The political vendetta

Well you know whats going on in Pakistan right now. All these so-called seasoned politicians are up against Musharraf while at the other hand Musharraf is busy making and breaking, twisting the political allies for his (or their) own advantage. They're talking about the supremacy of Parliament, freedom of judiciary, independence of institutions et al but don't you think it's all talk and no action? Who is working for the country, anyway? They (a term I use collectively for generals, agencies, politicians) are working for their own advantage while we savour on the wishful thinking of a better future.

The question I ask you today is, what good musharraf, pml-q did to Pakistan? Ironically, and much to my surprise, they still talk about development. No, I am not being naive; I just can't deny the truth that's so harsh that I don't even feel belonged in this country. The suicide attacks, energy crisis, economic troubles, inflation and I could go on are all evidence of what good they did to this country.

The only positive aspect of Pakistan was that no matter how insecure or troubled Pakistan seemed from the world outside, it was a safer place to live and raise a family. Today, we don't even have that in hand.

For the sake of keeping this discussion alive, do you think things are going to change in near future? If yes, how? If it's patience that you suggest then let me remind you that we've been feeding water and light to this tree of patience since 1947. The fruit?

A teacher of mine once said that on average, a family goes from poor to rich and back to poor in 4-5 generations. He explained this by saying that the first generation of a family grows up in a poor home, they learn the importance and value of money and have important concepts regarding saving money and spending it wisely, etc, etc… This first generation transfers these values to their children, the second generation, who, due to their parent’s good spending habits, have the chance of getting an education and basically are better able to provide for themselves than their previous generation. While not rich, the second generation is well to do. The third generation grows up in a middle class environment, learning some values about spending wisely, saving, etc, and have a better education, thus, they have a chance to get rich. This generation can be said to belong to the upper class. The fourth generation now grows up in a modern, trendy, rich environment, has probably not learnt anything about saving money or spending it appropriately, since they had an abundance of it. This is the generation that squanders the family wealth, leaving the next generations poor, until the cycle starts again. Now, the families that are still rich after the 3rd generation are those that hang on the values of their forefathers, those of the first generation.
I like to think that any countries politicians go through the same cycle. The first generation, comprising great men like the Quaid, Liaqat Ali Khan, etc… lived at a time when we did not have freedom. These were the men who got us freedom, and were the ones who respected and valued it the most. The next generation of politicians, like Ayub Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, were the ones who grew up at a time when our freedom was in danger, when Pakistan was quite a poor country, and thus they valued freedom and money, perhaps not like the Quaid, but still valued it. They made Pakistan able to stand on its own two feet. They may have spent unwisely, but not as much as the current generation of politicians, who grew up in a rather stable and richer Pakistan, where they grew up in mostly upper class families, not having to worry about the money running out, etc… And my opinion is that they run this country the same way.
The youth of this generation, who will grow up to be the politicians of tomorrow, are people much like you and me, are living in a Pakistan torn with corruption, greed, terrorism and what not. We have seen what can be done to a country by such things, we have lived through load-shedding, water shortages, gas shortages, petrol price hikes, suicide bombings, etc, etc, and are much more likely to be motivated to fix such problems if we ever get into the government. One prime example of this is the new traffic police [Punjab/Islamabad/Faisalabad/Lahore/etc]. I think what is important is that once we reach this step, to make provisions so that the cycle does not go back to the beginning. In this regard, I like to think of USA, where, at least in my opinion, there are laws and checks in place to make sure that a single man cannot and will not destroy the entire country.
To answer your original question, I go by the statement that patience will lead to a better Pakistan…