight did not allow him to be conscious of the exit door. Would General Musharaf do it any differently?

IS GENERAL MUSHARAF A HOPE TO SECULARISTS OR AN INSULT TO ISLAMIC PAKISTAN?

More than seventy years ago, what Choudhary Rehmat Ali and his fellow students at Cambridge University wrote to the British Colonial Rulers, (” NOW OR NEVER, Are we to live or parish forever? 1933″), is very much applicable to all the self-preserved rulers of Pakistan including General Musharaf:

“Our brave but voiceless nation is being sacrificed on the altar of Hindu Nationalism not only by the non-Muslims, but to the lasting disgrace of Islam, by our own so called leaders, with reckless disregard to our future and in utter contempt of the teachings of history.”

General Musharaf is a committed secularist with no relationship to the Islamic ideology of Pakistan. America and India believe that Muslims are “terrorists.” Musharaf appears to be a facilitator for the American and Indian political agenda to manipulate the self-tailored power house.

Reason for General Musharaf”s rule are unknown, facts are known that he is not seen as a legitimate leader by any segment of the population. Knowing well his status-quo, the General discredits the educated Muslim Pakistanis as non-progressive and “extremists.” Aware of the perpetuated conflicts disguised as Islamic “terrorism” and emerging contradictions of the Afghanistan war, the nation seems trapped under General Pervaiz Musharaf for some time to come. Musharaf is not a leader but a military General and an accidental President for the name and fame game. He is a committed secularist lacking basic know-how of Islam and appears no different in thoughts and practices than any of his failed predecessors. They manufacture the ENTRANCE into national life but do not know how to EXIT from the power house except by catastrophic ends for the country. Neo-colonialism is dead. A NEW THINKING for a NEW ISLAMIC VALUES based POLITICAL SYSTEM is needed if the national interest and survival of Pakistan are to be safeguarded. General Musharaf holds no vision, and by virtue of his professional background, appears incapable to offer any hope to the present or future generations of Pakistanis. Self-appointed military President and his collaborators are wasting time, resources and opportunities for change. Opportunities lost, are never regained. Musharaf and his associates entered the national scene through conflict and his strategy to survive depends heavily on conflict making and conflict-keeping. After two decades, history once again facilitated a major crisis in Afghanistan to General Musharaf as it did to General Zia ul Haq. Both will share a common record to have used it for their own survival and extension of the power base. America will impose its dictate to utilize Musharaf and his collaborators to eradicate Islamic values and influence from this region. Osama Bin Laden and Talaban are the readily available myths and stunts which are being used by the Western world and the Americans in particular, to check and stop the popular Islamic evolution for a future state. An extended opportunity is there for American military strategists to control Pakistan ‘s nuclear weapon capability and to pave the way for political colonization of the region and to extend to India a superiority in nuclear weaponry. American leadership will never dare to question the Indian strategic upper hand vis a-vis the real Pakistani stance. India shares democratic institutions and values with the West, and Americans are aware of the inherent limitations, what they can tell to Indian political leadership. Pakistan’s body politics consists of fractured bones and dry skeleton, with all its lifeline and energies sucked by a coalition of military-political corrupted rulers over the four decades. In a society with “no system” as a system, and one man rule, all powerful foreign forces can dictate their interests at best. To date, Musharaf has proven to be a committed subservient to both America and India as far as the national interests of Pakistan are concerned.. In sharp contrast to General Zia, Musharaf appears enthusiastic to follow the Indian and American foreign policy agenda on Kashmir, regional security and more so, on Islamic militancy and Islamic propagation activities in the region. India and America believe that “Islam breeds terrorism” and freedom fighters in Kashmir, the Middle East and elsewhere are seen as terrorists. This policy agenda has been assigned to Musharaf to wage a proxy war within Pakistan. In view of the complex and important global developments with direct impacts on Pakistan, the nation needs an intelligent and educated Muslim leader, certainly not a “stupid Musharaf.” Pakistani masses deserve to have new political institutions and reason for optimism with Islamically responsible leadership from the young and educated generation. Pakistan cannot be reformed by the logic of military power, but its social and political fabric can be reconstructed by educated and visionary young leadership, Islamic values, power of logic, and restoration of institutionalized social and political justice to the people. Could the military dictators ever THINK of the goodness of the masses as their top priority? For political correctness, time and opportunities do not wait for anybody. Time and history favor those who hold vision and are honest and accountable within a functional system of the state. Under the Generals, there is NO SYSTEM, except the Generals. General Musharaf could argue that he saved Pakistan from economic bankruptcy and political mismanagement. After a planned surrender to India in East Pakistan, Yahya Khan was ready to defend his continued Presidency and Zulfikar Bhutto claimed to have ensured the integrity of remaining Pakistan. Zial ul Haq used the same scenario to extend his Presidency. General Musharaf’s motives were well known and any systematic change was not part of his thinking process. He grabbed power to check the society-wide corruption and hold Sharifs and Bhuttos accountable for their crimes and redress the national grievances, but in reality, Gen Musharaf preferred compromises and personal adaptability over the national interests and priorities. He attempted to discredit Bhutto and Sharif but now seems to follow their blueprint to foster disharmony and conflict within the nation. Who could dare to question General Musharaf while in power, he is not yet fully proven traitor or anti-Islamic protagonist because he claims divine authority and claims that “people love him.” His self ascendancy to the Pakistani Presidency and 130% salary increment complemented by a comprehensive retirement package, that is not considered against the spirit of the Law, because Musharaf is the Law and order of the day. The statistical data so far available confirms that he is an ignorant and greedy General, and such characteristics of the Pakistani leaders are not forbidden under the Pakistani laws in a lawless culture. He refers to the 1973 Constitution of Bhutto era and could well articulate a strategic argument that his rapprochement was based on necessity, not intended submission to American and Indian political agenda but to safeguard the integrity of the ‘remaining Pakistan” as did Bhutto in 1971. After all, ignorance and treachery are not defined by the 1973 Bhutto’s era Constitution, therefore, it may be adopted by the Cabinet as perfectly common legal stipulations and working moral and political norms to substantiate Musharaf’s Presidency. General Musharaf lost the opporunities he had to do good for the nation. Once Winston Churchilll observed:

