We Are Isolated

Published in FrontierPost on 06-05-2011

American Special forces’ operation in Abbottabad in early hours of Monday brought about the killing of most wanted man on this planet. This auspicious news came on the international horizon as United States’ President Barack Obama delivered a speech to his nation and even Pakistani administration got this news from him. How good of President Obama for keeping Pakistan in the loop.

We all should be happy and jubilant from this ecstatic news but why aren’t we happy? We got the world’s most wanted person and US President himself thanked Pakistan for their help and we, apparently, received a pat on the back. Shouldn’t we celebrate with the American people? But, wait a minute, what do we have here? Our faces are strung with this news. Why aren’t we jubilant?

The victorious statements of leaders all over the world and even from our own rulers bring nothing but shame to us. We are ashamed that there were foreign troops on our land operating without even letting us know. Hamid Karzai pounced on the opportunity of maligning Pakistan once again by calling Pakistan a haven for terrorists. Frankly speaking, I don’t care much about what the outsiders have to say about Pakistan. It is the silence of our rulers and tight-lipped stance of our allies like China that makes me feel gob smacked.

Like every other Pakistani, I wonder what ambition does United States has behind this act. Whether they want to prove that their decade long war is just or is it just about extension of another four years term of Obama administration. Whatever the objectives, US is in a win-win situation. It has given its war on terror an impetus and has successfully got a reason to leave Afghanistan, if it wants to. On the other hand, Pakistan, as always, has been on the receiving side of all the negatives. Indian media is claiming Pakistan to be caught red handed and western media is criticising Pakistan for not doing enough and above all refusing from time to time that Osama is not in Pakistan.

I remember when the first missile attack from the NATO forces in Damadola struck a madrassah which killed innocent students, I thought it was a mistake on their part and it won’t happen again but I was completely wrong and since then drone attacks have been wreaking havoc with constant bombardment. Same was the case with the presence of private security contractors like DynCorp and XE (Blackwater), when a retired SSG Captain was detained for hiring professionals for these mercenaries. I also thought that it would put a full-stop to their activities but no, we had the Raymond Davis fiasco, a DoD Contractor who killed two Pakistanis in daylight. Same is happening now. I fear that this operation of foreign troops on our land does not become a regular occurrence like before.

I recently watched a movie, The A-Team, in which US soldiers go behind enemy lines or even on the territory of an ally to achieve their desired objectives. I, literally, loved the way they executed their missions and killed enemies for fun but now when the Abbottabad mission has happened on my soil, I don’t feel the same for them even though Osama was a common enemy.

Pakistan, in the age of globalization, is getting more isolated from time to time. Our supposedly strategic partner United States, whose war is being fought by us, doesn’t even trust us. Our eternal friend China is not breaking its silence and letting the world know its stance. Above all, I heard a media report that Pakistani radars were jammed before the operation, I am wondering, if we are that much vulnerable then why we polish our tanks and missiles for 23rd March. Of what use are they, if they can be jammed easily. Irony is that this all was happening under our nose and we were completely unaware of that.

The question has arrived that whether world will be safe after the demise of Osama. All the stake holders have been quick to denounce that and after his demise, they are after the ones who carry his ideology. I fear that after all this, United States could be safer, in fact it always was but Pakistan will have to face the music. Pakistan, a nuclear power, has once again come under the radar of western powers and they are ready to question the commitment of Pakistan in combating terrorism. Leave combating; some are labeling Pakistan of abetting the terrorists.

The message for us from the outer world is clear that we are on our own. We have to realise that we are out of time and the world’s perception about Pakistan is getting worse day by day. If my dear rulers and military establishment hasn’t got the message yet, let me sound it to them: Respected Sir! We are isolated and on our own. Time to streamline our path.

EGYPTIAN “REVOLUTION” – A LOST CHANCE

If one could just calculate the happiness on the faces of Egyptians, the results would be staggering. There was and probably is sheer elation and joy on the faces of the peoplein Egypt. As reported by the international media or present witnesses, such was the joy that you can easily calculate the teeth of protestors after the resignation of Hosni Mubarak.

It remains to be seen whether the resignation of Mubarak would be ‘Mubarak” for the Egyptians or not. The so-called revolution in Egypt, which was triggered by social media on internet, largely used by youth, is just an indication of what is to come. People may argue that what bad could come to Egyptians other than Mubarak, so happiness is what can come out of all this. I hope that same is the case.

Witnessing the journey of Egyptians through twitter and other online sources, I have been unable to determine the alternative solution Egyptian people had instead of Hosni Mubarak. If all the movement was about ousting the dictatorial regime, then I would have to reconsider, whether to write ‘revolution’ with it or not.

