By Simon Templar
Thug
life is a term used by gangsters to glorify their law breaking, heady crime
sprees.
Nothing
describes the misrule of two successive, so called democratically elected
governments in the unstable, underdeveloped 200 million strong south Asian
state of Pakistan.
How
thieves, plunderers and freebooters came to rule this nuclear armed state is a
sad tale in itself.
Ruled
by military General Pervez Musharraf who took over in a military coup in 1999,
the country became a close US ally after 9/11 and witnessed an era of growth
and stability under military rule.
However
when Musharraf reached his limits of flexibility, it was decided by the US and
British to force him bring back the two tainted, condemned political leaders in
exile and to wash away all their sins under a dubious order in the name of
national reconciliation.
As
in the Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, there was also a hungry, eager, more
flexible General waiting in the Wings to replace him, and Deputy Chief Kiyani
used Military intelligence and a judge’s restoration movement to cripple the
erstwhile strongman, now out of favour with the US.
A
final thumbs down from the US Ambassador compelled Musharraf to resign and
after the mysterious, unsolved murder of Benazir Bhutto, her thuggish husband,
the upstart, criminal uneducated, corrupt and much reviled Asif Zardari came to
power.
The
deal with the West was that we bring you back, wash away your past sins and you
squeeze the Army.
The
game began and new Chief Kiyani turned a blind eye, as he had brought the devil
to sup at the table and was also busy improving his impoverished family’s
financial condition.
So
well did this team work that General Kiyani got an unprecedented 3 year second
term, Zardari became a billionaire, Kiyani from rags to millionaire and the
country went to the dogs.
The
US with its two boys in place, in charge of the Presidency and military,
violated Pakistani sovereignty and physical boundaries at will, using drones,
choppers, covert assassin's and whatever they chose.
As
per the unholy charter of kleptocracy, Sharif kept silent during Zardari’s
plunder and he returned the favour after Sharif took over in 2013.
Simple
math, over invoice $50 billion of Chinese funded projects-whether needed or
not- by ten percent, sign sovereign guarantees, leave future generations to pay
off horrifying debts and pocket 5% off the top!
Walk
away with a cool $ 2.5 billion dollars. Astonishingly simple as it is
audacious.
Where
Zardari was a street thug, looting millions, forcing neighbours to sell their
properties on the cheap, the plunderers from Punjab, whose father made pots and
cooking utensils with his bare hands are now certified dollar billionaires
thanks to massive bank defaults, and international cuts commissions and
kickbacks.
Wow!
Wonderful, just one mistake...Sharif, egged on by vicious anti-military advisers
like Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs Syed Tarik Fatami, kept on targeting
the by now restive and powerful Pakistan military.
The
leakage of information pertaining to thousands of offshore companies
incorporated in Panama signalled the end for the strangely absent Sharif
regime.
Perhaps
the most corrupt and worse administered government in the history of Pakistan… certainly
the most hypocritical.
Destroying
the civil service structure, promoting nepotism, turning state servants
especially in the Punjab into glorified pimps and facilitators.
One
poor married lady was famously peddled by her husband out to Sharif, then his
younger brother and in turn was rewarded with top administrative positions for
his immoral shamelessness.
Functioning
without statutory, mandated positions such as State Ombudsman, National Tax
Collector, and Head of the Audit Service and even without the Governor of the
State Bank.
Burgeoning
debt, increasingly hostile borders, declining exports, a dysfunctional
government, falling stock market and collapsing currency could not shake Sharif
out of his stupor.
On
the ropes, with his family corruption the main story in every paper, every
channel and on social media, he chose to plod on shamelessly, trying one
corrupt lawyer after another in a futile attempt to cover his tracks.
Described
as a Sicilian Mafiosi by the worthy judges of the top constitutional court,
Sharif scraped the bottom of the barrel, hiring the immoral Raja Salman Akram,
known to have defended Zardari’s drug dealing Prime Minister, all to no avail.
Functioning
without a Foreign minister for four years, and appointing idiots as top envoys,
the joke is on Sharif as he is now left with no friends to bail him out as
before.
His
Saudi patrons distanced themselves from their pet poodle after Sharif was
unable to prevail upon his military who very sensibly refused to go and fight
alongside Saudi troops in Yemen.
Indians
and Americans have realised he cannot dominate his military and the Turks and
Chinese know him and his tribe as crooked, slimy money grabbers.
Despite
holding office for years, Sharif has paid no attention to healthcare,
education, rule of law or job creation, focusing purely on shady, unnecessary
projects providing easy kickbacks.
Now
decades of money laundering, defaulted bank loans and millions in off shore
accounts and overseas properties stand to be exposed for what they are, the
loot and plunder from 190 million poor uneducated helpless souls who are forced
to sell or kill their children due to lack of justice, poverty and a gloomy
future.
The
question is how will things unfold? Will the shameless, immoral, hypocritical
kleptocrats escape yet again to lick their wounds and enjoy their boots abroad
or shall they deservedly meet the fate of another erstwhile billionaire, the
late unlamented Colonel Qaddafi who died bloodied and screaming in the street
as his vengeful subjects beat him to death?