Work is a dirty Word

Work is a four-letter word we religiously avoid; mutinously shun. Until Musharraf sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, we were a nation of ’sitting around guys.’ We morphed into ‘jalsa and jaloose’ types. Benazir Bhutto’s arrival, assassination, national elections splayed us on the streets. The cycle’s now turned vicious. An apocalypse approaches, still nobody works. The rulers don’t work; they sprawl in their shiny suits grinning at each other and sponging on state expense. The opposition doesn’t work; they are fighter-cocks. The lawmakers don’t work; they undo good laws. The hoi polloi don’t work; they are hooked on hooliganism. The country doesn’t work; it runs on auto. There’s no law and order; no electricity; no public service amenities, no justice. People fend for themselves. The poorest of the poor perish with disease, ignorance and hunger. Businesses go bust; factories close; school kids on furlough; exams postponed; government servants on go-slow; and judges hunkered down.

Count the number of religious holidays, strikes, shutter-downs, protests and you wonder if Pakistan is for real. I mean a real country.

Fragmentation, secession, Talibanisation, and warlordism are the vultures hovering above. Our carcass looks inviting enough for them to eat up. The handwringing of our anchors and politicians’ demagoguery gets tiresome. These news-less characters cry wolf each night. Our paymasters, the Americans, keep us doped with promises of more money. Since 9/11 they’ve made us dollar-addicts. Why work when Uncle Sam sends a big fat cheque each month. Our past and present Dr Faustus has signed a deal with the devil to sell his country’s soul. Drones carpet-bomb the fanatics of FATA; the American embassy keeps locked the NRO in its safety vault with orders that the Supreme Court be turned into a no-go area for Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. The Pink Panther will deplume the president and his cronies, fear the Americans.

We are the headlines today: Will Pakistan face another coup? Political crisis escalates in Pakistan; is India ready for Pakistan’s collapse? The rise and rise of Pakistan’s Taliban, a country staring disaster in the face; state of denial. Still our rulers’ proclivity with playing politics and encouraging palace intrigues takes top priority. Income generation, employment opportunity, job creation are terms foreign to the Zardari government. Unsurprisingly, the past one year, jalsas and jaloose have drawn millions of poor, frustrated and unlettered youth. These political pantomimes have been like a balm to the crowds. Therapeutic yet destructive. The black coats have brought an ocean of disillusioned and disgusted out on the streets. Most go back home tired, hungry, beaten up only to come out again the next day.

Pakistan has a collective death wish. The leaders and the led are on a mass suicide pact.

Two of our ‘best friends’ and financiers have signed the death warrant: Washington and Riyadh. Until America finds an alternative to the NRO, the lawyers’ struggle will continue forever. Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry will be the symbol of our fight. Until the Saudis stop funding the clerics and the Taliban, Pakistan will become a radical Wahabi state; a mini-me of Saudi Arabia. On Eid Milad-un-Nabi (pbuh) not a soul stepped out; not a car moved. The silence was eerie. Suddenly arose the shouts of processionists – one after another on motor bikes, trucks and cars. They wore skull caps and carried huge green flags. They are the Taliban of Pakistan, role models to millions and our future. Do these young men work? Do they study science and math? Do they read international affairs or peruse the law?

Will work ever return to Pakistan? Wanted: an honest ’slave driver’ and a whiplash to put the masses back to work. Miracles happen.