State of crises

Through its history Pakistan has seen many crises. These range from military takeovers beginning in the 1950s to wars and civil unrest of various kinds. But at the current moment many analysts agree that no crisis, not even the events of 1971 which split the country apart, or those of 1977 which eventually ended in an elected ruler being hanged, are as critical as the situation the country faces today. It has grown deeper with the recent Supreme Court verdict on the elections in Punjab.

The crises are at several different fronts. We have a political crisis, which of course is visible to most of us in the sense that there are few leaders people trust and even fewer who people feel have the ability to lead the nation successfully out of its troubles. We have a completely polarized political setup with leaders not even willing to talk to each other. We have an institutional crisis with the executive unwilling to trust the judiciary and many questions cast over the role of the judiciary, most lately with the bench set up to discuss elections in two provinces.

The economic crisis is of course visible to everyone and felt by almost each and every citizen in the country. As a result, we not only have soaring inflation with food prices hitting an all-time record for inflation over the last month, but also a situation where people, desperate to obtain flour and in some cases other items being distributed by the government, have literally been killed in stampedes because the collection centres are so poorly organized and private organizations have sometimes been allowed to give out food without having the means to manage the distribution. Tragically, most often it is women, children and the elderly who die in these stampedes because they are less able to protect themselves.

And then we have a crisis involving not only the role of the armed forces and the recent questions about the establishment raised mainly by Imran Khan, but giving voice to the thoughts of others. But chiefly there is a security crisis created by the presence of armed militant groups in the country who are attacking targets mainly across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with security personnel apparently their chief aim for the present time.

The question now for us is whether the state has the capacity to deal with these multiple crises and the others that come related to them. There is no evidence that it does. In the first place, we do not even have a willingness on the part of political parties to come together on the most basic common agenda, such as an agreement that the constitution would be followed and that every party would make an effort to ensure that this happens.

This situation means we essentially have a complete breakdown of law and order. And when this happens it can mean only anarchy and mayhem for people everywhere across the land as well as a severe sense of uncertainty which has already led to tens of thousands of people leaving the country in the belief that there can be no future within it. This is extremely sad. Even sadder is the fate of those who leave the country illegally and die in boats off shores in Europe or the Middle East while trying to escape their fate in a country which seems to have no place for them.

The situation leaves one wondering how it can be sorted out. In the first part it is important that key players come together to play a more positive role than has been the case so far. These include clerics and other senior politicians who still have some standing regardless of party alliance. It is true that we do not have many such leaders left with the death of men like Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan and Asghar Khan. But there are still those who do have a voice of some respect and can try and make these voices heard so that political parties recognize the desperate need to end the mayhem and at least agree on a basic plan to move forward.

If we do not move forward, there can be no real hope for a country stuck in limbo and in perpetual crisis. We have all heard 'nazuk mor' used many times in the past – and we hear it again today. Pakistan has survived these ‘delicate’ points in its past. Can it do so again? This can happen only if politicians from all sides of the divide show greater responsibility.

The second requirement is that all institutions stick strictly to their constitutional roles and do not attempt to meander beyond them. This has been happening time and time again and the issue of suo-motu notices taken by the superior courts has already been pointed out by senior judges as well as others in the legal field. At the same time, the question of leadership within the parties has to be worked out in some fashion that is acceptable to people.

It is true the PTI has worked up a huge following for itself based essentially on the vote from younger people and the cult-like personality of Imran Khan. But there are still votes for other parties, at least within various provinces. In some ways it is also a crisis that the provinces are so separated that we can easily say who holds sway within which province. The sense of a national, complete identity which should make up a nation, has apparently vanished. This is not a good amen.

Things need to change, and this must happen without intervention from any outside force. We all know which forces have intervened before and what the results have been. In each case, the crisis has deepened as a result of these interventions. The situation people face today, with more and more turning to bicycles rather than motorcycles and to motorcycles rather than cars, suggests that people are feeling the weight of the crisis, this time perhaps more than ever before. Of course, it is true that the inflation is in part a result of international inflationary trends. But it is also a part of economic mismanagement through most of Pakistan's seven decades of existence, and most recently by its current finance minister.

The childish efforts to sabotage deals with the IIMF only hurt the country and its people further. There is no space left for any more games. The crises all need to be solved so that people can live lives of some dignity and have some hope in the future of a country with plenty of resources but apparently not enough will and commitment to make it a place worth living in for its people.

The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor. She can

be reached at:

kamilahyat@hotmail.com