Coping With The Challenged Survivability

When the Mid-East is still undergoing a ‘change over phase’ via public resentment, Pakistan faces a number of dire crises of its own. It is being targeted so severely by the highly trained and equipped militants including the BLA and Tehreek-e-Taliban (all guerrillas); while a lot of other anti Pakistan groups are roaming around - fully supported by the evil hand in hiding. Crazily, the "united enemy" is super active using 'state of the art weaponry' just to make Pakistan moan till its last breath.
The intruders and 'the terrorists from within' are using the brainwashed children as suicide bombers for the dirty work of fighting ‘proxy war’ against Pakistan-- just to put deep dents in it. The primary purpose of the enemy action cannot be anything other than spreading "confusion and sense of insecurity" so that the people have nothing but misperception about the competence of the Pak armed forces.
Having exhausted patience, manufacturing current chaotic atmosphere is surely a 'destabalization made easy’ which would serve as a smokescreen to facilitate the desperately awaited robbery of Pak nukes on a fast track.
Significantly scary indeed, yet the tsunami like political turbulence at the same moment is quite ripe in the country for hammering a last nail in the coffin. The country, with series of past successive constitutional subversions, is currently at the mercy of the “NRO pardoned PPP lead government.” Sadly, so many parliamentarians, who benefitted under the repealed ‘national reconciliation ordinance’ were found to be sitting as legislators based on their bogus degrees.
Therefore, Pakistan has been slowly poisoned to let it be in such a muddy state of affairs from where it seems almost impossible to come out alive. Pakistan now stands too confused with regard to seeing ahead with an ultimate accuracy.
The country has been fighting back against the "well engineered terrorism.” Rarely, a day goes by without a fatal incidence of terror, where a number of innocent lives are not lost. Even the most secured locations have been successfully penetrated deep inside by the commando-like militants just to ridicule the security of the most secured.
Nevertheless, the recent attack on PNS Mehran Karachi is a clear war on Pakistan - which couldn’t have been carried out without connivance of the insiders.
Shamefully, the insensitive government is not taking precautionary measures essential to repulse such deadly attacks before they even occur.  Six Americans and Eleven Chinese were rescued by the naval commandos. Yet, two naval surveillance planes were destroyed by the "highly trained saboteurs " who were fully equipped with rocket-propelled grenades, LMGs and hand grenades.
Ironically, the terrorists used night goggles, and they were behaving like professional commandos with hell of confidence and good calculation. On the other hand, non availability of night vision goggles to Pak soldiers was a major obstacle.
Indeed, Government has failed to control the wave of terror attacks designed to destabilize the country. For sure, liability of the armed forces with regard to the protection of country’s strategic interests can’t be ignored at any point. “Democracy disorder, administrative paralysis and now the incidence of security lapses on the rise” - are a real cause of deep nervousness for the Pakistani nation.
At the critical hour, any external meddling in Pakistan’s affairs shouldn’t demoralize Pak military or manipulate the so called democratically elected government to commit any contributory negligence.
Ground reality still remains that Pakistan consists of a corrupt society, where people live in a heavily flawed system. The people, at all levels, are only familiar with a corrupt environment around them. Naturally, they look for the short cuts and an easy way out. Therefore, they tend to give or receive bribe, use their connections in order to reach their goals.
Beyond a doubt, some in the populace are more vulnerable to the ulterior motives of foreign elements. Of course, the camouflaged enemy is hell bent to inflict deep wounds in Pakistan’s security apparatus. As mentioned above, currently Pakistan is going through the unpredictable episodes of guerrilla warfare carried out by the suicide bombers. Pathetically, the internal criminal elements, out of greed for heavy cash, are helping the external elements to destabilize the country. Therefore, the greedy insiders and the national or international media for spreading misinformation are to blame for the whole mess.
Preferring personal interest over national interest is not only immoral but also unconstitutional. Sadly, the defiant rulers and the incompetent functionaries have failed to care much about following the Law and Constitution as required.
Beyond any doubt, the nuclear equipped Pak armed forces are second to none even for the conventional warfare ‘if adequately supplied’ with the latest resources without prejudice, while some sources suggest, the ISI still ranks number one among the top ten, albeit blame of intelligence lapse.
Since, such strength is too grave a concern for the cunning enemy to handle, there has to be some other hostile roadmap however illegitimate to hit the country hard economically first as a prerequisite for the success of dismantling process to finish the job.
In fact, Pak economic empowerment suffers from steady decline and erosion due to electricity shortage throughout the country. God forbid, “Collapse of Pakistan” is getting closer to become a reality unless the nation muscles up sooner the better. Certainly, along with the economic strength and political maturity, the military might is a guarantee to provide and maintain vital signs for a country to breath.
A well thought out and highly calculated game plan to eliminate Pakistan from the map is going on successfully. So, no point scoring at this time, rather early securing of the national strategic interests should be the main national agenda. Yes, a political dialogue among all involved is essential for a satisfactory development.
A much needed review of the domestic security policy will be of much help to pinpoint and identify the weak links in security and intelligence apparatus. This approach would help the faulty international alignment of Pakistan and encourage institutional calibration for betterment. Otherwise, it is impossible to toe the country away from the present mess.
Since, self-reliance leads to economic stability bringing natural capacity building and resource utilization, the government must devise a strategy on urgent basis to generate funds through tax reforms, land reforms and other economic measures. The loop holes in tax-collection system should be plugged in order to stop tax evasion under all circumstances and a zero tolerance policy be implemented. This would ensure that the foreign financial dependence is minimized and phased out gradually.
Strengthened national economic condition would guarantee a decent survival followed by revival of normalcy, and that would be a blessing for the present and future generations indeed.

