We all know Pakistan is facing serious challenges and regretfully, there are no simple solutions for these problems. So far, repeated experiments with democracy and dictatorships in the country have yielded nothing, but more failures and even more misery.
When Benazir returned to Pakistan to help steer the country in the right direction, she was shot and killed by the forces of darkness. And since her tragic death, the overall political, social, and economic situation in Pakistan has taken a turn for the worst. And it seems that the country’s problems are reaching a point where nothing seems to be working, not only for the current government, but anyone else who dares to take over Pakistan, today, tomorrow, or in the near future.
Therefore, it is critical that we should be talking about the future of Pakistan in a way that is realistic and acceptable to all stakeholders.
Everyone has a unique opinion about how to fix Pakistan, but a surprising number of people do agree on one point; once the current government is removed, everything will change.
Of course, this oversimplification is naïve, if not misguided.
Those who are in favor of removing the current government do have the right to voice their opinion. On the other hand, it is also important for these people to provide realistic answer. For instance, when pressed for specifics, these people who are demanding change, always come up empty about the future, not because they don’t like to answer, but because they don’t know how will the next government change or improve the country. For example what will the next government do (that the current government is not doing) to curtail the population, to increase the spending in education, infrastructure, healthcare etc, and more importantly, where is the money going to come from for these programs? How will the next government tackle the issue of power shortage? How will the next Prime Minister help the refugees -if and when there is an earthquake, or another army operation (like Swat) and more importantly, what more can be done for the victims of the devastating floods that ruined about 20% of the country?
Furthermore, what will be the strategy about defeating terrorism, and religious extremism currently plaguing the country? Equally important, what will be the plan to revive the stagnant economy? How about inflation, Drone attacks, and debt, etc?
Those who demand urgent change must provide clear, concrete and specific answers with realistic time frame to accomplish these goals so that before democracy is slaughtered once again, the people of Pakistan have a realistic idea with a very clear time frame in mind to move forward. Otherwise, don’t just remove the government for the sake of removing them, please.
True, Zardari and Gillani have had their share of mistakes, no question about it. But it is not realistic to expect that humans are going to act and perform with perfection. Humans have never been perfect and even in the future, there will be mistakes. So, it is time to be honest about Pakistan’s really difficult situation and an assessment is needed about the future course as well. Otherwise, the situation will continue to get difficult, mistakes will keep on frustrating the country and one day, the country will run out of options.
It really is time for the grown ups in Pakistan to rise above petty political point scoring and sit together to develop a cohesive and pragmatic plan to stop the country’s slide toward anarchy and instead, hit the reset button to guide Pakistan toward stability, prosperity and peace without relying on foreign aid, subsidies and handouts. Otherwise, be prepared for things to get unpleasant very soon.
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