“the pessimist sees the difficulty in every opporunity. The optimist, the opporunity in every difficulty.”

The nation will mourn the loss of time and opportunities for change, only after General Musharaf is either replaced, killed or exiled.

IN SEARCH OF CHANGE

“ALLAH DOES NOT CHANGE THE CONDITIONS OF PEOPLE UNLESS FIRST THEY CHANGE THEMSELVES.” – (Al-Qur’an: Surah Al-Raad).

Islam views change as an essential component of human development, material and spiritual progress and success but this precept either has been ignored completely in Muslim national politics and behaviors, or its importance and relevance to the contemporary world is left to conjecture and indecisiveness. To nations eager to foster societal development, change is seen as a lifeline goal for futuristic development, productivity and success. Pakistani nation was deprived of this goal by its leaders and neo-colonial system of government. Military establishment is a fixed institution with “do or die” mission to follow. Armed forces cannot promote human change, social order or moral and political development and national integration. They lack knowledge, qualities and abilities to play such a role in national life. Pakistani nation and its armed forces have lost more than forty years in this dilemma of ‘change.’ By forgetting past, future cannot be built. General Musharaf orchestrated change to manipulate his own gains over the national interest. Facts and reasons appear undeniable to assume that he is a person of dubious ideologies and character. A person cannot be detached as a factor from his real-world functional role-play. His capabilities do not include a proactive “vision” for the nation building. A General, who thinks ‘terrorism’ emanates from Islam and sees Muslims as ‘backward’ and creatures of ‘darkness’ vis-à-vis modern scientific and technological advancements, is surely out of mind and out of touch with the real world affairs. In view of his recent public pronouncements, he may be characterized as an ignorant General, misfit to be a leader of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Given his coercive policy behavior and anti-Islamic actions, he is undermining the public interest of the Muslim nation by degenerating its time and resources to the dictates and priorities of the Western Masters. His collaboration with India and the US on the so called ‘terrorism’ cleansing movements, and war in Afghanistan, clearly suggest his motives for anti-Pakistan and anti-Islamic agenda. After all, General Yahya and Bhutto had surrendered to India in East Pakistan in 1971, to stay in power. Pakistani nation must be alarmed to think and realize where it is heading to? Under Musharaf, issue of Kashmir has been jeopardized and its support against Indian atrocities and occupation of the main valley, has been scaled down by disbanding the intelligence cells and providing India with confidential security data and cooperation. While the nation worries about ‘change’ from the axis of political evils, Musharaf has helped to reclassify the freedom fighters as “militants” and “terrorists.” Military myth of effective leadership is alive, ‘change’ is dead. Would “change” come out of the nowhere? Or would it emerg out of the planned thoughts, strategies and pursuit of actions for a different Pakistan under the new, educated and honest leadership of young generation?