Quagmire of Pakistan’s Credibility Deficit

No doubt, Pakistan played its cards really well to claim a decent position whenever the US would finally leave Afghanistan accommodating Pakistan’s strategic interests. Yet, the recent US navy seal operation in Abbottabad ruined it. There is ambiguity about the duration of the operation, exact number of choppers involved and the Pakistani radar system.
Some anti Pakistan internal and external elements have always been working skilfully to damage US/PAK relations. Despite a huge number of sacrifices by Pakistan, an environment of trust deficit finally took over. Resultantly, the US went ahead without informing Pakistan-a front line friend in war on terrorism.
Washington claims Islamabad was not told about the operation fearing the leakage of the planned operation might jeopardize the commando strike. It claims Pakistani radars were deactivated to ensure the success of the operation, however, Islamabad claims quite the opposite as PAF clarification on the issue carries more weight and is acceptable beyond doubt. Nevertheless, the people are more concerned about the intelligence failure or lack of knowledge on the part of ISI as well as the lacking immediate response expected of the Pak security forces.
It is further claimed that while doing such an operation and drone attacks, the US isn’t breaking any rules because there exists an understanding or a secret deal reached between the ex Pres Musharraf and Mr. Bush regarding such incursions by the Americans. Whereas, the Zardari regime is simply obliged to follow the said deal.
Whatever the case may be, many citizens appear more interested to have a national referendum about dealing with the scenario. PML (n) wants a probe by the sitting chief justices of all high courts headed by the CJ Pakistan.
So far, there is no evidence that any active members of Pakistan’s military or intelligence establishment knew about or actively protected the al Qaeda leader. The US government knows well that Abbottabad incidence could not have happened without Pakistani cooperation, yet, the allegations by some senators or the Western media are aimed at building up pressure on Pakistan to have American friendly atmosphere in Afghanistan. India is very excited to win a position in Afghanistan for its own strategic benefits. Since, the current year is very important for Afghanistan, Pakistan will face difficult times ahead.
Interestingly enough, a conservative legal watchdog group has filed a legal complaint petitioning for compliance in the federal court of Washington. It is seeking the public release of the video and photographs of the raid and its aftermath. The group is asking the Department of Defense to comply with a Freedom of Information request for the material, especially photos of bin Laden’s body.
On the other hand, Pakistan National Assembly reaffirmed the resolve of the people and the Government of Pakistan to uphold Pakistan's sovereignty and national security, which is a sacred duty, at all costs. It also affirms the resolve of the people and state institutions of Pakistan to safeguard Pakistan's national interests and strategic assets and, in this context, underscores that any action to the contrary will warrant a strong national response. National parliament expressed its deep distress on the campaign to disturb Pakistan, launched by certain quarters in other countries without appreciating Pakistan's sacrifices in combating terror and the fact that more than 30,000 Pakistani innocent men, women and children and more than 5,000 soldiers had lost their lives in the fight against terror. Cooperation for eliminating international terrorism can only be carried forward on the basis of a true partnership approach, based on equality, mutual respect and mutual trust.
Though extremely painful, yet it seems as if lack of security and protection to the general public is none of the government’s business any longer. Faking national pride is nothing but an attempt of misleading the innocent public. A false sense of political and economic security is very dangerous for any country, where strong opposition in the parliament is almost nonexistent.
Damage Control: The armed forces of Pakistan are for safeguarding Pakistan's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and deserve to be supported by the people and the government in overcoming any challenge to security. As the situation is still within control, the civil population, the government, the opposition leaders, and military have to be on the same page to successfully rescue the sinking ship out of the troubled waters, safeguarding Pakistan’s national interests and strategic assets indeed.
Bottom line: Emotionality isn’t going to solve any problem. It is much better to identify the ongoing ground realities and the reasons behind. Based on the findings, a line of action is the best answer to proceed for becoming a proud nation.
Foreign financial dependence is one of the most dangerous dominant factors keeping Pakistan voiceless. Unless you have a voice, nobody would ever bother to listen.
Pakistan should be more focused on improving its economic environment to stand among the rich nations on equality basis.
In other words, talking about sovereignty is useless unless Pakistan’s entire leadership brings all looted money back to the nation’s exchequer and makes the country a Donor State to earn respect around the globe.

