Kamran Shafi

The writer is a retired army officer and a freelance columnist

kshafi1@yahoo.com.uk

So then, the "soft" country of Pakistan is going to have elections in October this year, come hell or high water. The NRB is "looking" at the Constitution to see what parts of it should be changed; certain politicians are going to be kept out of the election for "corruption", others so charged and equally guilty at the bar of public opinion are to be allowed to participate. And, while the elections are still eight months away, the names of the possible Prime Ministerial candidates are being leaked to the press to gauge "public opinion", as if public opinion matters a jot to the powers that be. Baby Zia, aka Ijaz ul Haq (O' Allah Ji, save us), one of the two sons of former generals who still has to explain the source of his great wealth (this one wasn't even an Actuary! like the other one) is one of them.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, ie, on the streets and in the fields of Pakistan, criminals, petty thieves, car-jackers, kidnappers and murderers are having a field day. In two short days this week, 59 motor vehicles were "lifted" (as the police in our country refer to car theft) in Karachi; three Shias, prominent citizens, were murdered in cold blood, and fifteen homes were looted. This is no reflection on my friend Asad Jehangir, one of the best police officers ever, who has only very recently taken over as chief of the city's police; it has everything to do with the fact that Pakistan is a "soft" State, Karachi being its under-belly and therefore the softest part of it.

In the rural areas (fashionably called "the interior" as if one were talking about the deepest depths of the Amazon jungle) of Sindh, the good old dacoits are back on duty, being run openly by their godfathers the patharidars, the feudals: kidnapping, looting, doing whatever they feel like doing whenever they feel like doing it. In the Punjab, every day brings more news of murder and mayhem: five people, all Mafiosi in their own right, in Gujrat one day; a police official in Jhang on another. Highwaymen are abroad, as are the thieves, "lifting" any and every loot that comes their way: chickens, cattle, tractors - you name it.

The less said about the Frontier and Balochistan the better, for there the flaccid let alone "soft", State of Pakistan is the most helpless. The tribals and their henchmen the political wallahs rule the roost, giving sanctuary to whomever they please - for a consideration of course, be they fugitives from Pakistani law (is there any such animal at all?), or fugitives from Afghanistan et al.

This is not all. Save the GT Road between Rawalpindi and Peshawar, and the Motorway, our roads are as chaotic as ever. Our buses are as unsafe; pressure horns blare away in direct contravention of the law; the police is as unhelpful and criminal as it always was; and whilst there are some few exceptions, government officers from the Patwari on up to Secretaries Bahadur of the Federal government are as mendacious and inefficient and arrogant as they always were. "Passing the time", as we South Asians say, and looking out for their own interest is what they do best. The holed ship of the state of Pakistan, seething in turmoil and unrest and unlawful activity and hate is becalmed in treacherous waters, the wind out of its sails, water gushing in fore and aft. In other words, the President of Pakistan and Mein General, Pervez Musharraf, is absolutely right: our country is a "soft" country.

But elections we must have, even if they will spell the end of it. For it will spell the end of it, if the present political engineering goes on discriminating between the smaller provinces and mine, the Punjab. Elections we must have even if the military government itself says it has failed to deliver (for what else is the "soft" state, please?). Caution sirs, caution please.

And now for the Constitution, which is about to be given the healing touch by the NRB. Many moons ago, much before the time that the NRB unveiled its disastrous local government hodgepodge, khicchri in the vernacular, I was one of those saying that there is nothing in the world wrong with any of our laws and rules and regulations governing the conduct of government servants, say. That what was wrong was that the laws and rules and regulations had not been applied across the board and in a fair manner, that they were selectively applied according to the lights of the Establishment, its favourites being treated in one way, those it perceived to be its detractors in another. I say that again in respect to our Constitution. It is a perfectly good Constitution, agreed to by all the federating units of Pakistan. The only change that needs to be made is to remove all the amendments made in it since 1973. That is all.

How then will President Musharraf stay on as a powerful President people may well ask. If, only if, he ensures the application of the writ of the state; if, only if, he would demand of his ministers and governors to deliver on pain of dismissal; if, only if, he would pick up the big stick (God, how many times must I say this?) and apply it to all who deserve a knock on the head; if, only if, he lifts himself way above the political fray, Musharraf can stand and win any election for President. There is no need for a person in his powerful position to be seen to be making deals with those who have so destroyed our country, among them the PML (L) of the Gujrat Mafia. As I have said before, this man can give us a New Deal. Will he?

Be that as it may, what gives the NRB the authority to tinker around with a set of rules freely chosen by the representatives of the people of Pakistan, elected mark you, in the fairest election ever held in this country? Caution sirs, caution.

And in yet another great political leap forward, Chaudhries Shujaat Hussain and Pervez Elahi met our General yet again. What the pair said after the meeting was interesting. "General Musharraf has assured us that the Islamic provisions in the Constitution will not be amended" or words to that effect. Meaning of course that had the two not met and dissuaded him, Musharraf would have gone and done the wrong thing! Who listens, who cares?