DO SOME OF THE PAKISTANI GENERALS FOLLOW THE AMERICAN AND INDIAN POLICY AGENDA?

Military institutions do not produce leaders to build a nation out of the ruins. The nation must evolve the leadership from within its own social, political and intellectual institutions and values. Pakistani military is not an institution built on the Islamic value system, but a secularist establishment and a by-product of the British colonial history, it is obedient to the Master, not a revulsion against the colonial domination. Who could challenge the overwhelming power house of American and Indian political and economic domination of the Pakistani nation? The Generals lacking conventional wisdom and self-respect are busy begging America and India to consider leniency in economic and political issues. New generations of educated Pakistanis are the only legitimate hope for survival and political integrity of the nation. True leadership can only be expected if a new system of political institutions was evolved to undo the old and obsolete ones. How could a new system be developed out of the existing NO System –” that is , the military rule by General Musharaf? General Musharaf and his commanders MUST surrender to the will of the people and the ideal of an Islamic state, in waiting to be formed. How could a General be an object of hope to a nation for future-building whose precious Time and History were robbed by the same people? General Musharaf greatest virtue is his inconsistency, what he believes and what he does. Ms. Bhutto called his nation ” crazy people”, and General Musharaf identified them ‘radical” and ‘ extremists’, devoid of scientific progress. The position occupied by General Musharaf carries no substance of legitimacy in a system of national affairs. Any General (known or unknown), could adventure into a kingdom of utopianism. History of Pakistan under the fifty or so years of military rule is a history of time and resources lost to the wild, but the Generals are not held accountabe for their crimes against the nation. Some used crisis, others made Islam a scapegoat to retain egoistic power base. Military rule ads a new corrupted institution to the flourishing corrupted politicking of a Muslim nation. The General have left the pages of history blank as elsewhere in the world causing death and destruction to life, hopes and infrastructures. General Mush and his associates are devoid of any constructive inputs to the remaking of the nation for the 21st century. The continued military rule extends an open offer to rival India for increased influence and control over the nerve center of the Pakistani body. Problems are not solved, but envisaged to extend the military governance. However, if future is to be envisaged, educated classes of Pakistani nation, can and will assume important role of nation-building – a nation whose institutions were dismantled by its own military and political elite, mostly aligned to the BRITISH COLONIAL TRADITIONS. The new generation must reject ignorance, opportunism and exploitation as the rule of the game to run Pakistan.

Under General Mushraf , Pakistan enjoys a wide range culture of failure, corruption and defeat leading into the future. A new hope and opportunity could emerge, if General Musharaf and his associates commanders would retreat to their barracks and are held accountable to the nation. Future is always an extension of the present. If General Musharaf and his perpetuated ignorance has disbanded the prospect for a sustainable economic and political future, would a promising future grow out of the nowhere?

