ibn-e-mariyam huā kare koī, mere dukh kī davā kare koī
It’s not only Ghalib who prayed for the Second Coming of Christ to relieve him of his woes. In many religions and folklore, a resurrected Messiah would arise to save the world. So little is the faith in the earthly order that a superhuman who can send a bunch of evil doers back to hell is an all-time favourite in Holly-and Bollywood. In despair, one would even wait for Godot, though he never said he would come.
And these are desperate times.
On the Gaza front, one grapples at any straw that can help us tide over the next couple of days – a UN session or a salvo by the Houthis. Impotence of Umma and the deafening silence of the OIC are no more worth a thought. Pakistan in any case has no credentials to ask anyone to stand up for the suffering multitude. Didn’t we see off famished women and children to a bitter cold war-ravaged country with an unashamed display of Schadenfreude? If that hasn’t brought down the terrorist activities in Pakistan or persuade Kabul to tighten the screws on the TPP – it’s because it wasn’t going to.
Unlike us, the tribesmen have a long tradition of protecting anyone seeking asylum and would not hand over OBLs or TTPs who once may have helped them – even at the cost of a twenty years war or the burden of an odd million. Biharis in the erstwhile East Pakistan fought on our side, but have now been languishing for over half a century without any hope that we would show them any gratitude. Thanks to India the Kashmiris have not yet given up on us, even though we have time and again betrayed them by sending infiltrators without thinking through or climbing the Kargil heights sans an idea how to get down from there.
The world has seen so many insurgencies that the recipe of fighting them has nearly been perfected: use of force only to create conditions favourable for the more important political and administrative measures – and then repeating the cycle umpteen number of times. But since that would be too laborious an undertaking, we would rather follow the American COIN that not only caused the so-called collateral damage in Afghanistan, it also sent for every militant killed ten more to the front. Once all the Afghans are repatriated, I wonder who would we blame next. Yes, many more of our jawans and young officers would continue to fight and die, and we’ll praise their valour but would not concede any flaws in the strategy.
On the political front too, there is no good news. The old game of musical chairs has crowned the same dynasties who know nothing better than divide the loot amongst their
kith and kin. Now that the size of the bounty has shrunk, they’re seeking a larger subsidy from the IMF. It never helped in the past; except that the ever-growing affliction has sunk us deeper in the hole. And no one is holding one’s breath that this time it would be any different.
Pleading for waiver to build the Iran-Pakistan Pipeline reminds me of the gatekeeper who refused entry to those who asked for it. Whenever we did not, we went through. Ties with China – later celebrated as ironclad – kicked off against the wishes of the Big Boss who was then our best bet to countervail India. A decade later we took Kissinger Over the Hump at the risk of needling the Big Bear. The nuclear path was followed despite threats and sanctions ever since I can remember. We refused to sever relationship with the post- revolution Iran, even though America, raging mad over the hostage crisis in Tehran, was at the time our main prop to contain the Soviets in Afghanistan – the same place where we defied the post 9/11 policies of the sole surviving superpower.
If we now have sunk to the level that we couldn’t even send a few volunteers to help the Palestinians – where we once deployed planes and pilots – there are good reasons to feel dejected. But if that’s a sin, let’s look for any silver lining no matter how thin.
Seeking a quid pro quo for favours is not an act of grace – but in realpolitik it’s the first principle. Helping the Afghans to get their country rid of military occupa[ons was also in our interest. They would not have given up till seeing the back of the last foreign soldier, with its inevitable fallout across the borders. And then who wants superpowers like the Soviets or the Americans to keep a las[ng foothold in one’s neighbourhood. But if there was any selfless service that we ever rendered to countries like Bangladesh and Afghanistan, it was by getting out of their way. Both are now being wooed by the world – for reasons that may vary from stability within to Sino-US rivalry. History and Geography however gives Afghanistan a better shot to payback for the favour.
It has often responded to the SOS from the Subcontinent. On Shah Waliullah’s invitation, Ahmad Shah came over to rescue the faithful from the infidels. God forbid if any of our frustrated people prayed for the Second Coming of the Abdalis.
