Many have little faith in leaders they suspect are fighting for their own vested interests
The Toronto Star, November 17, 2007
Sonya Fatah
LAHORE, Pakistan–While Pakistan’s politicians are jockeying for power and preening for the press, many of the country’s 160 million people are coming to see the fracas as a farce. The result is increasing disillusionment, frustration and apathy on the streets of major cities.
“I’m so confused about what is going on in the country right now,” said a law student at the University of Punjab in Lahore who did not want to be named.
“One day, (opposition leader Benazir) Bhutto says something; the next day she says the complete opposite. (President Pervez) Musharraf says he is going to stay as Pakistan’s leader. Then he says he might leave.”
Many Pakistanis believe that the events of the last few weeks are an elaborate drama scripted in the United States and staged under its direction. Whatever the results, many say they feel alienated from the political process, and have little faith in leaders they believe are fighting for their own vested interests.
“Our elite class is entirely in charge,” said Agha Mohammad Ayaz, 54, a Lahore-based businessman. “The rest of us have no ability to influence the law or anything. If that system doesn’t change, and the issues aren’t addressed, we’re heading for disaster.”
A history of misleading, unaccountable leaders has hobbled the political system.
“We’ve got no leaders,” said Karachi-based columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee, 81, rattling off the names of politicians and their transgressions.
“We have Benazir Bhutto – she’s robbed the nation. Then we have Altaf Hussein – he’s an extortionist. Nawaz Sharif? He thinks that he is God’s son. We have Imran Khan, who can play good cricket and otherwise nothing.”
Not surprisingly, the absence of effective, sustained leadership has also alienated youth across the country.
“I don’t really care what happens when this whole drama is over,” said Azqa Rehamn, 18, a second-year art student at Punjab University.
“There are a lot of people here who don’t even know who the prime minister is right now. And frankly we don’t care.”
As the political crisis worsens, an elaborate spin campaign is fostering widespread cynicism.
The government of Punjab, Pakistan’s richest and most populous state, for instance, is on a mission to flaunt its accomplishments.
The faces of Musharraf and the chief minister of Punjab, Pervaiz Elahi, peer out from massive hoardings and cloth banners fluttering in Lahore’s wintry breeze.
“Golden Age of Prosperity” boasts one advertisement. In another one, Punjabi farmers look relaxed and happy as they watch a farmer dance in joy. In the background are endless fields of lush green crops.
“They think we’re dumb,” said Salahuddin, 46, a driver with a cab company at Lahore’s Farooq Hotel.
“They think we can be slapped around like sheep but it’s no longer true. The public has become much wiser to the ways of our politicians.”
Fact is, the Pakistani public no longer has to digest censored news or propaganda from the state-run news channel. Ever since the 2003 media revolution, ushered in by Musharraf himself, many have tuned in to private local channels that give unvarnished news accounts.
Many feel cut off in other ways. As Musharraf quashes student and political activity by erecting roadblocks, he prevents ordinary people from reaching their workplaces or homes.
“I just want to get to my village,” an elderly woman pleaded at a police barricade on an interstate motorway that was two kilometres from her home, on the day that Bhutto was supposed to lead a march from Lahore to Islamabad.
Along with her elderly mother, she and countless others waited seven hours by the side of the road before the barricade was removed.
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