DEPROTOCOLIZE PAKISTAN
Scene 1: The President/Prime Minister arriving at the Islamabad Airport after a "triumphant" trip abroad. The innumerable Ministers, Advisors, Senators, MNA's, MPA's, party leaders, the diplomatic corps (why them?), the armed forces top brass, the district administration, the glitterati, etc., are at the tarmac welcoming the leader back home.
Scene 2: The advent of the era of democracy has turned each arrival of the Prime Minister/Governor/Chief Minister into a party "jalsa". IT seems that elections are not yet over in Pakistan. Each and every occasion is transformed into a political festival.
Scene 3: The Governor/Chief Minister moving about in town. They are surrounded by police, providing a security cover befitting an Emperor. Overnight there is a metamorphosis from ordinary mortals into exalted majesties (Though not necessarily desired by these dignitaries).
Scene 4: The Ministers/Advisors riding in their Accords/Pajeros with not one but two flags on the car, windows tinted, breaking speed limits, yet never arriving on time. Furthermore they too are chaperoned by their personal bodyguards supplemented by police escorts.
These familiar scenarios have become part of the national environment. The concept of "protocol" has been used, abused, and misused by one and all. This has resulted in a situation where it has become a national joke. It seems that there is a deep-rooted conspiracy by security-conscious administrators to wedge a perpetual gulf between the electors and the elected, between the leaders and the Awam, and between hope and despair.
The city of Karachi, being the largest and most active city in Pakistan, is at a greater disadvantage whenever a VVIP is in town. Nowadays, the VVIP's are frequent visitors to Karachi and each visit to this metropolis consumes the already spent energy of the Administration and the Police. The whole exercise of deputing the big-wigs of the district administration at the beck and call of the VVIP right from arrival to departure is getting just too much. It has reached a point where the smooth functioning of the city is neglected because the Administration is playing Mr. Good Host. The innumerable problems besetting the populace of this city are put on hold because the Commissioner, Deputy commissioners, SDM/ADM, etc., are at the airport trying to make sure that the security arrangements are at top alert. The DIG and the SP/DSP are acting like ordinary sentries making sure that undesired elements are kept blocks away from the presence of the VVIP. The security personnel at the airport are in a eight of nervousness. God forbid should even a car backfired. It would result in a state of siege at the airport, most probably dwarfing even the volatile atmosphere of Beirut.
The Governor and the Chief Minister of Sindh are honest-to-goodness, down-to-earth, non-pretentious personalities. They are eager to listen to the voice of the people. They never display a sense of superiority. They do not want to hide behind a façade of over-protective, more loyal-than-the-king, zealous band of armed personnel (and hanger-ones). Yet they are victims of this extravaganza, this atrociously asinine show of force by the security chaps.
The whole charade of protocol-mania has gone just too far. The sad part is that no leader wants to end it or avoid it. It seems that these trappings of power are enjoyed by the them either to boost their ego or to prove their high worthiness. But is this an eternal facility for them? What about the day when they will be outside the orbit of power? What will happen to their ego when only the intelligence people will be outside their homes to monitor their activities? When, the only way they would meet the press will be at the hackneyed press conference they or their party would hold to denounce the party in power? Why not before it is too late?
The Governor of Sindh, Justice (Retd) Fakruddin G. Ebrahim is a man who optimizes the very essence of modesty, simplicity, and humility. He has never in his private or public life shown pomposity nor displayed ostentation.
It is a well-known fact that he meets everybody with a posture of humbleness very seldom seen. Even now, during his tenure as Governor he regularly teaches at the Law College (obviously without fanfare). Therefore, it is requested of the eminent Governor to take the first step to deprotocolize his activities. He should travel with a minimum of security, with less ballyhoo, and without disrupting the smooth flow of things. He should issue strict orders to the security chiefs to desist from trumpeting his arrivals by explicit shows of Red Alert. The trappings of power has not spoilt the Governor This is a good augury. This demeanour can enable him to very conveniently and radically alter the existing protocol manuals.
Governor: the ball is in your court. For God's sake let there be change in the excessive show of protocol. The awareness to shun this drama, this appalling drama, must be encouraged. This has really gone too far. The city of Karachi needs another sagacious, judicious, and assertive action from you. Please do it! As Robert Frost once said to a class of students: "I am not a teacher, but an awakener".
JANUARY 01, 1990