HOW TO MAKE SENSE OUT OF NONSENSE? NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AT WORK FOR DEMOCRACY

“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”: Albert Einstein

Year has gone by, the National Parliament remains a theatre of the absurd. With military dictatorship at the top, a National Assembly is at work with the mockery of lost opportunities and systematic exploitation of the national resources, unable to decide whether the LFO (Legal Framework Order) of General Musharaf is the most important item for discussions and demonstrations or the value of a planned agenda for the reconstruction of the nation to tackle the most formidable challenges of the 21 century. It is a stage for political pretenders who are power hungry, intellectually naive and functionally handicapped members of the National Assembly. Could most of the egoistically retarded MNA’s think positively of a nation whose moral and intellectual resources have long been stolen by the military dictators? Islamists representing several politically odd groups, could not possibly agree if they see Islam as a priority for system action to be taken or the Generals to share the power apparatus with. All the long bearded leaders of contending Islamic establishments and some distinguished mullahs eagerly tried and waited if Gen. Musharaf would take them in for power sharing. They did nothing important or relevant to the interests of the nation for which they claimed to have stood for. Would they be accountable to the nation for their role and performance at the national assembly? Manipulative dictator has managed to screw down the MMA and other opposition reps to accept a deal for power sharing and allow the General to be President for some time to come. The dummy parliament will now elect the President after the fact of the referendum, and to show to visiting Indian PM Vajpayee and other leaders soon to be in Islambad for SAARC gathering that General Mush has some legitimacy, at least in appearance. It was a last minute menuvering by the collaborators of the military to insult the intelligence of educated Pakistanis, most of whom are forbidden to return to their homeland and or not allowed to participate in the electoral process. Who is cheating, who? India has political institutions, and elected leaders, and she is determined to hold Kashmir against the will of the indigenous people regardless who rules Pakistan. The national and provincial assemblies are offering lifeline to General Mush for their own good, not for the interest of the people of Pakistan.

If the assemblies remained drum beaters as they appear to be, the Generals could conveniently claim the Martial Lies that Pakistan has democracy at work. The so called representative of the nation seem to rejoice the opportunities to deceive and be deceived during the recent life span of the assembly. All the Generals had agreed on one blue print of the assemblies to rule –” Assemblies which assembled the most uneducated and ignorant feudal lords to support the peter principle. They were not interested nor capable in dealing with the Present, and future-making was never part of their first thinking for the deprived nation. The assembly and the Generals are the reason for national misfortune, nonsensical outburst of self-preserved poltical cliches, and all their acts and agreements are nothing more than an escape from reality and barrier to change and future-making of the poor nation. Could such a dummy National Assembly facilitate any reason for optimism to the deprived nation? Dr. Noam Chomsky (The Chronicle of Dissent), must have given rational thought to the issue facing the Pakistani nation: how to change a corrupted society into a sustainable national entity?:

“If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there is a chance for you to contribute to make a better world. That is your choice.”

GENERAL MUSHARAF – A COLLABORATOR TO AMERICAN-INDIAN POLITICAL DECEPTION ON KASHMIR

Kashmir is an international dispute waiting to be resolved as originally discussed in 1949 at the United Nations and the Security Council’s Resolutions agreed upon with reference to human rights and a plebiscite to held under the UN auspices to ascertain the wishes of the people for their future. Decades over, the Indian political elite changed the global commitment on Kashmir and have referred to the ceasefire line (LOC) in Kashmir as a “working boundary.” Now, General Musharaf regime under the American pressure wants to discuss the Kashmir issue with India and have stunt the Pakistani masses by calling the LOC (Line of Control) as a” working boundary” –” a most inappropriate and under the International Law, an irrelevant point of reference to the Kashmir dispute. For long, Indian political strategists have agreed to discuss the Kashmir problem and offered to make the LOC as an international boundary between the two rivals. India administers the main Kashmir valley with extreme force of brutality and social-political persecution. Of course, India has strong political leadership and political institutions to think, discuss and formulate national policy consensus whereas Pakistanis have military Generals and nothing to compare with Indian intellectual foresights. Did Musharaf asked the nation for its inputs on Kashmir? India is self-sufficient in all its military hardware productions, Pakistan depends on foreign supplies; Indians have proactive strategic plans to achieve their short-long range goals , Pakistani Generals cannot deal with the onslaught of the present challenges posed by India, how could they THINK of the long terms national interests? Indian economy is not subject to the WORLD BANK COMMANDS, Pakistanis with 46 billion debt, are enslaved by the dictate of IMF and the World Bank and other Western financial institutions. There is no verifiable record to prove, how 46 billion dollars have been spent in Pakistan. The accountability is missing.

