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“Pakistan at Crossroads”. not an honest depiction of realities on the ground
9-24-2014
This is with reference to your editorial “Pakistan at Crossroads”. I do not think it is an honest depiction of realities on the ground. Pakistan is going through a tumultuous period. Many external and internal extremist elements are making situation even more chaotic. As the border situation is becoming sensitive and inside insurgencies are flaring-up, Imran Khan and Tahir ul Qadri have arranged long marches and sit-ins in Islamabad.
Pakistan has a population of 190 million and these few thousand people do not represent the vast majority.
Although some of their demands may be genuine but the timing is absolutely wrong. After 15 months of elections, Imran Khan suddenly realized that the elections were heavily rigged. Although there may be some truth in his claim as the PML(N) is known for its thuggish conduct especially in Punjab, but this is not the proper way to redress his grievances in a political system.
On the other hand the rigging couldn’t have been “massive” as claimed in your editorial because Mr. Khan’s party won and formed a government in the Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa (KPK) province. The best course of action for Mr. Khan would have been to focus all his energies on making the KPK a model province for the rest of the country to see and then present his case to the electorate in the next general elections. This is what Modi did with Gujrat and as a consequence won the national elections with a landslide victory.
As for Dr. Tahir ul Qadri, this is the second time he is staging this drama. The first time his show was wisely tackled by the political leadership of the then “corrupt” PPP government. His current demands are based on self-interest. He never came to launch such a ‘Revolutionary March’ during a dictator’s government because he knew the consequences. This, however, is the beauty of democracy which allows peaceful protests. He even does not care about the recent causalities in Punjab by the devastating floods or the dilemma of the IDPs in KPK due to the ongoing operation in North Waziristan.
Qadri’s actions do not match his rhetoric. His slogan for change is just eyewash because his demands and slogans change according to the situation on ground. He did not come from Canada to fight against the dictators but now he wants to derail the political system.
The present government might be the worst political government but democracy or elected government is always better even than the best dictatorship. We should give democracy a chance and the democratic system will gradually cleanse itself of corrupt elements over the time.
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