- With a sordid history of crimes behind them, the long arm of the law waits in front
Candid Corner
“Without strong watchdog institutions, impunity becomes the very foundation upon which systems of corruption are built. And if impunity is not demolished, all efforts to bring an end to corruption are in vain.” – Rigoberta Menchú
There has been a spate of activities over the last couple of weeks in the political domain. But there were some which trespassed into the dangerous arena– that, too, with a premeditated venom that can spell disaster not just for the individuals involved, but for the whole country.
After a litany of poisonous statements emanating from convict-absconder Nawaz Sharif and his crony chorus, Ayaz Sadiq, a sitting PML(N) MNA who has also been a speaker of the National Assembly, fired the thunderbolt claiming that when Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa came to brief a session of the parliamentary groups held before the release of the captured Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan, “his legs were shaking and he was perspiring” as Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi “pleaded in the name of God that we should let him go as, otherwise, India would attack Pakistan”.
The statement was celebrated wildly in India as authentication of its narrative that Abhinandan was released under Indian pressure.
This has come on the heels of the earlier statements by convict-absconder Nawaz Sharif when he tried to drive a wedge between the leadership and the rank and file of the military, virtually attempting to incite a mutiny within the institution. He also held the COAS and the DG ISI directly responsible for his removal and warned that “you shall have to answer for that”.
There is no option for these discredited leaderships except to give in to the dictates of law. Their increasing despair is going to test the patience of the state for they have obviously pushed their luck far. With a sordid history of villainous indulgences behind them, the long arm of the law waits in front.
This is stretching things far by the perpetrators in a desperate bid for pursuing what has been denied to them. The platform of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has been put in place specifically to increase pressure on the military for provision of relief that is proving elusive given the uncompromising and principled stance of Prime Minister Imran Khan. This is against an unsavoury tradition of repeated such reliefs which corrupt leaderships of various political dimensions were able to secure in the past, both from the governments of the time as well as by manipulating the courts, state institutions and accountability forums.
The patently fabricated, provocative and ill-advised statement evoked a plethora of protest. After a meeting held between the Prime Minister and the COAS during the morning of October 29, the Director-General, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) held a press briefing to set the record straight regarding a statement that tried to “distort history relating to national security matters”. He went on to explain that the release of the Indian prisoner-of-war was reflective of a “mature response of a responsible state and the effort to link it with any other reason or motive was false and condemnable. This was tantamount to rendering controversial the clear victory of the Pakistani people over India which was not acceptable”.
He further elaborated that “such negative narrative adversely impacts the national security paradigm which the enemy exploits in the information domain. This narrative is also used to mitigate the enemy defeat and mortification”. He pleaded that “all of us should exercise full responsibility in our conduct” and reiterated the resolve to thwart the enemy’s agenda with the unstinting support of the Pakistani people.
There are no two opinions about the fact that the statement by Ayaz Sadiq can only be the sinister work of a defeated mindset which afflicts Nawaz Sharif and his coterie of criminal supporters. It had all the provocative ingredients to belittle the achievements of the military in an environment when inimical forces have augmented their efforts to destabilise the country. With the support of some foreign interests, this evil effort is being promoted at home from the platform of the PDM with the sole objective of weakening the military and, consequently the state, so that they could again dig their tentacles in the corridors of power.
In the process, they fail to understand that the times have changed and their vile and wicked machinations are not going to work any longer. The state is already reeling under the weight of their loot and plunder and their patronage of forces working against the inherent interests of Pakistan. In the process, they have also lost the support of the people who stand alongside the armed forces in defending the security and sanctity of the country. The effort to provoke revolt within the institution of the military borders on treason. Little cognisance was taken of this factor in their desperation to seek their selfish objectives.
Let me also reiterate that the role of the media is palpably partisan as it has failed to highlight the malevolence of these and other statements which have been made from the PDM platform including renunciation of Urdu as our national language and pleading the cause of Baluchistan as a separate province. Merely saying that the statements were interpreted out of context is not enough to justify these having been made in the first place. This reflects the coming together of disparate and desperate forces, united in a bond of evil.
Ever since the advent of the PDM, many red lines have been crossed. The state has acted with enormous patience, eliciting considerable criticism for not moving against the perpetrators of this narrative. After the last one from Ayaz Sadiq, further pressure is being exerted on it to act without further delay to nip the evil.
The time may actually have come to do that. What is the cause of this pandemonium which is being orchestrated with such venomous intensity and frequency? It is nothing other than an effort for securing a reprieve by these leaders for having committed countless crimes during their tenures in power ranging from merciless plunder of national resources to rendering the state institutions toothless and dysfunctional to escape the consequences of their vile acts. This is no longer possible. The last couple of years have witnessed the gradual onset of a broad-based effort to reform the system and make it transparent, accountable and driven by the dominant desire to provide relief to the marginalised people who need support and punish those who transgress the limits of law to advance the cause of their personal interests.
The problem is that, in the event this effort succeeds, there is no room left for the corrupt leaderships of the past to stage a comeback. So, their goose, and that of their anointed successors, is all but cooked. This is what has driven them to such a state of desperation that they are not even hesitant to compromise the national security interests in their bid to exert pressure on the military to intervene on their behalf.
That has neither happened nor is it likely to happen. There is no option for these discredited leaderships except to give in to the dictates of law. Their increasing despair is going to test the patience of the state for they have obviously pushed their luck far. With a sordid history of villainous indulgences behind them, the long arm of the law waits in front.
The choice may not be too stimulating, but it is a well-deserved atonement for a really long list of gruesome crimes they have committed. From here on, it is going to be a quick plunge into political oblivion.
