As a child I had read an interesting quote somewhere which has remained a guiding principle for me ever since, and that was: “Be nice to people until you make a million - after that every body would be nice to you”. The “making of a million” is used here metaphorically. The underlying idea is to earn a respect and honour first and then expect respect from the others. Making fortune and amassing wealth surely do play an important role in that pursuit. Imagine why are Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, including some of the desi folks like Mittal and the Ambanis, etc, famous for? It is only because they were able to build a business empire and thus became filthy rich, that’s all. Even the ordinary Ross Perot had made headlines in the American politics in the 90s only because he had billions stashed away in his coffers to throw for his passion in the US election campaigns.
The same connotation also equally applies to the nations at large. Today we see an association of the rich economy called G-7 (or G-8, if we want to include Russia as well; and now we have G-20) and each one of them are widely respected for the strides made in economic progress. For that matter even China, which is not included in that august list of G-8, is respected for its emerging economy; so are India and Brazil. And, after the recent global credit crisis, even the rich Sheikhdoms of Arabia and the Gulf are getting the kind of respect and importance that they never got before; only because they have billions and trillions available in their reserve.
Unfortunately Pakistan was not able to make “those millions” and that surely explains why today it commands no respect anywhere. It is not that we didn’t get any opportunity to make some bucks but the fact of the matter remains that we missed the bus. I was once in NIPA (National Institute of Public Administration) on training where a learned speaker had informed us then that in the 60s we were teaching South Korea to make 5-year plans. At that time while nations like South Korea, China and others were investing in their infrastructures, we in Pakistan were dumping our wealth in concrete. We built two capitals, one in Islamabad and the other in Dhaka - a wasteful investment from the economist’s standpoint. Money invested wisely then would have taken us to some height also but alas, we did miss the bus then. The 70s were the decade in which we were recuperating from the great shock in the aftermath from the fall of Dhaka. The 80s saw millions and billions coming in as US aids, primarily in return for our services to them in that Jihad against the Soviets, but the same was mismanaged and mostly spent on buying arms. The result had showed in the Ojhri Camp scandal. The 90s past by mostly in political turmoil and then came Musharraf and his cronies; from Oct-1999 until Feb-2008. Like Zia, he also received billions as aid but what ultimately happened during and aftermath of his about 9 years of autocratic rule is all before us. The experts now say that Musharraf with the help of his crafty PM-cum-finance wizard kept things propped up artificially with cooked up and fudged economic indicators. The artificial veneer and façade thus erected soon gave way and we now find ourselves in deep shit. The phenomenal rise in fuel price coupled with the recent global credit tsunami came as further blows to our already fledgling economic condition. This was multiplied with the power shortage throughout the country which saw factories shutting down together with restlessness and hopelessness generated in the minds of the common man. And, as if it was not all that we had to experience and endure a series of bombings and brazen suicide attacks even inside the security zones of Islamabad. All these have worked to draw us to the abyss and have taken us further down into the black hole of chaos and instability.
Little do we realise that we are passing through the worst part of our entire history; unprecedented and some call it worst than the situation in the aftermath of the breakup of the country. We don’t seem to even realise what the world is thinking about us. The Newsweek in its issue of 29 Oct 2007 has already declared us as the “most dangerous country in the world today”. The international media is painting bleak future for our country. The examples of some of which are: Pakistan is a country on fire (Ayesha Siddiqa - PK on Web); Pakistan is the most dangerous country on earth and its presidency is the most dangerous job on earth (Roger Cohen - The New York Times); the recent bombings have badly shaken confidence in the new government among Pakistanis, diplomats and investors alike (Jane Perlez - International Herald Tribune); it’s all the greater paradox then that the Taliban militias now threatening the stability of Pakistan owe their survival - and much of their present strength - to a succession of Pakistani governments that continues to the present day (Dexter Filkins - The New York Times); the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Mike Mullen, admitted earlier this month that America and its allies were “running out of time” to save Afghanistan. For that, Washington must finally persuade Pakistan’s leaders that this is not just America’s fight but essential to their own security and survival as a democracy. And Pakistan’s leaders must persuade their citizens (Editorial - International Herald Tribune); take a restive, nuclear-armed nation with an untested new government, an escalating Islamic insurgency, long-standing tensions with its neighbors and an economy in free fall for months. Then add in a global financial crisis. Some analysts and diplomats fear Pakistan could come to exemplify a perilous new phenomenon; a strategic but unstable state at risk of being pushed to the breaking point by external economic factors (Laura King - Los Angeles Times); an unusual parliamentary debate organised to forge a national policy on how to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda has exposed deep ambivalence about the militants, even as their reach extends to suicide attacks in the Capital…attendance was also poor. The Senate and the National Assembly comprise 442 members but one day last week only 40 were on hand (Jane Perlez - The New York Times); suicide bombs have become a near-daily occurrence. There have been more than 100 since July 2007, killing around 1200 people. As per a report by ISI, in the first eight months of this year more people were killed by suicide bombers in Pakistan than in Iraq or Afghanistan (editorial - The Independent).
