Hey Pakistan .. just turn the page and carry on

[Zainab_M]

Salaams folks.  This is an older article dated Jan.12, 2008 that I had written for Naseeb.  Somehow it was missed being posted here at MV .. don't know how.  But better late than never.


Hey Pakistan .. just turn the page and carry on

Before talking of Benazir Bhutto, let's discuss Pakistan in brief.

As anyone would know, the social system in Pakistan has numerous drawbacks with many root causes for injustice .. two of the most deplorable of all being the prevalence of the feudal system and the situation of women.

Non-payment of agricultural tax in feudal Pakistan, a country that's 80% agricultural is solely responsible for crippling the economy and subsequently the suffering of the middle-class and poor.  All revenue is squeezed out from the urban areas and virtually nothing from rural lands.  Feudals don't pay taxes on their lands as per constitutional rules in Pakistan.  Amazing as it sounds, it's true.  Yes!  There's no agriculture tax in Pakistan despite the fact that Pakistan is an agricultural country, an aspect that never ceases to shock the world community.  What words have any of the politicians uttered as yet, inside and outside the Parliament to discontinue the feudal system and imposition of taxes on the rich for the benefit of the middle-class and poor?  None.  That's because the feudals, who always constitute a big majority in the Parliament won't pass any bills that would threaten to impose taxes on their assets.

Besides, the feudal culture of absolute power has introduced slavery and child labor in the rural areas of the entire country. It's even more shameful than the standard poverty we see throughout the third world at large.

The curse of fuedalism has made every election a farce in Pakistan.  No matter how 'freely and fairly' it's  conducted, those millions of farmers and peasants working for the feudal lords hardly know the significance of an election .. let alone Democracy.  The feudals have intentionally promoted illiteracy and ignorance in the rural areas to retain the complete dependency of the rural working class on the all-powerful landowners.  Moreover, as already stated, the working class in the villages of Pakistan consist of virtual modern-day slaves of the feudals.  They dare not cast their votes against the selected candidates of their feudal masters. 

If the West is truly interested in introducing Democracy in Pakistan, first and foremost, they should absolutely insist on the abolition of this medieval system.  If sanctions can be clamped on Iran for unnecessary reasons as we've seen, Pakistan ought to be totally ostracized for still retaining the feudal laws, a gift graciously bestowed by her former British masters.   

The discriminatory culture toward women is just too rampant to describe. Some of the most shocking laws against women in Pakistan today are:

(i) Divorce rules that favor men entirely, in that, men are not obligated to give even a nickel as financial compensation to their divorced wives.

(ii) A glaringly anti-Islamic law where women are expected to pay the entire dowry instead of men taking this obligation totally. It's led to the commercialization of the institution of marriage in the most deplorable ways and awful financial pressure on women and their families.  Needless to say, this practice of women paying the dowry is a purely Hindu custom which those in Pakistan claiming to be 'Muslims' have borrowed from the Indian society to protect male interest.  Shameful! 

(iii) Another strikingly un-Quraanic law introduced by the clergy in the name of Sharia that prevails high & mighty in Pakistan is accusing women of adultery with a jail term who are actually suffering the trauma of rape or even gang rape.

To be a successful politician never think that you need to be a great political scientist!  You simply need to be unconscientious enough to handle a duel personality successfully.  Just keep your campaign or political rhetorics separate from the 'secret manifesto' you intend to implement.  Politics maybe a dirty game worldwide.  But in Pakistan the stench of the political game is probably more repugnant than in most other places.  Every politician talks big prior to coming in power yet no one has refrained to show their true colors after acquiring power.

Choosing between the two, it would be wiser to pick the right man coming in the wrong way than picking the wrong man coming the right way.  Having said that, I admit 'Mushocracy' doesn't quite contain the "right man" and it isn't as pleasing as Democracy, but it's preferable to 'Idiosyncrasy' and 'Kleptocracy' that carry the greatest responsibility for ravaging Pakistan.

Now coming on the issue of poor BB and her doomed fate blamed by many on her own foolhardiness ..

'Much ado about nothing' feels great in a cozy & noisy living-room tete-a-tete, but is just as useless as enjoyable. It's about time we closed a worthless chapter and looked ahead, hoping for a better future .. though that looks just as murky.

Nonetheless, reality is reality. It has its own irreplaceable precious worth.

The image of Benazir Bhutto gave constant hope to many Pakistani women as a source for improving women's rights within the country. But this was just a fantasy never realised. Ms. Bhutto's image as a 'savior' of women in Pakistan originated from the fact that she was biologically a woman. Nothing beyond that. Unfortunately she never cared a rat's bottom for the condition of women in Pakistan. On the contrary, she did some very horrible things to certain women e.g. the Veena Hayat case. Like the rest of them, her only concern was power & money and to preserve her 'dynasty' within her immediate family.

