Through the lens of a microscope

A close look at even a small segment of governance can expose the aggressive and possibly fatal nature of the viruses that have penetrated deep into our system. The powerful medications that we need to eradicate these invaders are not available to us. As a result, the weakness grows each day.

Let’s take a close look at the fiasco which preceded the departure of the 190-member Pakistan contingent to take part in the Fourth Islamic Solidarity Games at Baku, Azerbaijan. The removal of the then Pakistan Sports Board Director General Akhtar Ganjera as a result of an inquiry and the subsequent resignation of Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Pirzada – who strongly backed Ganjera – resulted in a situation that would have been humourous had it not been tragic.

For mysterious reasons – which some suspect are linked to corruption – money had not been paid out to travel agents, preparations were in a state of shambles and there was, at one point, a fear that Pakistan would not be taking part in the prestigious event, which was originally initiated by Saudi Arabia.

Intervention from the Pakistan Olympic Association somewhat salvaged matters, but not before several teams were cut from the games and their members were asked to return home. Several young men and women who were part of the basketball, kabbadi and other teams did not appear for their exams so they could be present at the ‘camp’ run by the PSB at the Pakistan Sports Complex.

The sports board provided virtually no coaching and athletes faced difficulties owing to some of the rundown facilities offered at the complex. The government and its sporting bodies have failed to maintain facilities at the complex. The immaculately designed complex was originally a gift from China. We have neither treated the gift with care nor have we made any independent effort to safeguard the interest of our own nation and its sportsmen.

The government is clearly more interested in pleasing those it favours rather than properly managing specific areas of governance. The startling figures of the exorbitant expenditures made by the PSB on the events it has organised provide evidence of this. There is no logical reason why inter-provincial games organised by the PSB should cost millions more than the far more expansive National Games held by the POA.

Sports is an important area given its impact on national dignity and the fact that Pakistan has a huge tradition to uphold as far as sporting excellence is concerned. The days of glory on the hockey field, in the squash court and other arenas, including the boxing rings and wrestling mats, do not lie very far in the past. Many of these are now mere memories. This is a tragedy for a nation of 190 million people. Given our talent and the size of our population, sports should be an area in which we can demonstrate dominance, at least in South Asia.

But that dangerous menace of greed and self-interest follows us everywhere. In 2014, Pakistan’s street footballers – a group of teenage boys picked from the streets of Karachi by an NGO and taken to Rio where they participated in the World Street Football Championship – picked up an amazing run of wins and reached the semi-finals, finishing eventually in third place.

There was much media coverage for these boys from the most deprived backgrounds and much hope for their future success. Instead, we now learn that the money promised to the boys by the NGO was neither delivered to them nor were they provided any other form of support from the government or the private sector. Most have ended up back in the slums from which they came. Their moment of glory has passed quickly. There was no attempt to harness their talent or help them use it to improve their lives.

This is the story of many other sportspersons as well. Corruption, indifference and the terrible social schisms that divide our country into segments refuse to allow them to rise. In fact, those who stand higher up on the social structure attempt to stamp down those who stand below them. The perception seems to be that the feelings or aspirations of those who come from a lower-income background have no meaning and that there is no shame in preventing them from moving ahead or not offering them respect and dignity. Sport is, therefore, not the great equaliser that it should be.

The same problem afflicts almost all areas of governance. What we see in sports is also true of education, health, social welfare and, no doubt, almost every other sector. Corruption and complete indifference by the government and also the bureaucracy has meant Pakistan now stands at the very bottom of the global ladder in almost every realm.

Our rates of literacy are lower than many countries in the impoverished Sub-Saharan Africa and distinctly lower than each of our South Asian neighbours. Nearly 50 percent of Pakistani children suffer from stunting or wasting as a result of inadequate nutrition. Whatever resources the state possesses are clearly not being used for the benefit of its people. Instead, we have a pariah state which eats away at the resources that should belong to its people and uses them instead to glorify those in power, bring gains of various kinds to them and fool people by making statements which insist that an enormous amount is being done to serve them.

If we were to take a powerful microscope – or, perhaps, even a more mundane magnifying glass available even at corner stores – and look through its lens at the workings of our various ministries and departments, we would, no doubt, see multiple wounds and flaws which have damaged the system to a point where it is close to falling apart. Perhaps it has already fallen apart. This process has occurred over many years and continues to occur with each successive government, adding a new layer of problems. It does not seem that we have the courage to face up to the truth about our nation and the condition of disrepair it has fallen into.

Even though the evidence is visible everywhere, we have taken no heed. How long we can continue in this fashion remains uncertain. There was a time when people spoke with optimism or worked hard in the present so that conditions could be better for their children and grandchildren. Today, even that hope seems to be running out. People appear to have accepted that we have become a nation that has no future and no apparent desire to uplift itself.

While our political parties play games of power among themselves, none of them appears to be truly interested in concentrating their energy on an effort to rescue people and bring about genuine change within all the separate offices and departments which make up our government.

We have a sea of such offices. Our administrative expense on staffing them is huge. Despite the existence of these departments, nothing seems to have changed. Instead, things have grown steadily worse while those in power continue to play blame games, attempt to line their own pockets and, by doing so, place people at greater risk of stumbling into a pit from which they will never be able to climb out.

The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor.

Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com