Winning in 2018

A lot of doom and gloom has been predicted for 2018. But the truth is that Pakistan’s enemies, both the inadvertent kind, and those that deliberately plot against this great fortress of Islam, simply do not want to admit the truth. On the strength of events in 2017, the only possible outcomes for Pakistan in the new year are those that will further reaffirm Pakistan’s standing as a unique global power, the likes of which neither the United States, nor India, nor Israel can compete with.

As the year ended, the proof of the global stature of Professor Hafiz Saeed, the patriotic and inspiring humanitarian and religious scholar was provided to the sceptics. The Palestinian Authority recalled its ambassador to Pakistan for having shared the stage with Hafiz Saeed. The liberal press, always keen to prove its loyalty to the West, claims that this is because the Palestinians did not want to upset India, which had strongly protested the symbolism of the Palestinian official sharing a stage with the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. But the real reason should be obvious to all. The Palestinians have always been jealous of Pakistan and its support for Kashmir. They have always wanted to have Pakistan support the Palestinian cause the way it has supported Kashmir.

In 2018, Hafiz Saeed will help Pakistan reach even greater heights. Hopefully, more and more members of the mainstream media will begin to recognise his services to this nation in the fields of religious scholarship, humanitarian affairs, patriotism, nationalism, Iqbaliat and inspiration. As he does, we must never forget to thank our lucky stars for having the quality of strategic thinking that we do. The great future that Hafiz Saeed is helping Pakistan build may not have been possible without the decision to mainstream LeT/JuD and invent the Milli Muslim League.

Of course, Hafiz Saeed is not alone in buttressing Pakistan’s credentials as a leader of the Muslim world. We all saw the great service to the nation of Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi at Faizabad Chowk. The diversity of religious schools of thought participating in strengthening the nation must be appreciated – from Ahl-e-Hadith to Barelvi, and from Jaafri to Deobandi, everyone is doing their part. Recently, the emerging commitment to pluralism within the religious right wing was also on display, as Maulana Samiul Haq of the JUI-S pleaded with Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the JUI-F to stop accusing other politicians of being in league with the Jews. This increased tolerance for our Judeo-Christian heritage and Abrahamic cousins is what gives great hope to genuine liberals in Pakistan. The fake ones will of course, continue to light candles, like the heretics that they are.

Of course, the religious element in Pakistan is now emerging only because of the country’s resolve to rid itself of its greatest problem: corruption; 2017 was the year in which corruption was eradicated and annihilated in Pakistan. The head of the snake was felled. The roots of this poisonous plant were removed. Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification for life has had a dramatic impact on corruption throughout the country and it is now impossible to imagine that bribery, nepotism and commission-taking of any kind is possible.

Sure, Pakistan’s large population of traitors and lifafa journalists will find a few stories here and there, to dishearten the nation, but the people can now see through this charade of negativity. The truth is that, thanks to some very brave television anchors, the scourge of corruption is no more. One has to commiserate with Jahangir Tareen who has sacrificed his political career for the sake of balance. This represents the true difference between the PML-N, a party of corrupt leaders, and the PTI, a party of leaders who are not corrupt, but will endure disqualification for corruption, only as a sacrifice for democracy.

The survival of our democracy was also ensured in 2017, and it will only get stronger from here on it. For this, we must thank the judiciary, and treat it like the Baba that it wants to be treated as. Having solved all the problems that afflicted the judiciary in the pre-2017 era, the judiciary of 2018 will dispose of cases quickly and without prejudice. The chief justice has already declared that the people are increasingly happy with the judiciary. Those who say otherwise would only do so because they are being paid to do so by Maryam Nawaz Sharif.

Speaking of the Sharifs – what a fantastic example this family set in 2017 for us all to follow. The matriarch of the family fought an election – despite suffering from cancer –so she could serve the people of NA-120. Meanwhile, the patriarch of the family is so torn between his daughter and his brother that he essentially suspends all decisions: everything be damned, family comes first. And within it, merit at all costs. In 2018, if every Pakistani is as conscientious as Nawaz Sharif, the future cannot be anything but resplendent.

It seems the political parties are indeed heeding the lessons of this great man or, as he insists on being called, this institution. The PPP too believes in family first; with the patriarch caught between his sister and his three children. The MQM is orphaned, but the brothers love Karachi so much, that none wants to let any other single brother take over, for fear that the other may be the wrong brother. The PTI, which does not believe in dynastic politics, has plucked out a young man from obscurity, a farmer no less, from the underdeveloped region of Lodhran to replace Jahangir Tareen. A handsome and well-spoken young man, named Ali Tareen, who is largely unknown at the national level. Unlike all the others, Imran Khan is not torn at all between the Tareens. As a clear-headed and decisive leader, he flies with the Tareen that pays the bills.

And 2017 was also the year Pakistan produced the world’s greatest population of economic experts – at this rate, Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes and Fortune will all eventually have to move their headquarters to Rawalpindi. Pakistan’s economy has been on the brink of a collapse for the entire duration of the current government’s tenure, and experts warn that it is likely to continue to be on the verge of collapse for the remaining duration.

Perhaps most important of all is Pakistan’s national security. After having defeated all terrorists, Pakistan’s military establishment is increasingly focused on what the ISPR recently referred to as “fifth generation warfare”. In doing so, Pakistan is already ahead of all other nations on the planet, most of whom are still mired in fourth generation warfare, which is the concept of war in which victory and loss are defined by the hegemony of credibility and the dominance of ideas. Pakistan has completely skipped past fourth generation warfare – because with heroes like Gen Musharraf, Hafiz Saeed, and many others, who needs credibility or ideas? This may seem superfluous and flippant to unbelieving Pakistani liberals who demand proof for everything, but it is not so unreasonable if you just close your eyes and trust what the retired uncles on television keep telling you.

In 2017, the nation was repeatedly protected from various threats. In April 2017, the country was saved from a notification by its rejection. Although the rejection was later taken back, the tradition is now established. In recent press conferences, the country has been saved from various other threats, including any confusion we may have between armed thugs holding up traffic for three weeks and the law-enforcement personnel deployed to stop them.

In 2018, a sustained campaign of vilification against politicians, run by the same retired uncles on television, will continue to decimate the ranks of the corrupt and secure the nation ever further. In concert with the unified and pluralistic emerging right wing, the green and white shall fly proudly in 2018, striking fear and humility across all the so-called advanced nations, and especially the backward Indians.

The writer is an analyst and commentator.