The Pakistani revenge
Monday , January 16, 2012 at 13 : 49
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After Musharraf shot himself in the foot by messing with the Chief Justice, and got ousted, Pakistan lurched back to democracy. Benazir Bhutto returned in spite of being warned and narrowly escaped assassination in the joyous but tumultuous procession from the airport to her residence. However, she did not throw in the towel and many admired her guts. She was not lucky the second time. Many Pakistanis suspect Musharraf's connivance in the assassination.
Zardari found himself catapulted as PPP's head but coyly admitted that he can never hope to be a Bhutto, and so plonked his son Bilawal on the Chair and anointed him as the chairman.
Zardari promised to keep the seat warm till Bilawal Bhutto completes his education. Bilawal, not comfortable with any of the local dialects, delivered the inaugural speech in Queen's English. He ended the speech cutely with, "Democracy is the best revenge." The Pakistani army must have been tickled by his style.
With the latest memo-gate scandal and Gilani-Kayani spat making headlines, everyone is wondering as to when the inevitable will come about. However, will the army like to take over and grapple with the economy which is falling into a black hole?
The Pakistani army has tweaked the term, "Military Industrial Complex." The Pakistani army is into business in Pakistan with its Fauji Foundation. It runs steel mills, oil terminal complexes, finance companies, breakfast cereal companies and many other such activities where margins are high. It got its fingers in every nook and corner where there is honey.
The Foundation enjoys a monopoly where ever it operates and enjoys tax benefits. Both retired Army officers and few serving officers on deputation run the show. The Foundation's profits are utilized for rehabilitating retired soldiers, where the Generals get the best cut followed by the other officers and the soldiers get to keep the crumbs, which is substantial.
The Fauji Foundation is so big that its health is closely linked to the economic health of the country. The economy is in a downward spiral. Pakistan's duplicity in running with the hare and hunting with the hounds is exposed and the USA is set to withdraw from Afghanistan.
It looks as though aid from the USA will dry up, and the Pakistani finance ministry will have to scrape the bottom and set aside more money for the army.
Peter Drucker mentioned that the business of business is to stay in business. The Pak army is well into business, and in the present conditions if the Pakistan army takes over the country, it will have to show an improvement in the economy. If it fails there will be riots and the Pak army will be out of business.
Back-seat driving is preferable to owning responsibility. It is similar to the East India Company preferring not to conquer and rule China but to force unequal treaties on it so that opium could be pumped into it.
For the first time in Pakistan's history, the Prime Minister seems to be daring the Pakistani army. He made remarks against the holiest of all cows, the ISI. The Defence Secretary, a Lieutenant General, has been sacked and replaced by a woman, which is unthinkable. This amounts to the civilian Government ramping up its clout over the army. The army cannot allow the slide to begin and gain momentum.
The Army called a Corps Commanders' meeting, presumably to intimidate the civilian government. The judiciary acquiesced to earlier army take-overs and gave it a cloak of respectability with its doctrine of necessity. This time, to the army's delight, the judiciary is taking initiative in the memo-gate issue. Imran Khan is gaining popularity and his ascendency will send shivers down Sindh's spine. Will there be a coup with both the army and PPP staring into the empty barrel of a bankrupt nation?
Frequent alternating between civilian and army rule is bound result in fatigue- fracture of Pakistan, and a break from the monotonous cycle can be expected. Is balkanization on the lines of Soviet Russia and Yugoslavia possible? Is the Idea of Pakistan flawed and dangerous for the world? Since 1947, Pakistan has been spinning away from secularism with increasing velocity, and its fledgling democratic institutions have not helped.
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