It is time for institutions to run country within constitutional limits

Noose being tightened around Pakistan; unity and non-destabilisation of political govt are vital to meet challenges

ISLAMABAD: The growing Modi-Ghani nexus against Pakistan, the changing tone of Washington and the latest attack in Uri in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) are likely to add challenges for Islamabad which could only be countered through focused response and unity of the nation.

This is possible only if all the institutions restrict their roles within the defined constitutional limits and all politicians give up grimy politics and get united to face the latest challenges being faced by the country.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Anwar Zaheer Jamali, while addressing a ceremony on Monday, also suggested a recipe to take Pakistan forward and to come out of the current situation. He said that all the state institutions should work within their constitutional domains to ensure good governance.

Pakistan’s enemies are evidently working on a sinister plan to harm the country by creating a situation where Islamabad could be isolated and seen as a “terror-sponsoring” state.

The Uri attack in Indian Held Kashmir was squarely used to target Pakistan and further the enemy’s devious campaign against Pakistan. The Narinder Modi government and President Ashraf Ghani are actively involved in this campaign against Pakistan.

The recent statements coming from Washington also clearly show a change of tone for Pakistan, ignoring the sacrifices of Islamabad in its fight against terrorism, and overlooking how India and some other nations are using the Afghan soil for terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Ironically, international players are also turning a blind eye to India’s atrocities in the Indian Held Kashmir.

Apparently, the immediate target of this scheme is the China-Pak Economic Corridor, which ever since its commencement is facing the opposition from India, the US and some Western nations. Incidents that took place during the last few months clearly reflect that Pakistan is intentionally isolated in the region. Keeping aside the worsening ties with New Delhi, Islamabad’s relations with Kabul and even Tehran have deteriorated during the recent months, which reflect failures on part of Pakistan’s diplomacy.

Ironically, our Foreign Office has not much to contribute in formulating the foreign policy, which generally said is defined and decided by our security establishment. It may be happening because of the deterioration of civilian institutions but the need of the hour is to re-energise the Foreign Office for focusing diplomacy in consultation with political and security institutions.

Our foreign policy has failed to allay fears of the international community with regard to the good and bad Taliban policy. Although, Pakistan denies any such policy, the world is not satisfied. It is necessary to satisfy them on this count. Our ties with our neighbours including Iran, India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have worsened. We need to repair and restore our ties with all these countries.

Parliament and political governments play a vital role in unified response to foreign threats.Situations like the present one can be handled by stable governments. A government being made unstable politically or otherwise using any means will never be able to respond to such a situation in a befitting manner. Clearly, all those involved in destabilising the government at present would be serving the Indian purpose or plans of the enemies of the country.

Unfortunately, in our case, the prime minister despite being the constitutional head of the government and chief executive of the country has to focus on saving his government most of the time instead of focusing on performance.

The politicians representing the government as well as the opposition are in a state of war against each other. Personal agendas and egos have become important more than national interests.

Simple issues like finalising the ToRs for investigating the issue of offshore companies as also highlighted in the Panama Papers could not be sorted out. The only reason is that the politicians could not achieve a consensus on this issue and that both the government and the opposition are trying to save their important people.

The government side wants to save the members of the Sharif family named in the Panama Papers whereas the opposition wants to save the skin of PTI chief Imran Khan and Jehangir Tareen. Both sides are facing the allegations that they were hiding their offshore companies from their tax records in Pakistan. Not only this, the PTI chief Imran Khan is moving ahead with a protest campaign on this count without realising the threats and challenges Pakistan is facing at the present hour.

Keeping in view the designs of the Modi-led dispensation in New Delhi and its increasing influence in neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan clearly needs unity at home and a focused and professional input from all the institutions. The time has come that every department should start functioning with complete focus on its professional duties and to do everything possible to achieve excellence in its performance.

As the situation is becoming tough for Pakistan, there are rare signs of maturity from any side, especially from the political leadership. Pakistan clearly needs to redefine many of its policies and to undertake a massive restructuring programme in order to overhaul all its diplomatic functions. This could be possible by empowering real professionals and experts and their active involvement in decision making process in the light of the guidelines given by the civilian government. Pakistan really needs capacity building of its law enforcement agencies. Much is needed to be done and at the earliest. Reformation of institutions and national unity is the only way forward to confront the latest crisis heading towards Pakistan.