Whither unity?

I served under the colonial power from 1942 to 1947 and later the government of Pakistan from August 1947 until my retirement in 1947. During this time, I witnessed the rise and fall of many governments. I remember the first radio speech of Quaid-e-Azam on August 14. However, the death of our founding father left me speechless. I was so depressed that I could not perform my duties properly. My office superintended Mr Freeborne intervened and helped me regain my confidence. Unfortunately, the first martial law in 1958 again tore my expectations. After the disgraceful exit of the first dictator from power, another dictator assumed power. Similarly, after the first general election when Mujeeb-ur-Rehman won majority, he was denied the right to form government resulting in the fall of Dhaka. This was one of the worst and most depressing of times for me. Little did I know that we would learn nothing from history and would continue with our follies. So the tragedy of errors continued.

After Bhutto’s first term, there was a movement against him that resulted in another martial law that kept us in darkness for 12 years. After Zia’s departure, due to his death, we had the same drama shift to a civilian setup where no government would complete its term and would be sent packing by the president. This culminated into yet another military takeover in 1999 ending in 2007. It seems we still have not learnt nothing after so many tragedies and the ugly drama is still being staged. There is an elected government in place. No matter how incompetent, we should let it complete its term and let people decide its fate. However, yet again our opposition political parties are hell bent on destabilizing this government, which I am afraid might end in yet another tragedy. Our politicians must realize that this will not benefit anyone. They should sit together and think of finding a national unity to avoid another tragedy that this country might not be able to sustain.

Raja Shafaatullah

Islamabad