You were right

Its early morning, on Oct. 12, 1999 and I am standing at the Multan airport, waiting for a passenger on a flight from Saudi enroute from Lahore to receive some of important documents. My driver has left me as he had important jobs to finish whereby the flights kept getting delayed and my frustrations started to grew. I was visiting the PIA information desk again and again for information on any flight heading towards Multan. Meanwhile a flight landed but the information desk would not give any names of the passengers. While I was waiting for the signs of any passenger I knew, the Tahsildar who was in charge of my hospitality came running in the airport and said, “Baita meray sath chaloo, abhi aik siphaya aa gayee ga aur ham sab yaheen pashay raheengay”. We sat in his Pajero and left the airport hurriedly. The tahseldar belonged to a well to do family and was supposedly doing a govt. job to keep up the family name (which was otherwise false – A tasheldar with a Pajero? It is Pakistan). We reached his home it was previously a PPP hub, now turned into Leghari group.

I saw people distributing sweets and cheering on bus tops and motorbikes. I was confused and getting nervous at this sudden jubilation and asked what is going on. There was no reply. On reaching home we had a splendid lunch. I had just returned from NCC and was dying for a home cooked food as it was months I was away from home. I went to my room and called my Khallu a Major at that time in army, he was in Karachi during operation and was now posted at Khariyan, I loved to talk to him, because he was brave, well built and an ideal baloch soldier. While we were having chit chat he abruptly said, “aur phir Malik sahib kay pass fougi aaa gayee hain”. Unfortunately there was no TV in my room and I did not carry a cell phone with me during those times. I was shocked, I asked what, and why? Because I was never expecting something like this. Malik sahib was my uncle at that time Assistant Commissioner at Jallal Pur Perwala. The major was happy the army is now in control of the DMG after a hefty bhal safayee.

Nawas Sharif was one of the politicians I admired, Musharraf was one of the COAs I liked, as up till then Kargil episode had been over, and to my the then knowledge Pakistani Army had given a hard beating to the Indians. In fact I adhored Musharraf so much that I started learning shooting with a pistol and even tried a Benson & Hedges and got heavy scolding from my cousin. I was in dismay, non approving, but when I got the glimpse of BBC I realized it’s all over we are back to ground zero. I saw army men jumping into the PTV headquarters. Nawaz Sharif had been put behind bars and Musharraf was the new Chief Executive seizing all powers.

Afterwards I called my uncle in Karachi, and said you were right and hung up. My uncle (chacha) was Assistant Director with the AG Pakistan at that time and was at that time was supervising the audit of PNSC (there is a sad story of PNSC which I will narrate some other time). While once going with him in his chauffer driven car, it was around February or January the same year, and Kargil incident had not taken place, he read aloud a news clipping it was around , “Americe hakoomat nay Pakistani foug ku inteba kia haay kaay vu mulk kay andar kissi bhi kisim ki mohem johi say baz rahay”. I had exclaimed it is impossible, people from Karachi to Khyber like Nawas Sharif he has been the sole tool of getting us realized as a declared nuclear state. He laughed back, and said, I have never seen such a fool in my life as this man. I did not want to hear him, as I remembered 1997 when in our school in Riyadh we had huge jubilations, we held celebrations and had put Nawaz Sharif’s speech on a gigantic screen whereby he had addressed the nation after carrying out nuclear tests. Chachagi continued, dear the world fears him and fears Islam as a code of conduct for daily life. The poor fellow has already misused his delegated authority. I said how, first these nuclear tests and secondly the National assembly has passed the 15^th amendment which will Islamize the country’s constitution. I said chahchagi, per bill tu already pass hu chukka haay. He explained still they do not have majority in the Senate and in coming June there are going to be Senate elections and once it gets approved the whole 15^th amendment will be part of our constitution. I still replied he will keep up, he has the 2/3^rd majority the people have voted for him, we are democratic country and it is no more 70s. He would say nothing and would just smile back.

I realized we are not a free nation. We got the independence but we never became independent. We went slaves to our desires and our pride. As a nation and as individuals we are egoistic, stubborn and unthankful. We make the same mistakes over and over again. We make promises and then brake them. We stand up and then fall. We became a nation then we fell into individuality. Nations which flourish and succeed do not carry egos, do not back out on their promises, do not repeat their mistakes. Still by the end of each day, we pray to God and say O Allah bless us, with your blessing. but we forget what he has said in Quran. In Surrat Ar-Ra`d "For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah . Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron"

and beautifully summed up by Allama Muhammad Iqbal for a common man to understand easliy.

خدا نے آج تک ا س قوم حالت نھین بدلی

نا ہو خیال جس کو خود آپ اپنی حالت کے بدلنے کا