A silent conversation with the Quaid takes me out of the despairing mood into which I often find myself falling. I have never been pessimistic in my life. I have been particularly optimistic about the future of this great country, notwithstanding the relentless loot and plunder of its resources by the parasitic elite.

The American author John Maxwell has aptly advised leaders: “You must be big enough to admit your mistakes, smart enough to learn from them, and strong enough to correct them.” I glance over the political landscape of Pakistan, particularly after the secession of Bangladesh, and find no leader of this calibre in our history.

Earlier, we had political giants such as A.K. Fazal Haq, Husein Suhrawardy, Abdul Hameed Khan Bhashani, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Ghous Bux Bizenjo, Sardar Attaullah Mengal, Z.A. Bhutto, G.M. Syed, Hyder Bux Jatoi, and Rasool Bux Palijo, who had the calibre, integrity, and ability to lead the people. Dear Quaid, we did not allow them to play their innings freely. The military regime of General Ayub Khan ruined our budding political and democratic culture.

Barely six years after the humiliating defeat of 1971, the security establishment upset the applecart of democracy; banned politics; charged the elected Prime Minister with a dubious murder crime; and executed him. We groped in darkness for eleven years, governed by the barrels of guns.

The country was plunged into the Western world’s war in Afghanistan, and this poor nation was afflicted by drug and Kalashnikov cultures, as well as political, religious, and sectarian militancy. US leaders claimed they had doled out 15 billion dollars to the military junta from 1982 to 1989 for war expenses. Nothing trickled down to benefit the........

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