The Chrysalis of Change

[stingingnettle]

The Chrysalis of Change

We usually expect to see a butterfly emerge from a chrysalis, this I guess is the nature of being a human. Sometimes we forget that a pupa can be harbouring a moth; a fabric-eating or crop-damaging pest that can make our lives hell. A few days back Raiwind palace hosted a meeting of like-minded politicians; present on the occasion were the Sharif brothers, Fazl ur Rehman, Syed Munawar Hasan, Talal Bughti and Mahmood Achakzai. They claimed to have come out in support of the democracy that was being threatened by the Tahir ul Qadri ‘dhrna’ of Islamabad.

To me and to a lot of Pakistanis, this meeting was akin to the emergence of Diamondback moths from the chrysalis of corruption and status quo. The fact that the grand muftis of an ultra-corrupt and politically incestuous past i.e. the Sharif brothers were hosting it was reason enough to dampen any hopes of honesty and truth. To hear Sharif brothers whine about protecting democracy and the constitution is like expecting the fictional character Hannibal Lecter professing his love for veggie burgers! Here is a simple question; would a highly corrupt individual be the president of Pakistan today without the direct help of the Sharif brothers?

Look back a few years to the moment when the Zardari ascended to the throne and remind yourself of the lovely faces who made the grand catastrophe possible. So Mr Sharif, was that too a constitutional move to protect democracy or was that collusion with a fellow crook based on the promise of the throne in a few years’ time? You cannot deny the love and camaraderie between crooks. So what about Shabaz Sharif?

Shabaz Sharif, who missed his true calling as second rate thespian, established a new low in standards when some months back he launched his infamous theatrical tirade against the Zardari – reciting (or rather desecrating) the poetry of one of my favourite poet, Habib Jalib whose life could not have been more different from the life of the Sharifs and the fruits of their loins. Shabaz led an embarrassed crowd with his ‘Go Zardari Go’ and other such demands. So a few days ago when the moment came to put his money where his mouth was; he suffered from a grave attack of amnesia thus allowing him to hold the present opinion that Zardari was a symbol of democracy and constitutionality and therefore needed to be protected. Munwar Hasan and Fazl ur Rehman stood next the Sharif brothers looking all holy and self-righteous drowning in the deafening cacophony of high hypocrisy.

Fazl ur Rehman can be forgiven for supporting this moth-ridden ‘democracy’ because he cannot have CBR look into the tax matters of the tax thieves within his party. The last thing he would want is for someone pull out the Cheema report and ask awkward questions. Fazl cannot multi-task and that has been evident for many decades; he cannot do anything for the people whilst too busy conniving to hold on to power and privilege. In the words of Anne Patterson, the former US ambassador to Pakistan (source: wikkileaks);

“Fazlur enjoys being courted by both Musharraf and Bhutto and sees himself increasingly in the lucrative position of being kingmaker, if not the next Prime Minister, because of JUI-F’s voter strength in what may be a three-way vote tie among Pakistan’s major parties. Even if JUI-F’s voter support drops, he has made it clear that, free and fair elections notwithstanding, his still significant number of votes are up for sale.”

Munawar Hasan’s lack of judgement is only a symptom of what ails JI and his decision to hang out with the ‘bad crowd’ is the clearest indication yet that JI Titanic has lost its helm and no one knows where to look for it. I feel sorry for all the well-meaning supporters of JI who do not seem to understand that the rot starts at the top and works its way down. Talal Bugti’s penchant for dishonesty and telling lies is evident from his recent statement that Nawaz Sharif was the only leader acceptable to the people of Baluchistan. This risible claim was made by a person who has little in common with the suffering of the people of Baluchistan and he certainly does not represent their views in even a remotely significant manner. Similarly Mahmood Achakzai’s action have never successfully hidden the fact that power and money seduces him better than any national interest. For a man who inherited the reigns of his party at the time of his father’s death makes him a natural ally for devout practitioners of nepotism such as the Sharifs.

The Islamabad long march was a great opportunity to see the true faces of all those parties that will be in action, contesting the national elections. The pressure on PTI was immense to make a belated union with TuQ and his revolution of “deadlines.” By choosing not to march with TuQ, initially it looked like PTI was missing a golden opportunity to make all their dreams come true; In my opinion, what many young and old supporters of PTI did not appreciate at the time was that for PTI, the ends do not justify the means. To have held their nerves by staying away from TuQ fiery deadlines, PTI gave a master class to all its supporters and deriders alike that the constitutionally legitimate means are important, even when we want to get rid of political illegitimacy from Pakistan.

I am a great admirer of Hasan Nisar and one of the reason why I respect him is that he always asks his readers to use ‘common sense and logic’ and it would be safe to say that PTI leadership demonstrated ample common sense and logic on this occasion. Contrary to popular belief, decisions in PTI are made by the leadership rather than Imran Khan on his own; this was a good occasion to witness collective and competent thinking in action. Out of the seven demands put forward by PTI, in my view, the first was perhaps the most important one; Zardari must go. Many people do not appreciate how important this really is because he is the head, in every sense, of a very corrupt and failed Government – all the filth and stink leads directly or indirectly to him. In choosing to defend him and his corrupt posse, the Sharifs and their new-found friends, showed a complete lack of integrity and political ethics.

