- Losing reason to the tunes promising grandeur and bliss
Assuming that all those reading this piece are literate, grown folks I dare to crush an amusing fairy tale from our childhood. The story of Pied Piper and the enchanted children, dearest sirs and ma’ams, was not only make-believe but the happy ending that it had was a complete concoction and an afterthought. The children never made it back. They, along with the piper, vanished forever. And for the villagers the realisation came late that they had angered the wrong pied piper and there was no solace, no moral and no happy ending.
Like all tales, it spoke of humans and their foibles. Man, despite being the ultimate creature, gives in to the basest instincts like selfishness, hatred, fear and dishonesty. Whenever a group feels threatened and cornered, it seeks refuge in the soothing tunes of a pied piper. Whether the pied piper leads them to a ditch or zenith differs from case to case.
Make no mistake, folks. Not all pied pipers are vengeful, deceptive, score settling brutes. Few among them are bellwethers as they steer their followers in the right path.
A perfect example of the latter is Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the seer of yore was acutely aware of the quandary his lot was in. Also, he knew the way out. Sir Syed preached the gospel of education sans political ambitions. Half a century later, the whole Aligarh Movement metamorphosed into a coherent Muslim League which wrestled away a separate homeland for Muslims from the Empire. Our pied piper chalked out the way to his people’s salvation.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a stern constitutionalist led the Muslims to freedom not by resorting to violence but through a legal struggle fought in legislative assemblies, annual conventions, public gatherings and through resolutions. Jinnah knew that violence begets violence and nothing permanent could be achieved through use of brute force, agitation and hate mongering.
- Make no mistake, folks. Not all pied pipers are vengeful, deceptive, score settling brutes. Few among them are bellwethers as they steer their followers in the right path
Both Jinnah and Sir Syed had a vision broader than any parochial consideration and myopic gain. The former aimed to unite the divided might of Muslims in subcontinent for a greater purpose and the latter freed them from the shackles of backwardness and self-reproach. Well, with them and their fellows the end of selflessness started to seep in the body politic of Pakistan. The power for the sake of power became the well-entrenched norm. However, there was a catch. People are swayed by promises of a better future. The haves want to retain and increase what they have. The have-not, well, enchant them with heaven and they’ll burn the earth beneath their feet.
Our tale from ‘58 onwards is a saga of hope, betrayal and disillusionment. During the first ten years, we had had seven prime ministers. Almost all of them were at the forefront of Pakistan movement. The palace intrigues coupled with undue interference from the civilian bureaucracy and military junta one after the other they bit dust making way for the first all-powerful pied piper i.e. Ayub Khan.
Unimpressed with pure representative democracy and driven by the gusto of a saviour; Ayub Khan played the tunes of moderation and economic reforms. Khan’s claim to be the know-all who’ll correct the course of the imperilled ship called Pakistan rang true to the passive masses tired of endless changes in regime. No one deterred him from ripping apart the Constitution of ‘56 and installing a tailored made one in ‘62. The nation marched ahead as if in a trance. When the tune finished, many learned that East Pakistan has become Bangladesh. The dictator pied piper retired to his home in Islamabad making way for an elected one.
Roti, kaapra aur makaan roared Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto from the pulpit. The slogan meant something to everyone. The underbelly, the factory workers, the intelligentsia put their might behind the elected prime minister. He gave the Constitution, nationalised the industry en masse, and ruled the country with an iron fist. Unfortunately, his undoing came when he tried to rein in military.
Enter Zia Ul Haq. The favourite whipping boy of many. We love to hold Zia responsible for rampant extremism, widespread proliferation of weapons in society, growth of religious intolerance, millions of drug addicts to everything and anything horribly gone wrong. Throughout ‘90s, the ghosts of Zia and Bhutto fought each other through their believers. The coup of October ‘99 ushered in Musharraf who despite his promises of moderation and economic stability left the country in a bedraggled shape. At present, the courts await him while he plans to grab power through ballot this time.
Now, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has two different pied pipers. Imran Khan and Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi. Both preach their own gospel. Rizvi has a higher cause and a martyr. IK offers wholesale change. Both have loyal listeners and supporters. The two pied pipers are harping on their respective tunes.
Soon, they’ll be heard no more as in Pakistan it is the pied pipers who vanish in thin air. The entranced audience finds a replacement as soon their tunes fall silent.
