Mafiosi Democracy - La Cosa Nostra in Pakistan
What is “La Cosa Nostra”? In Italian language it simply means, “ Our own thing”. To the rest of the world it means Mafia. And what is a Mafia? It means a syndicate or gang of criminals especially ones who are particularly ruthless and with absolutely no regard for ethics and law. Naked and raw power mixed with a lot of money which transcends all human attributes. All Mafias have certain common characteristics: A kind of patriarchal chain of command; a hereditary or semi hereditary power structure with its associated power struggles; an iron clad system of abject loyalty by the subordinate members defined by an oath of the type, “ I enter the organization living and leave it dead”; last, but not the least, a racial tinge.
Now let us give a look to three of the major political parties in Pakistan that is PPP, PML(N) and PML(Q). A typical political party in Pakistan has a patriarch and an heir apparent which in most cases is a blood relation of the former. We have combinations like Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in PPP, or Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz Sharif in PML(N), and Chaudry Shujaat, Chaudry Pervez Elahi and Moonas Elahi in PML(Q). The Heads of these three parties demand absolute loyalty from their subordinate members. Just look what happened to Naheed Khan, Senator Envar Baig and now that is going to happen to Zulfikar Mirza. Only Jahangir Badars, Farhatulllah Babars, Babar Awans and Farzana Rajas survive in the party. In the other two parties, Javed Hashmi, Kashmala Tariq and Marvi Memon are frowned upon as disloyal mavericks. If these people were to leave their parties even for some genuine reason, they would become politically dead. And in case of MQM might even become physically dead. Remember Dr. Imran Farooq.
And now coming over to the racist tendency. People’s Party openly waives the Sindh Card. All key and core decision making members of this party are Sindhies. Punjabies, Pathans and Balochies have been added only as a garnishing with no role in decision making. Similarly, in PML(N) all important posts are manned by Kashmiris such as Butts, Dars and Khwajas. PML(Q) is a clan of Jatts and opportunists of mainly central Punjab linked by virtue of marriages of convenience. ANP and MQM are manifest racist parties with professed racist agendas.
From the foregoing, it is amply clear that what many are not tired of calling a democratic rule in Pakistan is in effect a Mafia rule.
Unfortunately this situation has no room for improvement; rather, there is every chance of further deterioration. Most people in Pakistan think and behave on ethnic or racial lines. This tendency is increasing alarmingly. Pride in ones race is very common. Most of the names now end with a tribal identity. Inter racial marriages are discouraged and may lead to bloody tribal feuds. With illiteracy almost at 80 percent (do not give a damn to the official figures on literacy, every one in world knows how they are fudged up here), tendency towards racism is on the rise. An ethnic war is already going on in Karachi. Demand for Sereiki province, though some what genuine, is also a race related demand. Fractures are also appearing in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa in response to this very racist name of that province. Naturally, these fractures are bound to give birth to some more Mafias in our body politic.
Genocide in Balochistan and Sindh, and murders of Minister Kamran Michael and Salman Taseer give a clear verdict that the Civil Society in Pakistan has been defeated by the dark forces of ethnicity and obscurantism.
Space for democracy and enlightenment is fast shrinking in Pakistan.
Pakistan is fast degenerating into a medieval tribal society but sans tribal ethics, but equipped with modern weapons and Mafia ruthlessness.
Fayyaz Mahmood.
