Abdullah Mustafvi
How disappointing is the fact that so called national political leadership could not build a consensus on Kashmir issue amid ongoing crisis worsening across LOC with every passing moment after one sided step of Indian government to revoke the special status of Kashmir as a state. What surfaced from parliamentary session was nothing except fiery speeches and spiritless claims about sacrificing everything for the Kashmir cause. Bitterness increases once the masses fail to find even a little piece of optics reflecting any impression of unity on highly critical matters. What came out of parliamentary sessions and media talks of party stalwarts on Kashmir issue was just the usual verbal cannonade and blame game based on much serious allegations. Sane minds are rightly perturbed over disappointing output of both houses of parliament. It is time to think critically that what has gone wrong with these important legislative houses which at first place happen to be the representative of people of Pakistan. There has to be a deliberate diagnosis of rapid decline in overall performance of parliament. Obviously, parliament is nothing without parliamentarians so the process of evaluation has to be kept precisely on worthy members. As a matter of fact, legal or constitutional apparatus lacks any mechanism to deal or judge the performance of any member on the floor of house. Since majority of members manage to enter the parliament through political parties therefore onus of their performance or conduct largely remains on the shoulders of respective sponsor parties. To be more straight, performance the parliamentarians, good or bad, is true reflection of the party to which they are affiliated! It will not be unfair to say that decline in performance of parliament is an indication of gradual deterioration in political norms and ethics. Many of the governance failures are the direct product of deep rooted political turmoil. One can take the example of metropolitan city Karachi which has accommodated more than 20 million people; surprisingly four times larger than the total population of Newzeland! Metropolitan city is compelled to live without uninterrupted electric and water supply! No guaranteed medical support , emergency evacuation and crisis management exists for the poor citizens . Though, such flaws are nowvisible in almost all the cities but in Karachi one can experience the peak of bad governance. If you want to live in Karachi, then remember that it will be entirely at your own risk and private resources. Expecting any universally acknowledged service or support from government departments is just like living in fool’s paradise. Vertex of inefficiency can be gauged from the heart wrenching deaths of youth and kids who got lethal electric shocks from K electric faulty poles during rains. Citizens could not offer Eid prayers at specified venues due to ineffective water drainage arrangements. These are all signs of a rapidly deepening disease of inefficiency, incompetence and above all ignorance of public servants from sufferings being faced by the common masses. A sharp decline in quality of output is visible at internal and external matters. Disease has surely creeped in national body from top to bottom during last two decades. Routine matters like drainage, traffic control, provision of basic amenities, policing, medical care and education have gradually transformed into unmanageable crisis. Pack of rulers and top beurucrates , after undeniably failing in dealing with routine governance matters , leave no sign of hope to nation about handling the much sensitive national matters in a desired manner. Our list of sensitive matters is definitely lengthier than average assessments. Few of the top matters from the list include Kashmir issue, Afghan unrest, war on terror with special focus on Indian sponsored terrorism, accountability vis- a vis corruption, economic deterioration and diplomatic shortcomings against rapidly increasing challenges. Obviously, country needs a much devoted set of statesmen in top houses to deal with multidimensional challenges. Problems being confronted by society are not related to any specific party, community, province or isolated group of citizens. Impact or damage of these problems are now visible on all segments of society. Residents of posh housing societies and lower middle class areas are facing the consequences in one way or the other. We can relook at the causalities of Karachi which are stretched from defence to Drigh road areas. Our problems are home grown and wounds are mostly self-inflicted. Inefficiency and bad governance are the direct product of merit less life style perpetuated by the political elite. Recent episode of loyalty shifting during ‘No Confidence Motion’ against chairman senate is just a glimpse of character failure in top order of the country. Cure for this deadly disease of character failure can only be found by changing the collective mindset of top order. This job can only be accomplished with whole hearted efforts of major political parties who at the moment stand as guilty of promoting the culture of inefficiency, ignorance, incompetence and injustice.
