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REACTING to a call by religio-political alliance, the
MMA, a partial strike was observed in diverse vicinities of
Pakistan — at the weekend — to, what is pretended as ‘a protest
against the detention of some scientists in connection with
the nuclear proliferation issue’.
Business and commercial activities were affected in major
cities including the country’s financial capital. Irrespective
of the justification and success of the strike or otherwise,
the fact is that it has not only inflicted enormous pecuniary
loss on the nation but has — simultaneously — caused severe
hardship to the people.
As is estimated that the nation suffers a loss of almost 4
billion rupees — a day — as and when such a course is opted by a
set of vested interests — overtly to magnify their ‘zest n’
allure’ of polity — in a peculiar style.
Every pragmatist, resolutely believes in the veracity that the
avowal by MMA to go on strike had lost its authenticity in the
objective conditions after President Pervez Musharraf had
announced a pardon for Pakistan’s apex nuclear scientist, Dr
AQ Khan in the wake of a meticulous probe into the issue of
nukes’ proliferation.
With this bona fide perception, the egalitarians are ought to
be aware of the fact that Pakistan can — in no way — manage to pay
for the lavishness of strikes in view of its economic
situation, now taking impetus via a phased sketch.
Amid the sumptuousness, let loose by the gone-bye regimes, the
nation has barely come out of its fiscal jumble. Though, there
are perceptibly positive pointers of financial revival, but
the process of the country’s economic take-off can plunge into
jeopardy with such gratuitous pursuits by a few sets of
political parties — opposed to the government, with one ruse or
the other.
It’s — in fact — fraught with sliding the country’s assets n’
resources, eventually — back to stagnation, which every patriot
wouldn’t like, in any way.
Instead, its’ time to pursue the call of the Father of the
Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah [RA] — wherein he had
beamed his illustrious vision — work, work and work to
strengthen the national economy.
Pakistan’s economic expansion n’ affluence has lagged mostly
because of such frolicsome quests — by n’ large due to its
political stalwarts, the bulk of whom has fantastic glamour n’
fancy for self-projection — even at the cost of loved national
interests.
We feel that not only the MMA — but even others — should go far
realism — vis-ŕ-vis their national obligations as vital
components of the political entity in Parliament rather than
resorting to atypical short-sighted loom to exploit a complex
scenario — faced by the country.
Probe into the nuclear proliferation was not an average issue.
It had the potential of having negative bearing on the
country’s nuclear programme. It was time to rise above party
politics and face the situation with wisdom, expediency and
political acumen instead of opting for strikes and agitation.
Factually, it is a crucial topic and needed to be viewed with
political maturity in the supreme national interests. There
was — therefore — no raison d'ętre or logic for protest since the
President had placed all the facts pertaining to the inquiry
into the nuclear proliferation before the people.
We hope with a solid ray of optimism that in view of the
country’s politico-economic situation, the strike culture
shall come to an end at-once. This is what the electorate
expects from their representatives — sent to the fabulous Houses
of the Parliament — to mitigate their hereditary dilemmas via
requisite legislations — instead of posing perils to them in
multiple arenas — with dexterity.
Such a course — if persists and is not eschewed — the history
shall set in motion, in the same awful fashion — as is indexed
in its’ preamble about the gaffe of the evaporated democratic
epochs — of the past, times of yore.
© 2004 Mumtaz Hamid
Rao/Pakistan Times |
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