Regressing into 2022

For a government that had apparently failed to establish its writ in the face of a religious political outfit’s violent extremism eight weeks ago, it was certainly an act of determination to formulate the National Security Policy in the last week of the departing year.

Just as the details of the secret deal that was made between the government and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have not yet been officially revealed, the final document of the National Security Policy was not readily shared publicly. This, we are told, will be done at a later stage. Also, it was not born of a debate in parliament or open deliberations at any academic or intellectual level in the country.

Nevertheless, the National Security Policy approved by the National Security Committee on Monday has put economic stability at the core of comprehensive national security. The five-year policy document (2022-26) sets out the state’s national security vision and is meant to guide the government’s foreign, defence and economic policies and decision-making.

So, would this be one of this government’s New Year resolutions – to set its national security house in order? Ah, but New Year resolutions are generally not easy to keep. Besides, we have ample evidence of what the party in power did to the promises it had made.

We do not know what will change for Pakistan when it shifts its strategic direction to confront the reality of geo-economics. This is not the occasion to think through this matter. There will be many questions to ponder and one of them would be the compelling option of doing trade with India – something that Nawaz Sharif had wanted and others vehemently did not.

In any case, the focus at this time, when we are stepping into another year, is very much on the state of the country’s economy in the specific context of how it affects the lives of ordinary citizens. This New Year’s arrival is marked by the political thunder of the ‘mini-budget’. The Finance Supplementary Bill (2021) and the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021 were presented in the National Assembly on Thursday in the midst of an expected torrent of protest by the opposition.

What the government is obliged to do to meet stringent IMF conditions is bound to raise a lot of political heat and dust. It is verily a bombshell, and its tremors will be felt in the coming days of 2022. And all this is coinciding with a new surge in political uncertainty. There is talk, loud and in whispers, about the vulnerability of the present arrangement and about a possible ‘deal’ that would allow Nawaz Sharif to return to Pakistan and play his role in the revised script of the play.

This means that suspense is building up. Will 2022 be a year of change? Or will it be more of the same? There is this ritualistic drill on how the New Year is celebrated, with fireworks and parties and New Year messages. The media whips up some excitement with multiple stories about what was significant in the previous year. In addition to year-enders, there are conjectures of what could happen in the coming year. Astrologers and soothsayers are invited on news channels to predict the future. But I wonder if there is even the freedom of prophecy in Pakistan.

This year, there is little cheer in the environment. We have survived a treacherous year of the pandemic and financial difficulties. A large number of families have suffered the loss of their dear ones. Mental health has emerged as a major issue. For most of us, this is a time to self-reflect and find ways to keep our spirits high. Meditation and mindfulness are widely prescribed. It is highly discouraging that the pandemic is still there and the new variant that has played havoc in many countries is also posing a threat to us.

Speaking about the Pakistani society as an entity, one may imagine it to be in a poor state of mental health. While the passage of time, underlined by the arrival of a New Year, signifies a forward movement we seem to be regressing, going backwards. A careful analysis of national developments and policy initiatives of the present government would show that forces of extremism, obscurantism and bigotry have continued to thrive.

What is worse is that in some areas, the present government, reflecting the ideological bent of Imran Khan’s mind, is promoting conservative and patently illiberal ideas. In 2021, the Single National Curriculum served as an example of how our education system is being redesigned in a manner that it would provide little scope for critical thinking and creativity and would encourage rote learning. Incidentally, the Punjab chief minister has this week approved the appointment of 70,000 Arabic teachers for all the schools of the province.

When the Afghan Taliban marched into Kabul on August 15, their victory was applauded by Imran Khan who said that they had broken “the shackles of slavery”. Even more worrying was his veiled defence of the Afghan Taliban’s concept of human rights and women’s rights. In his OIC speech in Islamabad in early December, he suggested that fundamental human rights can be compromised for cultural reasons.

Though the government has taken the lynching of a Sri Lankan citizen by a mob in Sialkot very seriously, there are no signs of any planned suppression of the passions that were invested in that ghastly incident. As I indicated at the outset, the violent extremism of the TLP was not only condoned but an opportunity was provided to the religious extremists to participate in mainstream politics as well.

Finally, let’s look at the political spectacle of how the ruling party of Imran Khan suffered a loss in the first phase of local body elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It provided much solace to the opposition parties, including the PML-N and the PPP. But the PTI was toppled by JUI-F, a religious party that has sympathy for the Taliban. Do you have any doubt about which way the wind is blowing?

The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail. com