This is my response to the Kerry Lugar Bill..
http://nidaesehar.pkpolitics.com/2009/1 ... s-changed/
I dont know what would be the fate of the Kerry-Lugar Bill, and whether President Obama would sign it or send it back for reconsideration, but I know it for sure that this aid, even if it is approved, would not make any difference to the people of Pakistan. The billions of dollars obtained in the name of aid by begging around the world, or borrowed as loans never reached them and got drained into the foreign accounts and assets in the US, Europe and Arab countries, leaving them high and dry. Even after 62 years of independence, people dont have basic necessities of food, water, health, electricity and gas and we all know the value of life in our country. The system has miserably failed in establishing justice and equality in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, though a vast majority longs for it and has waited since eternity. Many of us pay heavy taxes on all our basic commodities but dont get anything in return, although we can see the politicians, bureaucrats and the generals enjoying perks on taxpayers money and developing assets abroad. Though this bill might not bring any good to our common man but it has certainly highlighted some aspects of our society and widened the divisions between different schools of thought and the debate this bill has initiated, has brought up some very interesting issues and perspectives. It has certainly drawn a line between the elite and the masses.
If we analyze closely, we can recognize different groups with different perspectives. There are people from the Hussain Haqqani tribe, including the president and prime-minister, who think that the bill is nothing but a blessing for the people of Pakistan and they should accept it as it is, without even giving it a second thought. They think that the common people are nave enough and they dont know much English to comprehend the hidden benefits of the Bill and media has made an issue out of nothing. Keeping the literacy rate in mind, it would have been a valid argument but unfortunately even N. Paterson also considered the language of the bill as inappropriate and accepted the points raised against it after feeling the magnitude of reaction from the people. (I wonder if Mr. Haqqani can question her English!!!!). Despite this, people like Mr. Farhatullah Baber, consider everybody in this country, conspiring against the democratic government and raising fingers at the bill as a part to malign the honorable presidentCant say much about this mentality as they would already be considering me and pkpolitics team as conspirators against democracy and the democratic government.
There are independent TV anchors and analysts like Kamran Khan, Hamid Meer and Talat Hussain, who consider this bill damaging the countrys interests and quite a few newspaper columnists are also not ready to accept this bill in its present form..I believe these anchors and columnists could be considered educated and quite familiar with English language, so there is something which is not right about this billsome would go to the extent to call it Ghulami ki dastawaiz The masses, though uneducated and nave have also taken this line, and when the government decided not to pay any attention to this hue and cry, military had to come up with a press release, which made the government realize that all was not right with the bill, which as usual, added more salt to its injuriesThough some people went to the extent to call it sovereignty hysteria and considered it pointless to talk about sovereignty, as probably we dont have any!!! But it should be put into consideration that neither the masses, nor the journalists and the civil society was happy about selling our sovereignty to the US or even Taliban.So if they are talking about reviving it there shouldnt be a problem.
The most interesting perspective, I found was of some people who raised questions like What is new in this bill?, Why are people crying when similar laws have been passed by the Americans previously? How is this different from the previous ones? I went through a few bills discussed by the Americans and found this one too which insists the government to declare Pakistan as a terrorist state then 9/11 happened and we became the Front line allies and the curse of being American allies is still haunting usduring the past few years and throughout the history the damage done by the American Friendship was more than its benefits and yet our governing class always tried to crave for this one sided friendship, which has only brought disaster and plight.
I believe we are looking for something different in the wrong place, to find the difference; we need to look at the right place, which in my view are the masses, if we look at them, we can see the change in the way the people think, they are awake and aware of what is going on around them. They listen, understand and react. They know the game being played with them by the bureaucracy and politicians and it is not easy to fool them for long, neither for the government, nor for the opposition They know that this particular one and any other aid is not and will not be used on them, so it doesnt make a difference in their economical condition, whether we accept this bill or reject it, but accepting one disgrace after the other is just undigestible and is something which affects our national ego. The Natioanal Ego, which was very badly damaged by our beggar president Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, probably to an extent we even forgot that it used to exist. But this is no more acceptable to the masses, and in spite of being under a huge economic burden, they like to voice their concerns and express their opinion on national issues. Many of us say that we dont have a right to talk about sovereignty and we should forget about it and look forward to getting more dollars as we need them.I am asking them, who is the one who needed these dollars? Is it the masses? Or it is the ruling elite? The aid has always kept coming and disappearing into banks and assets around the world and people of Pakistan were made to pay for the money, which was never spent on them rather spent on the enjoyment of the elite. This is not acceptable any moreThe waves of change are there, but some prefer to keep their eyes closed and deny their very existence. I would call it the media miracle, which has precipitated the transformation in the way of thinking of the masses.The people of Pakistan now feel that their rulers have been fooling them for quite long time and they also have a right to live in a dignified way, not allowing others to violate our territory or use it for creating unrest in other countries, that includes Taliban and Americans both. But some people, whose eyes are blinded by the shining dollars and their minds are mesmerized by the luster of the western civilization are very keen on accepting the foreign dictation, whether its from the Americans or Saudis.
It is a fact that our elite ruling class had almost always prostrated in front of the Americans, and guarded their interests in the region and there are really few examples when they decided to go against the American will, but the way in which the current government looks at the Americans as saviors and guarantors of democracy and democratic government is just shameful and utter disgrace. The people of Pakistan do not consider Americans as their friends, in fact they strongly oppose the American policies in the region It is time that the government should accept this fact and establish an independent, dignified and balanced foreign policy. Otherwise we may see a flood of the masses taking everything along with it.
The nostalgia of the masses coming out in a spectacular manner to get the chief justice reinstated, lives on and gives glad tidings that there is more to come.something has change and that is the people of Pakistan