Imperatives of bright future
Qazi Hussain Ahmad

Pakistan is trapped in utmost economic and political crisis. It desperately needs sincere, upright and courageous national leadership to steer the country out from prevalent mess. A cursory look on the country’s 58 years of history has proved it beyond doubt that civil and military bureaucracy and elite of Pakistan can not provide such leadership to Pakistan.

Ultimately, we have to resort to masses for bringing such leadership to the forefront and prepare the people for a mass movement. How can the masses be prompted to bring about a change in their destiny? Whether the nation possess the wish to change their fate or not? Answer to these questions lies in a fact that no nation can get to change unless it has wish to do so. Our national poet and great thinker Allama Mohammad Iqbal has termed the disappointment as decline of knowledge and enlightenment.

A political leadership with clear vision of future can only imbibe the hope and end prevalent disenchantment and fear among the masses. Sincere political workers should be cable of mobilizing their spirit in to the lot of masses because people would rally around the sincere leadership only and will enthusiastically take part in the drive. In order to achieve this objective, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan is striving to unite all opposition quarters on one platform and seeking to organize them for massive movement.

As a practical step, all political parties should form small groups of youthful public speakers to make brief speeches aimed at mobilizing the masses to take part in national level drive against the sitting military dictatorship. They should make the workers feel that the drive against the government is bound to succeed and not an iota of failure should be present there.

The success of movement also lies in the fact that the drive remains peaceful and within the confines of law and constitution. This will ensure national facet of the movement and help unite the entire nation on one agenda. The peaceful facet of this movement will plug against the propaganda of oppressive forces aiming at branding the movement as violent move and resort to using violent and unconstitutional means to crush this drive.  The floor of parliament will also be helpful in furthering the movement as time may come during the drive when relinquishing the membership of parliament will guarantee the success of movement. Until that time opposition should keep on representing the masses while remaining focused and united by depositing their resignations with the leadership. This will enable the respective opposition leaders to tender them on appropriate time. The Jamaat-e-Islami’s MPs have taken lead in this regard and hopefully other component parties of MMA and Alliance for Restoration of Democracy will follow the suit shortly.

With the announcement of General Pervez Musharraf re-election through the sitting assemblies, the military dictator wishes to add new chapter to his unconstitutional rule. The direct beneficiaries of this unconstitutional arrangement are out to support the humiliating demand of General Musharraf against all the norms of morality and law. All the well-wishers of Pakistan are bound to meet this open challenge. Regretfully, there are people in the ranks of opposition who feel comfortable with the secular and pro-American agenda of sitting rulers but they have temporarily compromised to enjoy partnership in the government for covering up their corruption and saving their skin. Such elements could not be trusted for the success of anti- government drive and opposition should spot them at the earliest.

Self-styled intellectuals and columnists speaking the language of treasury have been entrusted the task of creating doubts among the opposition parties and impeding their unity. Instead of exposing the dangers of autocratic rule in Pakistan these writers are busy in pointing fingers to the role of the MMA, PPPP and the PML (N) and misleading the people about these political parties so that masses get disenchanted with them. These lackeys of King’s party proudly equate democracy with that of dictatorship. People need to guard against them using all available resources.

There is no dearth of self-deceiving people who are pinning hope on the international quarters that they will pressurize sitting rulers to hold free, fair and transparent elections. The experience of local bodies’ election sufficiently denies the idea of free elections by the sitting rulers. People supporting the elections under Musharraf wish to become part of this unconstitutional, undemocratic and immoral set up so that they join hands with the foreign masters of sitting government and adopt the role of anti-people quarters working against the solidarity and sovereignty of the country. Patriot people are bound to expose such opportunists.

Islamabad is following a meek policy, on various fronts, under the US dictates. Foreign, education and fiscal policy dictates are coming from Washington and the Pakistan’s front line role in the American so called war on terror has multiplied the chances of foreign attack in our tribal areas. The imprudent use of military might in tribal and Balochistan areas has endangered the sovereignty of Pakistan. The situation warrants an immediate change of command in the country. The replacement of outgoing army general from the active politics with that of another uniformed leader will not bring about the requsite change in the country.

The real change will occur only when the masses will enthrone their own leadership enabling them to bring about the cherished changes. Likewise, judicature also needs a complete overhaul to ensure speedy justice to the aggrieved party. Revamp of country’s economic system should also be done in such a way that destitute and poor have priority right on the basic needs than luxuries of the rich. Moral education should form an integral part of uniformed education system in the country because this can ensure continuous progress towards glory.

This is high time for the patriotic politicians of Pakistan to come forward and perform their due role in nation building. They should lend a helping hand to make future of their countrymen brighter. We will take the people towards brighter future in the days to come.