Q League Receives Prompt Dower

Unaware of the US military operation in Abbottabad, Pakistani Presidency was busy celebrating a deal between the two rival parties of conflicting agendas. Some journalist from the media contacted the Presidency to find out about the American operation; surprisingly the authorities at the Presidency knew nothing at the time. 
There isn't any worry as it is pretty normal for the Government of Pakistan to wake up after it is all over.
Since 2008 election, the PPP minority government needed crutches to carry out its function of governance, so the PML N provided the needed tools on “off and on” basis initially, but later on agreed to extend the benefits of friendly opposition for long time which actually was detrimental to the interests of the nation.
Nevertheless, the recent newlyweds (political union) have broken all previous records crossing all democratic norms. The political parties involved in such an “adulterated democracy” are in the honey moon phase for now after the “haq maher muajjal” in the form of ministries has already been given upfront ignoring the resulted national loss beyond repair.
Adulteration of democracy endangers its very essence, yet it has been going on for long time depriving the country of good governance.
Sorry to say but the truth is - the very last nail to the coffin of Pakistan’s adulterated democracy has been hammered in. This unnatural alliance is the desperate need of the evil players to avoid corruption cases. They fear the apex judiciary and they want to hide behind executive powers for their own protection. This alliance is aimed at protecting personal vested interests and survival including of course - the release of Ch.Moonis Elahi, dumping all Swiss cases/ NRO cases for ever etc.
Since N league is out of the picture at the moment, and there is a desperate greed on the part of the PPP to cling to power, the Q league, MQM or other Maulanas and parties know exactly well - what to demand at the right time. Blackmailing plays an important role too indeed.
A matrimonial battle of interests is easily predictable, as Ch. Pervaiz Elahi is on his way to become Deputy Prime Minister with decision-making role and wants key ministries with powers. An executive order or constitutional amendment would do the trick. The Choudries are also looking for the spot of Senate chairman in the ultimate deal and this would be the ‘make or break point’ for Zardari.
The queenly Choudries have been demanding everything in writing before the budget and Zardari has agreed to Choudries’ demands for an unbelievable seat adjustment in the next polls. Very smart card.
The JUI on the other hand has been watching the game nervously and is genuinely worried that if the PPP and QL succeed, the next step will be further disintegration of provinces of Punjab and KP.
JUI is worried about its stronghold of DI Khan and adjoining areas may merge into the new Seraiki province thus cutting its size and influence substantially in national and provincial politics, while MQM favours Karachi province and Pukhtoons in Balochistan want their own province. Hazara and Seraiki province may soon be in the making if language card is played tactfully, yet it requires an overall real national consensus.
It seems, however, that everything is being done to damage the PML N. Others are happy that if Punjab starts boiling, the system may begin packing up sooner than later.
Zardari might succeed in hurting N league, but he is bound to damage his own party too, and beyond any doubt he will be depending upon his latest partner, the Choudries of Gujrat.
If that happens then the shrewd Zardari and the shrewd Choudries will take complete care of Pakistani exchequer. Good luck.