By B. R. Gowani
Pre-UST (prior to US tragedy of 2001)
Two giant Gujaratis collided
No … Not for business
If such was the case
There would have been:
Merger, bankruptcy, total ruin, or bailout
Alas! It was not so benign
Gandhi and Jinnah couldn’t reconcile
The raging Hindu/Muslim issue
The British ruled India
With a seditious hand
The Fire now out of control …
Created in the name of Islam it was
By believers of secular democracy
The founder died within 13 months
(The other Gujarati having exited earlier)
Scarcely within a few years
Pakistan’s future became predictable.
As a mere four years later,
The first premier Liaqat Ali was slay.
The New Premier Nazimuddin was removed by
Governor General Ghulam Muhammad
Democratic inclination was thus crushed
And a revolving door was set up:
As unstable governments entered and exited
Meanwhile, Allah’s agents had become busy
The Imperial Power (IP) with the 20/20 sight
Was also watching the new nation in greed
The army blessed by the IP
Grabbed the power swiftly and completely
The general/president/dictator Ayub
Pronounced the dictum: country’s hot weather
Unsuitable for democracy;
So he ruled with danda
When people became immune to danda
He was thrown out 11 years later
His last crime
Before leaving, he left
General/president/drunkard Yahya
Who presided over the disintegration of Pakistan?
54% colonized people and
30% neglected land bid adios
A new nation in poverty created …
A feudal/pseudo/socialist Bhutto took over
Intellectual but authoritarian got hanged by a
General/president/religious fanatic Zia
The worst one in this country’s history
After 11 years was sky-bound …
The Sky showered mercy on Pakistanis
He, his plane, his co-generals, and US ambassador
In air they all exploded …
Of course, the sky had human aid
Fair-sexed yet hard-core politician Benazir
Holding 10%’s hand, got elected
She was inevitably followed by
An Islamist/politician/crook Sharif
Both elected and ejected two times and counting …
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s custodian
had been out for 11 years, so Musharaff, General/president/dictator/”enlightened moderate”
Took over Pakistan to “save” it
Then … lo and behold
A great tragedy occurred in a country
Whose sole afflictions and tragedies count
The people they trained insidiously
Struck it at its own very core
Post UST
Everybody had to join the US
In its moment of pain
Real grief contrived; mainly out of fear
Pakistan was forced to grieve
Now many Pakistanis are truly grieving
Over the fate of their beloved country
The plan now demolished was for
Musharaff to share power with Benazir:
She was gunned down by
ISI or Taliban or other Islamists?
Zardari, her rotten half, has the power now, while
Sharif, her rival, desires to “serve” the people
Who’s at War with Whom
The US is at war with the Islamists
And is also at war with democracy
Zardari is at war with the Islamists
And is also at war with Sharif
Sharif is at war with Zardari only
The US doesn’t want Sharif/Zardari to fight
It wants both to fight the Islamists, instead
Islamists are at war with almost everyone
They don’t want Zardari to support the US
Instead they want him to fight the US
India wants Zardari to fight the Islamists
Islamists are also fighting India in Kashmir
China wants Zardari to fight the Islamists
As it fears problems in its border area
Saudis are at war against the Muslim moderates
Moderates are at war among themselves,
Arguing how to handle the Islamists:
Through war or through dialogue
Tug-of-war
In a tug-of-war
It’s the strong rope
Which two opponents pull at either ends
This rope called Pakistan
Is being pulled
In all directions
By all kinds of opponents
From the ends and the middle and every where
Pakistan is now weak and sick, and so it seems
In the end, everyone will get a piece
Some small, some big
And the US will try to get the nuclear piece
Thus this international tragedy will end
And a new one will begin
That of a failed state …
Although, millions Hope not, millions wish otherwise,
But human hope is usually hopeless
When pitted against powerful and crazy forces …
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com