Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

Here mobsters like Tipu Truckanwala and Abdul Rehman Dakait have funeral gatherings of thousands where their virtues are extolled while the ignored eminent educationists, intellectuals and journalists have very few people to mourn them

The chaos, anarchy, corruption, ineptitude, misrule, mess, buffoonery and the sheer hopelessness that we see in everyday life and the sheer irrationality that passes off for governance, diplomacy, strategy or for that matter piety does not surprise me in the least now. No, I have not become insensitive to the surroundings but as Ghalib said, ‘Jab tawako he uthh gaye Ghalib, Kyun kisi say gilla kare koi’ (When expectations ebbed away, why should one complain?).

All these problems did not appear unbeknownst and unheralded like a huge earthquake followed by a huge tsunami taking all unawares in their state of innocence and deprived all of the political, social and behavioural norms and values; this injury is self-inflicted. Masses adopt ruling classes’ vices as virtues and the latter excel at every known evil under the sun, hence the present situation.

Before we talk about other things, just see the ridiculousness displayed down under. Watching the pathetic incident I remembered that the culprit is very religious. He certainly must have invoked Allah before shouldering the task himself.

An anecdote may explain his conduct. During wheat harvest small pirs, like the politicians at the time of elections — incidentally there is a surfeit of them both — visit their mureeds and sundry to collect wheat. A pir demanded more than usual from a mureed; the lean harvest forced him to refuse. The pir thundered, “I will invoke my ancestors to burn your harvest”. The mureed did not yield.

The farmers sleep near their harvests. That night the mureed heard rustling noise and approached only to see the pir ready to strike a match. Asked what on earth he was doing, he replied that his ancestors had not responded so he decided to do the task. Afridi too must have prayed hard but sensing that succour may arrive late, dealt with the matter on urgent basis; so much for all the piety that is shown by sajdas when victorious and starting interviews invoking the name of Allah.

But then the cricket team is not the only one, which indulges in a charade of religiosity. The rulers shamelessly perform Umra and Hajj on the taxpayers’ expenses. In 2004, this country was fortunate enough to have three prime ministers (Mr Jamali, Chaudhry Shujaat and Shaukat Aziz) and together they spent Rs 43 millions on Umra visits. A Muhammadmian Soomro Umra alone cost PIA $ 2.8 million because the plane remained parked for four days. This president took along 300 persons, it is claimed on his own expense.

Putting a foot in the mouth is the national pastime here. Remember Wasi Zafar, the law minister with an extremely long and strong arm of law? Recently, a PPP minister said that they too had a right to corruption and still warms that seat. In September 2009, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan’s use of, to put it mildly, ‘unparliamentary language’ against Kashmala Tariq on TV went unpunished although the PM promised action. In contrast, the Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa resigned because he looked drunk during a press conference.

The dichotomy between word and deed here is indeed incredible. Rulers and politicians are frivolous, puerile, downright immature and, above all, remorseless. In September 2005, in a Washington Post interview Musharraf said, “Women in Pakistan get themselves raped to become millionaires.” Insensitivity and ludicrousness par excellence and he was an ‘enlightened moderate’. Not to be outdone, the present incumbent offered to hug Sarah Palin and would not let go of her hand.

While small loan defaulters are harassed into committing suicide, the influential get them written off. The Supreme Court was informed that commercial banks had written off loans of up to Rs 256 billion since 1971. Petty cash for some.

Punjab whines about the Indian dams, but denies Sindh and Balochistan their rightful water share. They change non-perennial canals like Jehlum-Chashma Link Canal and Greater Thal Canal to perennial canals and wonder at resentment against them. Electricity shortage is rued but the streetlights remain on all day. Kundas milk the power lines with impunity, but power companies issue detection bills against the bill paying public.

Private hospitals and medical universities preach hygiene and charge exorbitant fees, but invest not a penny in incinerators. They put the hazardous waste out in open; I often see people scavenging waste outside Isra University Hyderabad for recovering recyclable materials. So much for the publicly professed altruism.

Unsurprisingly, a 2007 news report said, “Government spends Rs 65m on overseas treatment of 18 bigwigs” and added “that too in a country where the public per capita health expenditure is measly Rs 360”. Visit government hospitals and you will see abattoirs-like conditions prevail there, fully reflecting the Rs 360 per capita expenses. In contrast to this measly health expenditure, Prime Minister Gilani was allocated Rs 80 million a month, a total of Rs 958 million for his foreign tours during 2008-09, but he ended up spending Rs 112 million a month — a total of Rs 1.3 billion. Could not this money have been better spent on hospitals?

The military possesses the much-trumpeted ‘Islamic bomb’, but seeks strategic depth in Afghanistan. The drones fly from Pakistan with express government permission, yet leaders protest loudly about violation of their ghairat and sovereignty.

Lucrative commercial ventures too are within ambit for all. On December 19, 2002 Musharraf granted the lease on Webb Ground to Army Welfare Trust for 90 years at the annual rent of Rs 6,020 only, it was transferred to Makro-Habib by way of sub-lease for an initial term of 30 years after receiving an advance rent of Rs 100 million based on a variable annual amount of at least Rs 17.5 million and a maximum equivalent to one percent of the annual turnover of the outlet. The Supreme Court has given six months to Makro to restore ground to its original state. Implementation is awaited with abated breath as Rana Sanaullah’s plaza still stands.

The Karachi Port Trust leased out 881 acres prime sea-front land at throwaway price in 2008. The land was given to the Defence Housing Authority on a 99-year lease at a premium of Rs 2.5 per square metre and an annual rent of 18 paisa per square metre. Will they charge the same from their lessees?

Here mobsters like Tipu Truckanwala and Abdul Rehman Dakait have funeral gatherings of thousands where their virtues are extolled while the ignored eminent educationists, intellectuals and journalists have very few people to mourn them.

Compassion plays no part in life here. In 2003, Professor Ahmad Hassan Dani of the Taxila Institute of Asian Civilisations was dismissed by the Higher Education Commission to accommodate its favourite. The greatest living archaeologist here and the only reader of the Kharoshthi script was left floundering in the twilight of his life. Faraz and his family were evicted from their Islamabad house in 2006, their belongings placed on the street for having offended the high and mighty.

Good for nothing former presidents enjoy extraordinary privileges; Leghari and Tarar each are getting Rs 48,450 pension per month. They can use government guesthouses, rest houses and circuit houses throughout the country free of charge. They have one private secretary, a security guard, driver and a cook and they and their families can avail themselves free medical treatment in Pakistan or abroad for a lifetime. Their official residences are government maintained. They do not have to pay for calls costing less than Rs 72,000 a year and receive Rs 32,000 per month as car allowance.

This is madness; it cannot be anything else. It simply cannot be purposeless; it has to have a rationale. Watayo Faqir is the Sindhi folk equivalent of Mulla Naseeruddin. His anecdote may explicate this madness. Once Watayo was informed that his mother was oddly writhing in the dust on a street. He went to her and inquired about the apparent madness. She said, “Son, a rupee coin was on the ground and I thought if I retrieved it someone would claim it. So I acted mad and weltered in dust to pick it.” Watayo said, “I knew my mother would not be mad without a good reason.”

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur has an association with the Baloch rights movement going back to the early 1970s. He can be contacted at mmatalpur@gmail.com