India has politically stable leaders, whereas, Pakistani Generals lack their own sense of legitimacy to hold public offices. India defeated Pak army in former East Pakistan, and she is capable to repeat the history. Pakistani Generals are hopelessly poor in recognizable professional merits and commitment to match the Indian military might and organization. In this age, nuclear arsenals are irrelevant as a practical deterrent. India has a history of political institutions and democratic traditions to claim public support and legitimacy in a global context, General Musharaf and his associates have no political rationale to claim any segment of legitimacy, inside and outside of Pakistan. Obviously, General Musharaf is part of the problem, not part of solution. Pakistani Generals deal with India from a position of weakness, not a position of strength. Unless General Musharaf and his military apparatus of the army rule is removed from the power, Pakistanis will continue to lose on all the fronts. American and India are the net beneficiary of the new and innovative military and political games orchestrated in southwest Asia. They have strategic leadership and goals with defined meaning and purpose, whereas Pakistanis have NONE except General Musharaf as a committed collaborator to undo an Islamic Pakistan.

HOW TO PLAN FOR ‘CHANGE’?

Leaders create leaders. They were not leaders but oppressors who used people’s mind as weapon to oppress them. Military Generals and the politicians belong to the dead past and cannot be seen as a hope for the future-building.

Discarding prevalent myths and professional wickedness, to plan and initiate the awareness scheme for systematic change of a neo-colonial obsessed culture; you will need educated, honest and young Pakistanis who are not part of the problem but may be viewed as part of the solution. Holding a referendum by General Mush under the military rule is not a free choice of political will and sense of freedom but a dictate of the authoritarian rule. It has negated reason and imposed wickedness as an aim of the self-created Presidency. To foster and indoctrinate a “solution-oriented” approach for change and reformation goal, General Musharaf MUST DO one or two of the following, if he has any rational sense of the leadership role and functional accountability to the Pakistani nation:

– Should organize a group of competent scholars to plan a new political system and develop new political institutions based on Islamic values, and then hold the elections under the new system and abide by its results. In this scenario, he can stay in power for one more year;

– Should quit the Presidency immediately, transfer the power to a non-political figure, and return to his original position in the armed forces;

– Should assume the role of a caretaker and install a non-partisan, a non-political national government to have a new institutionalized political system to be developed by a group experts and within one year organize elections for a new national assembly and government to follow.

A new ‘solution-oriented’ perception and a firm commitment to transform such a perception into living reality across the board will require a comprehensive vision, moral and political conscience, integrity and a deep commitment to the survival, development and advancement of Islamically democratic Pakistan.

– ‘Change’ is planned and organized as an institution of the Government and discipline of public life;

– New people of integrity to be responsible with wide range of knowledge and experience to create the awareness and need for change;

– Short and long terms Issues and problems are selected;

– Plans are formulated and priorities are determined;

– People with New Ideas, methods, strategies, courage and commitment to cope with the ‘change’ phenomenon, its development and practical implementation;

– People with different ideas are to encouraged to be active participants, not necessarily part of any conventional establishments such as armed forces or civil services;

– People who can see and analyze change and development activities and results in varied contexts and propositions for the good of masses;

– Action-oriented people who can show results within a given time frame and be accountable for their mission and tasks to the nation.

Any myth of ‘change’ coming out from the military-feudal lords axis will not translate into reality. Issues are complex and workable solution are few in a nation whose thinking and constructive talents have been robbed by the neo-colonialists. In a planned change and development scheme of things, you must evolve a conducive culture to integrate the individual mind into collective mind, One Thinking for the best of deprived and exploited nation. Deceitful behavior and inherit contradictions do not help to build a nation out of the moral and political ruins. Military Generals and their sponsored politicians belong to the past, and cannot be a hope for the future.

MARCH FOR ‘CHANGE’

“If Allah’s help is with you, nothing can overpower you.” – (Al-Quran: Surah Al-Imran).

