Democracy is like a pet turtle

…and other observation from one Mazhar Fakhr

“There is no bigger honor than being the citizen of the greatest country in the world,” he said, proudly looking at a picture of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in his office. “But then I was deported from Canada and had to come back to Pakistan.”

Mazhar Fakhr is among the many disgruntled young Pakistanis who were part of the Lawyers Movement of 2007 hoping it would bring a revolution. “We feel used and abused,” Fakhr said. “We did not give away our livelihoods and shed our blood to see this country being run by a democratic government!”
Dejected, he grew a Y chromosome and joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. And he was not the only one. Thousands of young girls who had lost their jobs after Farmville became outdated on Facebook became fans of former sportsman Imran Khan, whose political career began in the cricket dressing room and ended when he formed his own political party 15 years ago.
Khan is being seen as new hope for Pakistan, but no hope is being seen for Khan himself, especially after key politicians of the country began a campaign to malign Imran Khan – by joining his party. His younger supporters are calling for a revolution.
“Democracy is like a pet turtle,” an analyst explains. “If you’ve had it for more than a few days, you don’t care about it any longer.”
Others point towards the role of the media. “Television has made dictatorship impossible,” says one political analyst, “but it has also made democracy unbearable.”
Young people are so dissatisfied with the conditions in the country, says Imran Khan, that almost all children born in major hospitals of Pakistan have been seen crying.
Amid the confusion, Mazhar Fakhr believes the country is heading towards anarchy. “But we won’t get there. Because we are running out of CNG,” his rickshawala responds.
 
Light at the end of the tunnel:
And that is one of Pakistan’s major problems.
“Last night was unbelievable,” said Fakhr’s wife. “My husband and I were in bed. It went on for two hours. I was so wet and could hardly breathe. Load shedding has made our lives miserable. We just cannot sleep.”
As the country battles an acute energy crisis, its economy is worsening. “There is light at the end of the tunnel,” a government official told this scribe. “But it had to be switched off in order to save electricity.”
“This is an alarming trend,” Mazhar Fakhr said. “If they don’t come up with a way to meet the electricity shortage, one day we might have to watch news channels in candlelight.”
As industries close and businesses shut down, 74.7 percent of people who have lost their jobs complained in a recent survey that they were being seen as mere statistics.
The government says it does not have enough money to import more fuel to produce electricity. According to recent reports, the cabinet has approved a plan by the energy minister to increase the number of barrels of oil being imported without increasing the price. “We will reduce the size of barrels,” a source in the government revealed.
Increasing fuel prices have hurt commuters in the urban centers. “Gasoline is so expensive,” complains Fakhr, “If I don’t drive my car for three months, I’d save money for a new car.”
 
No need for economic theory:
Despite his failures, the finance minister has refused to quit. “I cannot quit my job at this critical juncture,” he told reporters. “Where will I find a new job in such a poor economy?”
But despite the adversity, government jobs are abundant. Pakistan’s premier airline and its railways department hired a large number of skilled and unskilled staff to improve their efficiency. “We have however decided to end all train services and close down all offices in order to reduce operational costs,” a top railways official said in a statement.
“Blue Collar workers don’t need economic theory,” one commentator says. “All they need is a small pin Nokia charger, and the cheapest phone calls in the world.”
White Collar workers and small traders are not asking for too much either, according to Mazhar Fakhr. “We want the government to pay for our education, health, defense, electricity, roads, telecommunications, and entertainment, subsidize fuel and food, and give everyone government jobs. And all we ask them in return is, do not tax us, do not borrow money, do not allow foreign investment, and do not accept American aid.”
 
No such thing as Punjabi Taliban:
Foreign aid and investment are among the most controversial issues in a foreign policy that the young people of Pakistan are not ready to own.
“First we must end the duplicity that we have exercised in the last 10 years,” Fakhr says. “We must decide to openly and firmly support our key ally in the war on terror – the Taliban.”
Leaders of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz agree. “As a responsible state, we must fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” said a leader of the socially conservative party that rules in Punjab. “Therefore, we must declare a war against the US.” Defense analysts believe the war should however be fought on Pakistani territory. “Our noble goal of ruining the American economy and infrastructure,” one retired general said, “should be left to the next Republican Party president.”
“Pakistan has made great sacrifices in the war on terror,” the PMLN leader said. “We continued to support the Taliban who killed 30,000 Pakistanis and several thousand troops in terrorist attacks for a decade.”
He denied the Taliban had been gaining influence in the province ruled by his party. “There is no such thing as Punjabi Taliban,” he said. “We are all Pakistani Taliban.”
 
Changing history, one page at a time:
The ruling Pakistan People’s Party refuses to take the blame for the country’s poor foreign policy, saying it is controlled by Pakistan Army. Asked if the military is entitled to make such decisions for Pakistanis, the defense minister said: “The army is like the Windows operating system of Pakistan. They just do everything for the people on their own, and then ask them to click Okay to continue.”
But some recent security failures have embarrassed the military and experts say they are now on the back foot, especially after allegations that they have been supporting terrorists. A key among those failures was when Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden was found living in the garrison town of Abbottabad, and killed by intruding US troops. “That was such a huge embarrassment for Pakistan that Jemima Goldsmith tried to marry it,” an analyst said. But the military is determined to clear its name, improve its image, and change history. “We have decided that we must change history, one page at a time,” an intelligence official said. “For that we have hired a team of experts who will make changes to Wikipedia articles about us.”
 
Govt keeps blocking/unblocking
makeupyourmind.com:
But people like Mazhar Fakhr are no longer interested in the Internet as a tool for change, especially after the government’s decision to ban a large number of websites featuring pornography. Because they have nothing to do online, many of them are ready to take to the streets.
“Politics is an ugly, ugly business,” says a political writer. “I mean look at Chaudhry Nisar.” The PMLN leader has been accused of meeting military leaders and asking them to depose the PPP government. But the military did not listen. “Army chief Gen Kayani is an excellent soldier,” the writer says. “Like a true professional, he knew exactly when it was time to retire, but decided to stay for three more years.” As new elections loom, the PPP is wary. It has not been able to come up with a firm response, and has so far only been blocking and unblocking the website www.makeupyourmind.com.
One of the president’s daughters who had released a rap song two years ago has not been able to come up with a new one for the election campaign. “She cannot find words that rhyme with ‘extensive borrowing’, ‘inflation’ and ‘rental power plants’,” a source said.
“The only thing lower than President Asif Zardari’s popularity rating right now is Imran Khan’s IQ,” an analyst said.
“This is the problem with democracy,” says Mazhar Fakhr. “Democracy means anyone can grow up to be president.” “And those who haven’t grown up yet can be foreign minister,” his wife adds.  
As both the previous foreign ministers are now colleagues in Imran Khan’s PTI, the young people of Pakistan believe a change is inevitable.
“We will not sell our country to America,” Mazhar Fakhr says. “We will sell it to China.”

The writer is a journalist.