Each suicide bomb that goes off in Pakistan digs us further down in the hole. The same has done immense damage to our already poor image abroad and now we are viewed as a “pariah nation”. As a result, the investors have flown away like the pigeons do at a gun-shot, the recent ICC cricket tour was called off for none wanted to play in Pakistan - citing security as the prime reason, the British Airways have cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan, the diplomats complaining lax in security in Islamabad have evacuated their families. So much so, even the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon didn’t include Pakistan in his itinerary during his planned recent trip to the region. All of these above have shaken everyone’s confidence in us and as a result our currency has lost its value by more than thirty percent, plunging the country further into that deep hole that we have dug for ourselves. Moody and S & P (international credit rating agency) are both rating Pakistan’s credit worthiness second worst in the world, superior only to Seychelles, citing dwindling foreign exchange reserves, risks of extremists and high inflation. In short, Pakistan finds itself today in coma and the entire nation in a state of shock. As a result, smiles are gone from our faces as the future looks bleak and uncertain. And, the only people responsible for taking away smiles from our faces are none other than these senseless murderers out on a mad mission - the masterminds of these suicide bombers.
The irony is that our soldiers are fighting these terrorists in the tribal areas and sacrificing their lives but instead of providing them moral supports we have sort of left them high and dry. The press, especially the Urdu press and the amateur TV channel experts, who as they say are “available dime a dozen”, are playing negative role by continuously feeding on anti-Americanism. Little do they know that we are heavily dependent on America for our economic and military needs, and as they say, “beggars are no choosers”. So the name of the game is that we need to stand on our feet first before we can say no to America. In order to make economic progress and develop, we need political stability first. And, the same will not be realised if these murderers are allowed to operate with immunity destroying our very economic fabric and destabilising our country. In order to do that we need to fight this “war on terror” very rigorously and defeat these mad people who want to destroy us altogether and take us to the stone ages. And, as Pervez Hoodbhoy (in his op-ed in Chowk) puts it, “Pakistan must not be deceived. This is no clash of civilizations. To the Americans, Pakistan is an instrument to be used for their strategic ends. It is necessary and possible to say no. But the Taliban seek to capture and blind the soul and future of Pakistan in the dark prison fashioned by their ignorance. As they set their sights on Peshawar and beyond, they must be resisted by all means including adequate military force”. In my opinion, he is damn right in there and the defeat of these obscurantist alone will bring back our political and economic stability, glory, standing in the comity of nations, and hence smiles back on our faces.
The same connotation also equally applies to the nations at large. Today we see an association of the rich economy called G-7 (or G-8, if we want to include Russia as well; and now we have G-20) and each one of them are widely respected for the strides made in economic progress. For that matter even China, which is not included in that august list of G-8, is respected for its emerging economy; so are India and Brazil. And, after the recent global credit crisis, even the rich Sheikhdoms of Arabia and the Gulf are getting the kind of respect and importance that they never got before; only because they have billions and trillions available in their reserve.
Unfortunately Pakistan was not able to make “those millions” and that surely explains why today it commands no respect anywhere. It is not that we didn’t get any opportunity to make some bucks but the fact of the matter remains that we missed the bus. I was once in NIPA (National Institute of Public Administration) on training where a learned speaker had informed us then that in the 60s we were teaching South Korea to make 5-year plans. At that time while nations like South Korea, China and others were investing in their infrastructures, we in Pakistan were dumping our wealth in concrete. We built two capitals, one in Islamabad and the other in Dhaka - a wasteful investment from the economist’s standpoint. Money invested wisely then would have taken us to some height also but alas, we did miss the bus then. The 70s were the decade in which we were recuperating from the great shock in the aftermath from the fall of Dhaka. The 80s saw millions and billions coming in as US aids, primarily in return for our services to them in that Jihad against the Soviets, but the same was mismanaged and mostly spent on buying arms. The result had showed in the Ojhri Camp scandal. The 90s past by mostly in political turmoil and then came Musharraf and his cronies; from Oct-1999 until Feb-2008. Like Zia, he also received billions as aid but what ultimately happened during and aftermath of his about 9 years of autocratic rule is all before us. The experts now say that Musharraf with the help of his crafty PM-cum-finance wizard kept things propped up artificially with cooked up and fudged economic indicators. The artificial veneer and façade thus erected soon gave way and we now find ourselves in deep shit. The phenomenal rise in fuel price coupled with the recent global credit tsunami came as further blows to our already fledgling economic condition. This was multiplied with the power shortage throughout the country which saw factories shutting down together with restlessness and hopelessness generated in the minds of the common man. And, as if it was not all that we had to experience and endure a series of bombings and brazen suicide attacks even inside the security zones of Islamabad. All these have worked to draw us to the abyss and have taken us further down into the black hole of chaos and instability.