I wonder if I can compliment the Pakistani people as being incredibly forgiving with short and shallow memories. Till the last day of her life, Ms. Bhutto had the reputation of the most corrupt politician in the world. A huge chunk of Musharaf's falling popularity went with making a 'deal' with someone like her for the purpose of providing a window-dressing to democracy. That frighteningly corrupt image took the quickest U-turn I've ever seen, changing into 'martyrdom' in minutes. Looking at the extent of violence and destruction, it makes me wonder if such a reaction by the people is really an expression of love for their leader or simply a means to release pent-up frustration created by the poor quality of their lives. Burning offices, banks, cars and trains and looting shops ... what's all this got to do with love?  If demonstrating love for your leader means vandalising your country, that sort of 'love' is better lost than preserved.  No wonder it cooled off just as abruptly as it stirred up.

But what really threw me off my chair was the news that came 3 days later. Ms. Bhutto's 19-year-old son reads her 'will' asserting that he's the symbolic leader of the party and his notorious father, the de facto leader. I'm sure even the Mohawk tribe of North America had a better system of choosing a successor 600 years ago. I was under the impression that in a democracy a party leader was selected by the votes of the delegates, not by writing a 'will.' I wonder why the West never pointed a finger at this. The so-called Peoples' Party of Pakistan has thousands of members & activitists across the country. Not a single one of them expressed the slightest displeasure. This is what happens in a feudal atmosphere. The subjects develop slavish instincts that evolves from generation to generation. Then there comes a point when the weak look upon themselves with disdain, believing proudly & firmly that they're born to be violated by their masters. Should Ms. Bhutto's husband, Mr. A. Zardari, ever become the country's prime minister (Allah Forbid), analogically that would be much the same as handing over the key of your safety deposit box to the most celebrated thief in your town. He plundered the country so ruthlessly that when Benazir Bhutto was sacked on charges of unprecedented corruption in 1996, Pakistan's foreign reserves were barely $ 1 billion. When Nawaz Sharif succeed Bhutto in February 1997, the molestation of the national treasury continued. When he was sacked on similar charges of corruption in 1999, the foreign reserves plummeted below $ 1 billion, along with strict economic sanctions imposed in May 1998 for carrying out the nuclear test.   It's a miracle how the country survived through that kind of shattered economy. 

Ms. Bhutto's 'will' of appointing her husband as her successor isn't a personal issue. It affects an entire nation. If the political institution of Pakistan has a shred of sincerity and nationalism (which I seriously doubt), all other political parties should put aside their differences (at least for the time being), unite and contest the acceptability and legality of such a 'will' in a court of law.

As usual, even from her grave, Benazir Bhutto has squandered the 3 days of tributes showered upon her just as she squandered her entire political career and the goodwill of the people through massive corruption & a chain of unethical activities during her lifetime.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Good read.  It seems that Zardari won't be PM, I mean he purposely won't opt to be PM.  He knows he is too dubious with a reputation that's too negative.  But I don't think that matters to him.  He doesn't look to be interested in being a policy maker anyway.  His only goal is to be able to meddle with the country's finances.  He can actually do that much better without being PM and thus without an official portfolio, only using his unofficial portfolio.  In the lifetime of his wife he went haywire only by taking advantage that he was the PM's husband.  Now he can enjoy exactly the same benefits through the sympathy of the PPP by being known as BB's widow and party successor.  If he's not occupying any important position within the govt., it will help to provide a thicker cover over his acts of corruption.  Whichever senior member of the PPP becomes PM will not stop AZ from doing whatever he wants to do.   AZ has got it goin his way once again ...

[N. Truth Seeker]

Great article sister!  I couldn't agree more with your thoughts.
 
And why must women pay for dowry in a Muslim country like Pakistan?  I'm shocked.

[Ruhi_Rose]

I'm no champion of Musharaf.  But I've seen and read so many analysts critisizing him .. and indeed he's made many mistakes like all others ... yet no one has yet come up with a proposed policy as an alternative or solution to his mistakes.  Musharaf's most talked about critisizm is his close ties with America in the war against terror.  Ok, I realize that too much of this can be offensive to the majority in Pakistan.  But after Bush made it clear that there's no middle field and "either you are with us or you are with the terrorists"  ... what is that secret policy which if implemented by a Pakistani leader could please both Bush and bin Laden and spare Pakistan of her present unrest?   Critics have come up with plenty of critisizm but none have come up with a broad alternative.   That's weird .. don't you think so?

[Zainab_M]

Sister Cat, your perception is brilliant.  AZ has benefited most from the Bhutto family, both before and after his wife's death.

 But after Bush made it clear that there's no middle field and "either you are with us or you are with the terrorists"  ... what is that secret policy which if implemented by a Pakistani leader could please both Bush and bin Laden and spare Pakistan of her present unrest?   Critics have come up with plenty of critisizm but none have come up with a broad alternative.   That's weird .. don't you think so?

Absolutely sister rose, I've myself thought of this many times.  There is actually no alternative, that's why no one has said it.  Critisizm has actually become a culture that's usually done for the heck of it instead of a definite and practical goal.  The performance of many modern day critics (though not all) is only a decorative art of journalism. 

And why must women pay for dowry in a Muslim country like Pakistan?  I'm shocked.

Well .. it's the usual thing.  The Muslim males of today follow Islam very selectively, only retaining those laws that don't hurt their interest.  But those Islamic laws that require men to work hard and make sacrifices are hidden in the closet.  So, all marriage expenses have been dumped on the woman.   Most shocking of all, no one seems to be bothered that by doing this the Noble Quraan is being completely violated.