So how do we interpret what happened at Islamabad’s D-Chowk? The backdrop of TuQ march was the shocking murder of about 100 Hazara Pakistanis whose dead bodies lined Alamdar Road, Quetta, in protest and then came the killings of Bara tribesmen who next of kins refused to bury their loved ones too - until justice was forthcoming. People’s anger against the government was at its peak and TuQ’s promise of justice and change was taken to heart by many who willingly took a break from their lives of outages, closures, and hyperinflation to travel to Islamabad to force change under the cold and open skies of the capital for five days.

Sadly, TuQ, contrary to his promise of leading thousands of genuine and honest people to a much heralded feast of accountability and rule of law; instead he lead them to the negotiating table of peanuts. His ‘deadlines’ rhetoric began to hit dead-ends and after five days the only way forward in this cul de sac was to turn around and head back. His great coup was the order by the Supreme Court to arrest Raja Pervaiz Ashraf (aka Raja Rental) but to the best of my knowledge he is still a free man and yes, Kamran Faisal, the officer investigating the case against Raja Pervaiz (and 15 other individuals) very conveniently committed ‘suicide’ (the usual euphemism for murder)! Interesting, is it not? Perhaps it was also a coincidence that all the five or six witnesses in the case of Wali Khan Babar (the Geo News reporter) have all died mysterious messy deaths. Speaking the truth has become a deadly and lethal business in a democracy which according to crown prince Bilawal is ‘the best revenge.’

It is true that not a single window pane was broken during TuQ’s protest but neither was the stranglehold of hyper corrupt rulers on the throat of a much exploited, deprived, hungry and utterly deceived nation. I have respect for all the men, women and children who took part in this protest and I feel sorry for all those who fell for the charms of a man who promised the heavens but failed to deliver even the earth – well that is the story of every revolutionary in Pakistan. The sight of TuQ with Kaira and Amin Fahim was enough to convince me that another promised revolution had bitten the dust. Kaira, who had been aping TuQ’s style of oratory in his own inimitable 'gangnam' style a day or two previously, was relieved to see that TuQ had not taken offence and that accountability had been averted for now. When TuQ got into his SUV to head back to Lahore, every single one of the corrupt individual he had promised to oust, including Zardari, was still exactly where they were five days prior to that.

This whole episode holds a vital lesson for PTI; all the corrupt political filth will close ranks against PTI when the moment of reckoning comes. I have no doubt that PTI will hit many D-Chowks as we head for elections and the people of Pakistan will judge the leadership of PTI and Imran by their ability to produce a Cricket World Cup 92 like performance i.e. to deliver against all odds on the promise to bring about legitimate and constitutional change. Imran is not a messiah; it is the person you see in the mirror every morning that is.

Voting the right people in a fairly contested election, is the only way to ensure that a butterfly will emerge from the chrysalis of change. Are you up for it?

[Shimatoree]

Nothing more need be said.

[stingingnettle]

Thanks for that Shimatoree Sahib; you will notice I have not mentioned Rehman Malik at all in this piece, well that is deliberate; I did not want to waste valuable words on an incompetent buffoon.

[Mirza Ghalib]

SN, a superb Piece, one of the best on the web at the moment. Time and energy permitting, write more such please. You have a voice all your own, and it will prompt people to think. I mainly want to thank you for two observations.

One: quite right: " for PTI the ends do not justify the means. To have held their nerves by staying away from TuQ fiery deadlines, PTI gave a master class to all its supporters and deriders alike that the constitutionally legitimate means are important, even when we want to get rid of political illegitimacy from Pakistan." PTI is the party of principles and therein lies its greatness. Therein too will be found the immense strength required to bring Pakistan back from the brink.

Two, and no less telling a point: "Imran is not a messiah; it is the person you see in the mirror every morning that is." We assume our responsibility in this matter of freeing Pakistan from the clutches of brigands, our efforts will be crowned by success.

Goes without saying as well, your description of the brigands one and all was a real pleasure to read. A sharp eye, you have there SN, and even a sharper tongue with keyboard to match.

[stingingnettle]

MG Sahib;
Thanks very much indeed for your very kind words indeed. I think it would be fair to say my voice is only a small sound bite in a much larger and increasing coherent demand for change. We are all doing our bit and once again the risk of embarrassing you; it is clear to me that your postings and tweets are indicative of honest conviction and great stamina. I hope to share the great moment with all my friends here when in a few months time; we, Pakistanis will cross the finish line and will embrace fundamental change in the way we live our civic lives.

Metaphorically heads must roll because otherwise our future will just be a repeat of our past. Pakistanis must demand much higher standards of integrity than they demand of themselves; this is the nature of the job ahead.

Money must be made to lose its buying power in the political marketplace. Have no doubt that rivers of money will flow to create false spin and buy the upcoming election; the real test will be our ability to wade this filthy deluge of lies and walk victorious on terra firma.

I thank you once again for your encouraging words. They mean a lot to me.

[aftab]

I have to congratulate ST Sahib many times over, on a well written article, one off the 'best' i have read in a long time, nicely summoning up the events of the past week or so.

[Mirza Ghalib]

Aftab, you got it in one. I'm also happy to say that SN's article, beautifully illustrated, has been posted on the PTI's official blog at the following link:

http://insaf.pk/Media/InsafBlog/tabid/1 ... ammad.aspx