Is good news awaiting Pakistan this year?
By Arifa Noor
“The new year is a mere few days old but 2026 already promises to be more exhausting than its predecessor.”
The mortals among us — and who have friends to party with — had barely recovered from New Year’s Eve when the US’s Nobel Peace Prize aspirant invaded a country and kidnapped its president.
Hardly new stuff for those who remember Iraq, or Panama, or … the list can be rather long.
But it was a wee bit surprising, coming from a president who can’t stop listing the number of wars he has stopped. What stopped journos in their tracks was the president’s failure to invoke either the fruits of democracy or the freedoms of brown oppressed people, especially women.
There were no such helpful diversions. The oil will help the US, it was proclaimed. Now where does that leave the likes of us who want to shake their heads in despair and explain the limitations of nation-building exercises? The world and its craziness is forcing commentators out of a job faster than one can say AI.
It is no easier in Pakistan.
How does one make sense of an authoritarian interlude in which no dollars are flowing in? After all, we are trained to analyse the power flowing down the barrel of a gun that has dollar signs painted on it. However, without the dollars, it seems a bit uncertain and unstable (and it has been for quite a few years now), but it is hard to figure out how long it will last. The 10-year pendulum surely doesn’t cut it anymore. But what ready analysis can replace this? No one knows.
So the state is hardening and it rules with an iron glove. Yet it has not been able to tame the people entirely. The anger may not be expressed as loudly as it once was, but no one can ignore the simmering.
As a result, the PTI is still a force and so is Imran Khan. On top of this, he refuses to go into exile. What a pain he is because if he left for foreign climes, it would be so easy to believe the khatam shud predictions of some of the commentariat.
In other words, the nail-biting contest threatens to continue in 2026 and those of us in the business of analysis have little left to say. Truly. There are just so many times one can predict doom and gloom and ask everyone to talk for the greater good. Because frankly, our leadership just isn’t as honest as the chap in the US; our lot claims to worry about the people here and it’s a story that no one buys now and yet they continue to tell it. They know that no one buys it; we know that they know that we know they don’t care and yet the drama continues. And now no one is listening.
It seems as if all the political soap opera plot twists have been done and talked about to death. Take another example.
The predictions about the democratic DNA in Nawaz Sharif or Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari coming to the fore are now also becoming less common.
It’s been months since anyone has spoken of Sharif senior’s desire to see Imran Khan free and nearly years since anyone has spoken of the tensions between father Zardari and son Bhutto-Zardari and the latter struggling to break free.
No one is now expecting the true democrats to say “enough” and hiding their disappointment analysts speak of the choices in Pakistan being limited to authoritarianism and fascism.
No different is all the ‘sane’ talk about talks.
It’s about as promising as the MoUs Pakistan signs each time a foreign leader meets a government official or the promises about the economy taking off.
No one can even be bothered to argue about it. And neither does anyone think 2026 will bring any change, so great is the ‘paralysis’. Though I have learnt that one can call it jamood on the talk show.
Even the soothsayers or najoomis who were called to talk shows while the rest of us were making New Year plans had nothing new to offer. They seem to sound no different from the political soothsayers who tell us of the greatness that awaits the country in 2026.
The king is in his counting house and the prime minister is having bread and honey. And the rest are stuck hanging out clothes in their backyard while the FBR is pecking noses and far more.
The point here is that there is nothing new to say about the state of the nation, the society and what passes for politics. It is now beyond us all, be it the najoomis or the analysts. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
But because we too have to pay taxes and then the bills which have more taxes within them, this column has to be written week after week.
So it might just happen that soon this space turns into something rather different. Instead of Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan and others, it might just make sense to write on middle-age challenges such as trying to lose weight or deal with acidity; cooking; the painful watching options on Netflix; or even an agony aunt section.
Anything at the moment seems more possible than writing on politics. The latter, even politicians assure me, is done and dusted. Which reminds me, what about a styling column for politicians? Many of them, especially the men, can do with a makeover.
What is this love affair with Kala Kola, for instance? Why not go for sophisticated grey streaks?
If there are better ideas out there for what a weekly column can be about, suggestions are welcome.
For I have taxes to pay before I sleep. Miles of taxes … with apologies to Robert Frost.
