IS the Pakistani public obsessed with politics? Or is it the media which is fuelling the impression that this is what the nation wants and, therefore, every day reams of paper and tens of e-hours of TV programmes, YouTube channels and social media are taken up by politics?

If you have consumed some of the media output in the past week, the content has been dominated by ‘will he, won’t he?’ Yes, you have guessed it. The issue is whether Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi will advise the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly as his key ally Imran Khan wishes him to.

Imran Khan’s desire is rooted in his view that a dissolution of the Punjab and KP assemblies would trigger a chain reaction that would eventually lead to the premature demise of the PDM’s federal government and pave the way for fresh elections and the PTI’s path back to power.

For their part, the parties in the coalition government in Islamabad feel that for them to be able to continue till the full term of the current parliament in August next year, it is important that no provincial government falls as they fear a domino effect that could take them down too.

When we look at the demeanour of our top-level national leaders we are right to feel troubled.

Even as Imran Khan has realised that he has lost the support of the military and its persuasive agencies that are known to have tipped the scales of justice, ensuring his rise to high office in 2018, he believes his ‘narrative’ is an equally potent weapon and can deliver him a big electoral win.

Whether post-truth arguments such as a foreign conspiracy toppled him can win him votes isn’t clear. What is clear is that the economic crisis triggered in the short term by the Ukraine war and its impact on global energy and food prices and over the long term by lopsided policies reflecting the elite capture of the Pakistani economy has inflicted unbearable pain on the masses.

The average Pakistani is struggling to make ends meet and is seething with anger. Whether they’ll punish the incumbents for this misery or see the problem in its larger context is difficult to say, but it is clear there can be no certainty of a win for the government in Islamabad at this stage.

That is what’s driving the government to dig in its heels to stay in office for a few more months in the hope that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar — who promises the stars — can deliver, though independent experts are not sure what’s prompting this optimism given his abysmal performance to date. The economy seems poised on the verge of collapse.

Would you critique this snapshot of the state of play today on the basis that it misses an important player or two and, ergo, is so deficient that it counts for nothing? Well you could. While it is tempting to believe the most potent player is now ‘apolitical’, some observations suggest otherwise.

Even national-level elected politicians who have rubbed the player the wrong way, are facing serious retribution ranging from prolonged ‘quasi-legal’ incarceration to being dragged from one court to the other while remaining in captivity.

After a public admission of mistakes, most notably of violating the Constitution and indulging in political engineering, which led to utterly disastrous results, a policy decision taken and made public, after an ‘institutional consensus’ to turn apolitical, has to pass certain tests to be credible.

The withdrawal to the barracks is admittedly not easy after such deep and prolonged hands-on involvement in every facet of government and public policy, so, yes, analysts such as this columnist need to be patient and not expect overnight miracles.

On the other hand, those whose near and dear ones have been forcibly disappeared in Balochistan or those who continue to feel hunted and hounded by both the terrorists and the state forces for so many years in KP, particularly in the merged districts, can’t be counselled to display infinite patience.

Admittedly, terrorism is rearing its ugly head again in regions bordering Afghanistan; it is not just the valiant soldiers, who have taken an oath to defend the motherland, that are offering blood sacrifices, but even civilians are caught in the vortex of violence. This needs to be factored into any security policy.

With the burden of these domestic and external challenges, the best of political minds would have struggled to chart a safe course forward. But when we look at the ‘empathy’ and demeanour of our top-level national leaders it is inevitable we feel troubled.

Having shied away from too much criticism of the political leadership in the past simply because it was being targeted and demonised via an orchestrated media campaign by elements in the power structure who should have had no role in politics, it is impossible for me to hold my peace now. If you wish to know why, just please google and read the reports by two fantastic journalists.

Both focus on Balochistan. The first is by Akbar Notezai who must be the finest journalist of his generation from the province. The report on ‘loksujag.com’ chronicles and documents the nexus between the plunder of natural resources and politicians. It hones in on the Saindak ‘copper scandal’.

The second is Tooba Masood’s ‘Mothers of courage’ on dawn.com, as she reports from Jaffarabad District’s flood-hit areas and the travails of hundreds of pregnant women who have neither the support of their ‘men’ nor of the state. Some are full-term and still live in waterlogged areas and came to the camp wading through waist-deep water. Their only hope are the volunteers and social workers who refuse to collapse under the weight of a task that only the state can and should shoulder.

This is the state of the ruled. Turn to their rulers and you’ll witness the most ostentatious of lifestyles: opulent mansions, Birkin handbags, Gucci shoes and huge SUVs even on metalled roads. I am filled with despair and hopelessness.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2022