To fall in the criteria of a revolution, there has to be a change of system or an ideological change. We may say that democracy was the basic idea behind all this but frankly speaking, I don’t see much has changed there. It was more of an anti-Mubarak protest rather than a pro-democracy one as testified by the placards and slogans. Same is what happened with the judiciary movement in Pakistan, where the coat-walas were able to reinstate the supreme judge of the apex court and eventually ousting the dictator but nothing has changed in Pakistan since then. Anybody remembers the NRO Case! Same old drone attacks (in fact more frequent), inflation more higher than before and people committing suicides due to poverty as before is what is still happening here.

I would love that all my fears are wrong but the fact is that this cosmetic change may keep the Egyptians smiling for some time but eventually it will be the same as it was. In fact I see it as more of a problem as nations don’t come out on streets often and when do, they really have to pounce on the opportunity and streamline themselves towards a more durable and ideological change instead of changing the faces. A change with no effective outcome can disappoint a whole nation and could drain their energies to come on street in future.

I fear that Cairo has lost the chance of a revolution. These opportunities don’t come often and when they come, you have to grab them with both the hands. I can only pray that my fears are wrong and our Egyptian brethren get something out of this change.

The Land of the Pure

Pakistan, a state situated in the most important strategic location on the map of the world, has its every citizen carrying a burden of Rs. 57,000 debt on his head. This land of the pure, besides being pure, is a tale full of corruption, bad-governance and mismanagement, puppet leaders, coups sponsored by foreign powers and above all youth without a vision.

I am among those more than 50% of people of Pakistan aged between 15-25 years, who have the immense responsibility of carrying this nation towards some sunshine. Working in Planning Commission of Pakistan, Government Office, as a support staff, I've witnessed so much in these three years of my tenure.

When I joined government service three years back, like every other member of this youth, I decided to never indulge myself into any malpractices and always stick to my principles of honesty. I received two offers of bribe in the initial first year of my tenure and thankfully I was able to ward off all those offers.

Time has passed and now I have become accustomed myself to the working of the government system. All my zeal and passion to play an honest role in the development of Pakistan, in any capacity I can, is lost. I feel that there is no difference between me and a fifty five year sitting in the office just to enjoy the perks and reputation that comes along with the package of government officer. These government officers, who fear so much for their job that they are ready to put their integrity at and honesty at stake just to please their seniors, though there are exceptions. Two years on, I feel dejected. I feel guilty as I've been an indirect part of wrong-doings and corruption. I am a part of that very system.

We see corruption, both moral and financial around us. Be it a government employee who files a wrong late sitting claim or a Government Official who take kick backs in different projects financed either by taxpayer's money or from foreign aid. I say it with sheer grief that corruption is deep inside our pants and we have to realize this. The most dangerous part of it is when the youth, expected to bring about a change in this country, is also falling into the category of corruption.

Reviewing myself, I see a person, who once set out to become a part in making this land of the pure progressive, is now swayed into what has always been done and someone who is always in support of the status quo. I have lost the cause and I see the same with some of the other youth we have around. To ask someone to behave, first we must behave the same way and my confession is just a part to motivate the youth. But we have to stand in front of the mirror and ask ourselves, what is the objective of this 5 feet 10 inch flesh on this earth? Surely we are not here to talk about the hottest girl in the town or university or talking about Big Boss. We are made for something big.

Glancing at the problems we face and the daunting task to make amends of the mistakes committed by our ancestors, we have to make sure that we as a youth don?t let ourselves to distract us from our objective. We face the fact that we inherited darkness in the form of load-shedding, our precious energy resources handed over to foreign companies and our land and military being used to fight the war of someone else.

The problems are massive and so is the responsibility on the shoulders of youth. When we say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, then we also have to realize that it is the youth that has to be the medium to help this nation to reach the light at the other end of the tunnel. Night is always the darkest before dawn and the sunlight of this dawn can only be lit by the efforts of this talented youth which includes people like Ali Moeen Nawazish and Naveed Asif and many other success stories.

We as a youth, forget that it is ONLY AND ONLY US who can do something and if we get lethargic and let our desires overcome our objectives then there are serious problems for us. When I confess my laziness and becoming a part of the same bureaucracy, I feel gutted because we are the only hope of this Ummah and frankly speaking, if we turned an eye on our people then more misery is awaiting us. These multinational corporations and colonial system are waiting with their open jaws with sharp teeth to swallow us. The youth has to understand the role as the savior of this Ummah. We are the ones who can make the difference. People chanting slogans at Tahrir Square are from the youth who like to interact on facebook and twitter. It is high time for us to stand up and be counted. The youth residing in the land of the pure! Either we make history or we become history.