Heaping scorn over injury!

Ostensibly, Pakistan is in the grip of a serious economic crisis. The budget deficit has risen to unmanageable proportions. The rupee has fallen to an all-time low. Inflation is rising at an alarming pace and prices are spiralling uncontrollably. Almost half of the population is living below the poverty line, unable to earn enough to have even a single meal in a day, while the rest is struggling to survive. There are shortages galore of basic commodities that have hit the market. Paradoxically, this and much more is only for the underprivileged and the poor of the country while the NROed leadership is busy having it good in the cosy comforts of lands far and distant. Even their so-called strategic meetings are being held away from the confines of a miserable Pakistan that is almost permanently engulfed in darkness. As one of my friends remarked cryptically: may be they want to be away from the bugs of the intelligence agencies!

The growing penchant to address national issues by holding cabinet and party meetings outside Pakistan is like heaping scorn over injury. In addition to being financially debilitating for an already empty exchequer, it is tantamount to administering that fatal coup de grace to whatever remains of the self-respect of this beleaguered nation. The monotonous and pitiable charade of offshore manoeuvres from the political charlatans reflects utter lack of sensitivity to the lacerating wounds that every heart is afflicted with.

While our leadership remains engrossed in their petty antics, Pakistan continues to bleed profusely. As expected, the farcical FATA operation has been aborted midstream and parleys restarted with militant factions to reach agreements. In the process, it appears that sizeable ground is being ceded to the head honchos of these conglomerates who are demanding a myriad of changes including the introduction of the Shariah law in areas that they lord over. This is being done in an environment when more tracts of land are continually falling under their suzerainty. The knocks on the doors of Peshawar have already been heard. Soon enough, those living in Islamabad and elsewhere would also be jolted out of their slumber to prepare for the onslaught.