[Reader-list] Fwd: Turning Pakistan around

[yasir ~يا سر]

From: naeem sadiq <naeemsadiq at gmail.com>



*Turning Pakistan around*

Naeem Sadiq

Q. Isa Daudpota


If you want numbers and statistics, read the Carnegie Endowment reports or
the Foreign Policy Institute’s Failed State Index.  Pakistanis have known
these stark facts viscerally for ages.  Using 12 indicators of state
cohesion and performance, the 2009 Index shows Pakistan ranked as the 10th most
failed state of the world – with Somalia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Chad,
Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guinea
and Central African Republic ahead of us.



The almost complete breakdown of governance and state machinery has made
life for all but the most privileged a painful daily reality.  But still
there is a way out this quagmire if people demand with vigour a few
essentials from *themselves* and the *state*!



'Unity, faith, discipline' [Jinnah’s slogan], ‘Roti, kapra, makan’ [Bread,
Clothing and Shelter, the slogan of the Zulfiqar Bhutto’s PPP]
and ‘Pakistan ka matlab kia’ [What does Pakistan mean to us?] – such slogans
play with public sentiments but have failed to move people.   A
disillusioned people must naturally want to move beyond this.  What then are
the principles, actions and tools that are needed to resuscitate the failing
state and lead it to a sustainable future.  On this journey of recovery we
will need to keep track of key parameters that mark progress.



The quality of public services (education, health, water, electricity,
public transport etc) is considered one key parameter of a state’s
performance. Economic justice, human rights and treatment of women are the
other key factors that indicate the well being of a society.  In addition,
the state must be seen to enforce the writ of the law.  The state needs to
define, plan, implement, measure and improve all these performance
indicators dramatically.   The role of the media and civil society
organization is to consistently highlight the successes and failures over
the long-term.  Until now the media, despite its remarkable successes, has
been inconsistent in following up issues until their resolution – it has
pecked at many serious current issues and problems and then moved on.  Other
organizations have largely fared worse.


As during the Enlightenment, and earlier as in the golden period of Islam,
the use of reason and modern knowledge must become the foundation for
reform.  Begin by rejecting state slogans and instead measure the state’s
performance.  Stop bowing to holy cows.  Respect must come from good
performance, not out of a historical accident.



Take the false slogan: “The parliament is supreme”.   Parliament is just one
component of the ‘state’, and like an important organ of state with a
specific function.  All state institutions have defined functions and no one
is either sovereign or operates in a vacuum.   Every institution needs to
operate effectively within itself and in concert with others while operating
within ambit of the law.



“We are only accountable to our electorate” or “We are the protectors of the
borders of our country and of our people” are other convoluted slogans that
need to be set aside.  If members of institutions steal, rape or murder they
must be accountable before the law regardless of any ideological slogan used
to provide exemption.



Ballot-box democracy has failed the country as has military rule.   We must
refuse new elections until the electoral process is completely
reformed.  Unless this is done the corrupt and incompetent will get
re-elected.   Important aspects that need reform are:  reducing election
expenses, verifiable election qualifications, ensuring clear verifiable
asset declarations and information about public service and criminal records
of candidates.



Pakistan must be run by its best citizens and not by imported ex pats who
have managed to serve themselves and their masters at Citicorp, World Bank,
IMF and donor agencies.  We must also beware of home-grown-and-nourished
“economic hit men” who act as proxies for such institutions, who advise the
country to spend beyond its means on mega-projects and become indebted to
the lenders forever.  Seehttp://tinyurl.com/32k8gjc and other material by
John Perkins (http://www.johnperkins.org) who in a series of publications
exposed the working of such agents working against developing countries.* *



There is today a shameful silence about population control.  A political
consensus is needed on this immediately – sustainable development is
impossible if we keep breeding as we have.   Pakistan must strictly adhere
to at most zero population growth (2 children per family) for which there is
precedence in Muslim countries.



Some of the most important factors for turning around the country are:
 equality
of opportunities, transparency and speedy and equal treatment before law for
all citizens.  The increasing class disparity needs to be reversed.   This
can be achieved promptly by mandating that children of all civil and
military officials and elected leaders be requiring to attend government
schools and they and their families only receive treatment in government
hospitals like every poor person in the country.  These high-ranking persons
should only use public or personal transport -- all official vehicles be
withdrawn from personal use.  They may not own property or passports of
foreign lands.  No one shall be entitled to free medical treatment abroad;
‘Umrahs’ and ‘Haj’ at state expense will stop.  No one shall possess or
carry weapons and every citizen shall receive the same level of protection.



The rich and powerful have benefited the most from Pakistan’s failure after
having caused it.  Unless they are truly threatened by change that will wipe
out their looted wealth and current privileges, they will obstruct change.  A
transformation can therefore only happen through a large-scale *subversion* by
its people.  The ideas of Saul Alinsky, the great US labour organizer, and
others of his ilk can provide the needed inspiration.  (See
http://tinyurl.com/ctpz5e).  "Civil" society will need to stop being "civil"
– it needs to become smart, think innovatively and act decisively to bring
about the urgent reformation.



----
An edited version appeared in Dawn
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/turning-pakistan-around-850

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people in poor countries.
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