Piloting the plot (Pakistan)
Pakistan today is like an airplane lost within a thundercloud, running on autopilot. Both its coordinates and destination were set by previous crew members, who have long since parachuted out. Passengers on board have had the sinking feeling that trouble is afoot, but are paralysed about doing anything. They have watched crew member after crew member either jump through the escape hatch or be pushed out – shady hunks in khakis, mostly, but also the rare trustworthy one.
The captain, Asif Zardari, took over when his wife was shoved out of the plane. His first officer, Nawaz Sharif, is there by virtue of his one-time benefactor, General Zia ul-Haq, who was forced to jump off after CIA operatives tied a crate of mangoes carrying explosives to him. Back in the passenger cabin, every so often, the passengers are shown photographs of the grinning faces of the two pilots, to assure them that the plane is still in safe hands. But there is a lack of sparkle and empathy in their eyes.
Air-traffic control is in the hands of Former-General-Current-President Pervez Musharraf, supported by the Americans. It was the latter who built the plane's autopilot in the first place, and are now the only ones with any idea about the pre-programmed flight plan. Unfortunately, even they cannot quite remember the details, nor why there are still so many bugs in the system, which keep affecting the flight path.
Suddenly, a violent thumping on the terrorist-proof door disturbs the peace inside the locked cockpit. Outside, deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and his attorney, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, having caught wind of the plot taking place inside, are trying to force their way through. Meanwhile, pandemonium has broken out in the passenger cabin. A mullah from NWFP with a largish beard announces that he is the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. While the agitated passengers look at him incredulously, from the back of the cabin a man in cricketing whites, who had earlier been talking to the mullah, declares himself Master Tara Singh. Jinnah and Singh launch into a bhangra dance in the aisles, but they have lost the attention of the agitated passengers, who have suddenly collapsed in their seats. Something is wrong with the thermostat; they are sweating bullets and getting sick to their stomachs, desperately seeking in-flight attendants, who have also evacuated the aircraft. Fearing more trouble, on-board security eventually locks up the two mad entertainers in the toilet.
To avoid further ruckus, the cool-headed Head Purser Saadat Hasan Manto puts on the film Toba Tek Singh, the classic drama about confusion at the time of Partition, when Hindu lunatics in a city in Punjab province were repatriated to India. Suddenly calm returns, as passengers are glued to the monitor upfront. This is like the reassurance of seeing oneself in the mirror on waking every morning. That's me, you tell yourself. That face is mine. I have survived the night! The few who do not understand the plot thumb quickly through the in-flight magazine for a synopsis, and finally understand its parallel with their own current conditions.
The stars above
The rest of the world, meanwhile, retains a notable interest in the future of this unstable flight – an unfolding drama that, when viewed from ground level, is almost as surreal as when experienced onboard. A few characters receive vastly more coverage than others, for better or worse. Popular international newspaper supplements glorify the past and present of that inimitable lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, who ought to be on the aircraft but has not been allowed to board. He makes it to the top of a list of 100 global intellectuals. In the accompanying text, he talks about himself being the virtual deputy prime minister in Benazir Bhutto's cabinet after Zia ul-Haq was killed in 1988. But inexperience and Benazir's other flaws, coupled with serious interference by the army, prevented much headway, says he.
In 1990, the president fired the government. Nawaz Sharif stepped in and got the courts to put both Benazir and Zardari on trial. They were defended in court by Ahsan, who now expresses his disdain for Benazir's view of herself as chairperson-for-life of the Pakistan People's Party. He also says that he has little doubt about the couple's corruption. Ahsan nonetheless remains a member of the party, despite the clear lack of democracy within its ranks. No one knows how he balances his alliances.
Chief Justice Chaudhry, another would-be passenger on the flight, who originally approved of Gen Musharraf's takeover in 1999, has since redeemed himself through his activist role in highlighting the fact of countless Pakistanis who have disappeared due to the 'war on terror'. This exposure has earned him the ire of the Americans. He also exposed and, thus, stopped the deal to sell off the national steel mill to a crony of the Citibanker-turned-Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who is now safely back in America after his five-year stint at the helm. The chief justice also helped to stop the New Murree project, which would have replaced a pristine pine forest in the hills with luxury hotels and villas for the filthy rich.
Meanwhile, as the largely airborne drama of Pakistan unfolds, the common citizen is burdened by sky-rocketing prices of food and other commodities, as well as a serious shortage of power coupled with serious ecological disasters, both looming and ongoing. Many are being forced to walk the darkened bazaars from two to three in the morning during electricity blackouts, just to avoid the mosquitoes and heat. Many others are living a far more deprived existence. Pakistanis need to wake up to the reality of their situation, and start the long process of laying the groundwork for substantive changes for the better. This plane can still be turned around, given good sense and a political will. But it cannot continue to fly on autopilot.