Walking a Tightrope

Islamabad was never in a dilemma as it is these days. The State of Pakistan is on a tightrope as it has to balance its relations with the aggrieved Iranians as well as the Arabs in a state of shock and awe. At the same time, there is a self-cherished warfront deep inside Afghanistan for reasons of realpolitik. And, of course, a constant self-appraisal to be seen in Chinese and American camps alike.

The aggression over the Islamic Republic has exposed the fault-lines of our foreign policy. The bogey of ‘nuclear umbrella’ for the Muslim world; ‘defence’ of the holy lands in adversity; and the ‘Mutual Defence Pact’ with the Saudis are all in a faux pas of their own. Yet, Pakistan performed superbly by maintaining the delicate balance between the Arabs and Persians, as it kept on pleasing all and sundry with a carefully calibrated language of neo-realism.

Yet, there was a slip evident as Pakistan failed to condemn the United States for its trigger-happiness over Iran. That bit of appeasement, many say, was inevitable, though.

The shadows of war were never an issue for a resilient nation, but the petrol bomb that was ruthlessly dropped on them. The ‘Little Boy’, a reference to the 1945 atomic bombs, came with an Rs55-per-litre hike in petroleum products as a bolt from the blue. It was quite enough to seal the common man’s fate with destitution. It was an unwarranted decision by the gurus in the federal cabinet, made out of callousness.

That was tantamount to fleecing the nation, coupled with sordid lectures of ‘austerity,’ as the ruling tetra-elite found themselves on board G-Series supersonic, newly-bought aircraft. They have the audacity to air-dash capitals in Europe, and indulge in extravagant merry-making as the nation reels under political instability and pestering inflation.

There was none to remind the autocrats that oil stocks were sufficient for the next 45 days for a product bought on subsidised rates of less than $65 a barrel. Not once did it cross their minds that a cushion of Rs400 billion is also available from the IMF, which could be used for succour, bailing out the downtrodden from an inevitable oil price slump. The point is, who cares as the have-nots remain engrossed in misery, and the elite have better things to think of! The raised tariff shall never be undone in Pakistan, even if the US and Iran garland each other!