Time to stand united

Qudsia Kadri

Time seems to be closing in on Pakistan from all directions in the days to come. We seem to be drifting into a helpless state of despair. When things have gone wrong, when the government on ill-advise of its chosen few has consistently made many faux pass during the year or so. Who soever have been the 'enlightened' advisor's have yet to see light. Every institution unfortunately including the legislature, the judiciary, the intelligence agencies the opposition have all been played one against the other. Instead of cohesion and communication between the organ's of state, a dreaded game of bloated egos, rivalry and mud slinging has gained mammoth proportions.
When, supremacy of 'Self' gains prime importance, than each man and woman wanting to clutch on to the wheels of power, forget that their personalities are supposed to extend beyond the boundaries of self projection. What has been happening in Pakistan today is an ugly face of narcissism. The President, the Prime Minister and most of his cabinet members are all trying to outdo the other. The politicians cannot see beyond their myopic viewpoint and the opposition is totally trapped in making a hue and cry about every issue in order to slap accusations on each another. They fail to comprehend the fact that Pakistan cannot continue with such obvious external pressures and threats on a regular basis and the most recent implicit comments by US officials to enter Pakistan territory and crush terrorism is not to be taken lightly.
What and who gives George Bush and the American government to carry on their terror-inflicted actions and statements to incite further mayhem in Pakistan is another matter, but the sad scenario we Pakistani's face is that our very own opposition leaders sitting abroad giving lectures around the globe, well-entrenched in their comfortable surroundings and life styles, should not realize that crying over their woes and emptying their hearts on different issues to "all and Sundry" makes not only Pakistan a weak and failed state, but also pours water over all our achievements and mitigates their own credibility and vulnerability. For the leader of PPP to accuse every other party is one thing, but to alienate her own legal wizards is incomprehensible. Atizaz Ahsan the brilliant legal brains and Raza Rabbani were kept away from the recent APC in London. It showed the poor coordination between the parties who turned out looking quite pathetic when the PPP members attending were clueless to the agreement, which was to be signed. It seemed more like a pleasure trip for the erstwhile politicians.
Coming to the clergy, they seem to be in a world laden with a doomsday scenario. We fail to understand where the continuos flow of funding is coming from, perhaps a powerful oil-rich Muslim state?
Every known or unknown nationality in the human race finds its way to Pakistan, lives and provides special training to religious cult-like groups all over the country. We are forced to think as to who is behind this Muslim state, we all know the blessings and the patronage of the American's who have over the years established their powerful presence in that state. The Al-Qaeda network which actually was born in the Middle East had its gang of trained men packed off to fragile and visibly weak countries such as Pakistan. The clergy and the extreme religious phobia's accompanying many of them have fallen easily into the hands of a financial gain and materialistic scenario and a mindset of a criminal.
Religion is merely a tool to incite hate and revenge and the political and socio-economic connotations involved in the game plan is lost to the illiterate and easily swayed minds of the teenagers from different parts of the country who are mostly used for horrific attacks. The recent bout of suicide bombings all over the country is a clear indication that they are being carried out against the law-enforcing agencies as a fall out to the Lal Masjid fiasco.
These individual donot know why they are blowing themselves along with other innocent people, it is not to propagate Islam or the rule of Shariah. These minds are only conditioned to carry out attacks on the basis of revenge, and to create mayhem.
Our religious scholar's must get involved and instead of making fiery speeches against the foreign forces, (who seem to have very cleverly attained the desired results of Muslim's killing Muslims without any injuries or casualties to their personal) they must step in to stop this madness. What Shariah we ask have they managed to impose after killing so many innocent people during the past few weeks.
It is indeed time for us to hang our heads in shame or to unite on the basis of being a Pakistan. Everyone seems to have forgotten that governments, and personalities come and disappear into oblivion, they fade away as the law of nature automatically plays it role of intervention.
The country and nation shall exist, but only upto a point where we the people realize that enough personal gains have been attained over the past sixty years, enough damage at all levels of government and private sector has been looted and left to salvage on its own. It's time that our conscience come's alive and whatever semblance of dignity we have left can be used in a positive manner to at least try and help Pakistan gain some of its lost respect and dignity back. It is time we started paying back to the country for the mistakes or our fore-fathers and for the sake of our children, our future generations who have only one question they put to us "Is this the Pakistan we were born too? Is this the Pakistan we can call a homeland? Is this the Pakistan we can defend with our heads held high and is this the Pakistan we can be proud off?