“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” (Albert Einstein)

For decades, educated and the general masses under the corrupt leadership culture, preferred indifference to the national interest and futuristic integration of a diverse value-based nation. One wonders, why the common people were not on street when General Yahya Khan and Bhutto planned surrender to India in December 1971? What did Islam, people and democracy gained from a military defeat? Elections were held in one Pakistan, why the power was not transferred to Shaikh Mujib ur Rehman, the majority leader? Those leaders who orchestrated the national defeat such as Bhutto, General Yahya and other military commanders, why were they not held accountable and punished for their crimes against the integrity of the nation? Instead, Bhutto, Mujib and Yahya were rewarded by the defeated nation. Is it possible that the whole nation went banana in thoughts and practices? Pakistani Nation must bear the sole burden of guilt for its indifference. Such indifference to its ideology and national interests, could be translated as a ‘punishment from Allah.’ What lessons if any, did the Pakistani nation learn from these catastrophic tragedies?

Did people march on roads when Z.A. Bhutto rigged the elections or Sharifs, Ms. Bhutto and Zardaris looted the national treasures? Judgment stands loud and clear against the nation with lost opportunities and forty years of lifetime: a guilty nation that voted enthusiastically for Bhuttos, Sharifs, Zardaris and the Military Generals under the disguise of “democracy.” Could anyone return this lost time to the nation enabling her to change its future course of actions? Recently, Javed Chaudry (Zeropoint, Islamabad, 2000) noted: “living people move, dead people have no sense. Indifference is sufficient, it is a punishment from Allah.”

General Mush and his Assemblies are increasingly becoming a joke to the conscience of educated Pakistanis. The real question is, when would the masses be enlivened again for their thinking, concerns and priorities? Are they like eggs or chickens – easy to break, easy to kill? Why is it quiet on the nation front when the military leaders are committing heinous and unpardonable crimes against the common citizenry, Islam and its values? When would they be able to distinguish between the foes and friends within? When would they be organized and stand for Islam and Pakistan and nothing else? When would they be ready to ask for Allah’s help and truly Islamic Pakistan? Would they come out and rally peacefully in thousands, millions and millions to be HEARD LOUD and CLEAR in all parts of Pakistan and from all directions of the senses?

HOW TO ENVISION THE FUTURE OF A BESIEGED NATION?

Future is always an extension of the present and full of ironies. Accidental future brings confusion and chaos to further hopelessness and unpredictable consequences. Military leaders have little to do with societal reconstruction, future-making, political harmony and economic development. Obviously, Pakistanis have lost more than four decades under such an authoritarian rule. Every ruler must be seen by his behavior, not solely on the claims. Many impartial observer point out a naïve pro-military culture prevalent throughout the history of Pakistan. Armed forces are seen as a neo-colonial institution, kept in tact throughout this Islamic nation. Contemporary world appears to be impressed by strong cultural influences rather than purely political clichés. The politics of Pakistan, is a politics of the neo-colonialism, making new generation of educated and innovative people as undesirable and unwanted entries in a feudal lord dominated culture. Educated Pakistanis seem to have lost hope and respect in a nation created for their well being. One-track army THINKING and BEHAVIOR dominates all the major domains of Pakistani society. Modesty, the essence of Islam is missing, whereas “extremism” is flourishing to please and support the foreign masters. Musharaf and his collaborator Generals and so called national politicians are the exponent body of in-house manufactured “extremism” to maintain the power house for some time to come. Most Pakistanis intellectuals living in the West, believe that army’s ignorance of the socio-political world and occupational arrogance of public offices, have betrayed the national interest and strategic priorities of Pakistan. Masses have been sold by the rulers at the altar of global political dictum. Military occupation of public offices and Islamically oriented democratic norms cannot co-exist. Most respected Pakistani nuclear scientists are insulted and interrogated under false allegations by General Musharaf to please the American and Indian political strategists. Conscientious Pakistani intellectuals look for a balance in domestic and international policy viewpoints but such a balance criterion is absent under the indifferent military leadership. Musharaf, recently twice being targeted for assassination attempts, seem to have reaffirmed the notion that he can survive with the logic of power, not knowing that the world maintains balance on the power of logic. There is no sustainable system of government to run a nation with the armed forces. If Musharaf is killed or ousted, what system is there to transfer the power to others in a systematic and peaceful manner? General Mushrafa has greed for power, no doubt, greed represents ignorance. General Mush deprived the nation of security and freedom –” both are lost. He staged a ONE MAN SHOW with cruel deception after the kargal (Kashmir) paradigm under PM Sharif, Gen. Mush must face the accountability for losing Kargal to India. With “no system” of the army rule, General Mush is leading a liability institution while creating the illusion of being an asset to the poverty-ridden corrupted societal culture of modern Pakistan. There is no functional mechanism of accountability to hold the Generals responsible for their continued arrogance and professionally defeated mentality. Only a planned change and reformation goal pursued with sincere commitment, could possibly show promising results. With military regime, supplemented by the old timers feudal lords, change would be hard to imagine as a feasible outcome. Most western democracies enjoy institutional settings to plan and implement change for futuristic goals.