Little do we realise that we are passing through the worst part of our entire history; unprecedented and some call it worst than the situation in the aftermath of the breakup of the country. We don’t seem to even realise what the world is thinking about us. The Newsweek in its issue of 29 Oct 2007 has already declared us as the “most dangerous country in the world today”. The international media is painting bleak future for our country. The examples of some of which are: Pakistan is a country on fire (Ayesha Siddiqa - PK on Web); Pakistan is the most dangerous country on earth and its presidency is the most dangerous job on earth (Roger Cohen - The New York Times); the recent bombings have badly shaken confidence in the new government among Pakistanis, diplomats and investors alike (Jane Perlez - International Herald Tribune); it’s all the greater paradox then that the Taliban militias now threatening the stability of Pakistan owe their survival - and much of their present strength - to a succession of Pakistani governments that continues to the present day (Dexter Filkins - The New York Times); the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Mike Mullen, admitted earlier this month that America and its allies were “running out of time” to save Afghanistan. For that, Washington must finally persuade Pakistan’s leaders that this is not just America’s fight but essential to their own security and survival as a democracy. And Pakistan’s leaders must persuade their citizens (Editorial - International Herald Tribune); take a restive, nuclear-armed nation with an untested new government, an escalating Islamic insurgency, long-standing tensions with its neighbors and an economy in free fall for months. Then add in a global financial crisis. Some analysts and diplomats fear Pakistan could come to exemplify a perilous new phenomenon; a strategic but unstable state at risk of being pushed to the breaking point by external economic factors (Laura King - Los Angeles Times); an unusual parliamentary debate organised to forge a national policy on how to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda has exposed deep ambivalence about the militants, even as their reach extends to suicide attacks in the Capital…attendance was also poor. The Senate and the National Assembly comprise 442 members but one day last week only 40 were on hand (Jane Perlez - The New York Times); suicide bombs have become a near-daily occurrence. There have been more than 100 since July 2007, killing around 1200 people. As per a report by ISI, in the first eight months of this year more people were killed by suicide bombers in Pakistan than in Iraq or Afghanistan (editorial - The Independent).
Each suicide bomb that goes off in Pakistan digs us further down in the hole. The same has done immense damage to our already poor image abroad and now we are viewed as a “pariah nation”. As a result, the investors have flown away like the pigeons do at a gun-shot, the recent ICC cricket tour was called off for none wanted to play in Pakistan - citing security as the prime reason, the British Airways have cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan, the diplomats complaining lax in security in Islamabad have evacuated their families. So much so, even the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon didn’t include Pakistan in his itinerary during his planned recent trip to the region. All of these above have shaken everyone’s confidence in us and as a result our currency has lost its value by more than thirty percent, plunging the country further into that deep hole that we have dug for ourselves. Moody and S & P (international credit rating agency) are both rating Pakistan’s credit worthiness second worst in the world, superior only to Seychelles, citing dwindling foreign exchange reserves, risks of extremists and high inflation. In short, Pakistan finds itself today in coma and the entire nation in a state of shock. As a result, smiles are gone from our faces as the future looks bleak and uncertain. And, the only people responsible for taking away smiles from our faces are none other than these senseless murderers out on a mad mission - the masterminds of these suicide bombers.
The irony is that our soldiers are fighting these terrorists in the tribal areas and sacrificing their lives but instead of providing them moral supports we have sort of left them high and dry. The press, especially the Urdu press and the amateur TV channel experts, who as they say are “available dime a dozen”, are playing negative role by continuously feeding on anti-Americanism. Little do they know that we are heavily dependent on America for our economic and military needs, and as they say, “beggars are no choosers”. So the name of the game is that we need to stand on our feet first before we can say no to America. In order to make economic progress and develop, we need political stability first. And, the same will not be realised if these murderers are allowed to operate with immunity destroying our very economic fabric and destabilising our country. In order to do that we need to fight this “war on terror” very rigorously and defeat these mad people who want to destroy us altogether and take us to the stone ages. And, as Pervez Hoodbhoy (in his op-ed in Chowk) puts it, “Pakistan must not be deceived. This is no clash of civilizations. To the Americans, Pakistan is an instrument to be used for their strategic ends. It is necessary and possible to say no. But the Taliban seek to capture and blind the soul and future of Pakistan in the dark prison fashioned by their ignorance. As they set their sights on Peshawar and beyond, they must be resisted by all means including adequate military force”. In my opinion, he is damn right in there and the defeat of these obscurantist alone will bring back our political and economic stability, glory, standing in the comity of nations, and hence smiles back on our faces.
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