In a chaotic society, military regimes are not the remedy but a recipe for conflict-making and conflict-keeping, and net failure in all domains of socio-political affairs. In Indo-Pak political context, Pakistanis are at great loss to be ruled by a military General, devoid of basic intellectual and political reasoning. With military command at the top, Pakistan have lost all the opportunities to reorganize its shaky infrastructure. Indian thinkers know under the military setup Pakistan will collapse. Military rule is a ready made recipe for major disasters to come.

1971 Pakistan, Bhutoo, General Yahya and Sheikh Mujib, all were collaborators to ensure the surrender of the Muslim nation to Hindus. Bhuttos wife and daughter again hit the Pakistan military and arranged killing of Gen. Zia ul Haq and 12 or more Pakistani elite Generals in a plane crash in August 1988 – the only route she could take to grab the power. Bhutto family is alleged to have sponsored many criminal groups inside the country to murder and loot the nation. Sharif family was no exception in this exploitation and national robberies. Now Mrs. Bhuto and Sharif are one, and the same kind. How have the Pakistanis benefited from these ‘axis of evils’? Nothing other than planned deception and treachery appear to be the major characteristics which at least Pakistanis must look at themselves for change and reformation.

America will buy people and things that can be used to advance their strategic interests and goals. Today, world is camouflaged by American-Zionist controlled media to achieve their strategic goals thru innovative games of ideas, what was unthinkable at battlefields.

Under General Mushraf both houses of the parliament and the composition of the government and opposition are a liability on an intelligent mind. Extremism is professed by the military generals, not by the masses. General Mushraf knew the entry door, he is not aware of the exit door. The recent talk on Kashmir is a discussion for borrowing time and opportunity and may be seen as a contemporary puzzle, India will never discuss the resolution of the Kashmir dispute unless Pakistan has a legitimate government representing the will of the people. There must be a institutionalized approach to reform and rebuild the political institutions and encourage new generation representatives to assume the leadership responsibility. Parliament and the Jamali government are weak indicators of a fragile society whose political institutions were disbanded by the continued military dictators.

Generals cannot reconstruct a corrupted society, people of knowledge and intelligence do. Are the Pakistan capable to bring about the change by expelling Gen. Mushraf and his collaborators, Bhuttos and Sharifs and Zardaris to no man’s land? If the futuristic Pakistanis want to think of a new and different socio-political values with stability, progress and strong Pakistan, they must think differently for a new Pakistan, free of the old guards, traditional mullahs, military dictators, Bhuttos Sharifs and Zardaries –” they all deserve a critical judgment from history.

Being emotional , Pakistanis have ignored the vitality of leadership issue. They seem more and more prisoners of the present without thinking for a new and different future. They simply comply and align with those who are their foremost enemies –” the list is lengthy and terribly painful to any conscientious observer believing in an Islamic Pakistan.

A “no system” imposed by the army elite under General Musharaf, is to foster ignorance and rule by arrogance with the unprofessed aim of subjugating the freedom and security of Pakistan, paving ways for continued neo-colonial domination of the Muslim nation.

Will the masses continue to tolerate Gen. Mushraf for some time to come?

How would Gen. Mushraf and his collaborations leave the Power House? Is there any systematic mechanism for the peaceful transfer of power to the educated and responsible generation of Pakistanis?

With American history of conflict making a conflict-keeping, would Gen. Mushraf meet the same fate as of Saddam Hussain? Time and history wait for nobody , unless honest and courageous people are dedicated to change and reformation objective, Pakistani nation must give an acceptable explanation to history, why it was an accomplice to have lost more than forty years of precious time and opportunities for change and development?

Time and opportunities lost, are never regained.