Motorway and Nawaz Sharif By Usama Nizamani

Do you know what political leader's brainchild was the world famous highway or 'Autobahn' in Germany?

Yes, you had it right, it was none other than Adolf Hitler -The demon the world should never have known. It was to serve as the very prototype which later became the bedrock for Motorways that were built worldwide. Although, the Autobahn road network expanded in the Post-Hitler Germany and today it stands out to be a national motorway connecting one extremity of Germany with the other, but barely any German would want to proudly remember and condition the Bundesautobahn in today's Germany with Hilter.

Hitler was only a product of the national humiliation to which Germany was made subject by the Allied Nations and the League of Nations, he had done nothing exceptional except for capitalizing on them and using it to his advantage. The German Miracle was actually the pioneering work of Otto Von Bismarck, who had moved Germany to the pinnacle of economic prosperity and military superiority during the 19th Century. But all his hardwork was undone by the following statesman prior to World War I, and after that it was Hitler.

Now you may be wondering, why I have made the attempt to put forth this point before all of you, the reason is quite emphatic and it is directed towards none other than Nawaz Sharif, who thinks that the only way to satiate a nation's appetite for prosperity is by building road networks. Well if you didn't know another pivotal fact is, that alike a few other portfolios (or Ministries) Nawaz Sharif also has under his authority the Ministry of Communications, which is responsible for building, maintaining and repairing National Highways, including Motorways. Nawaz Sharif uses his complete discretion to direct the taxpayer's money (yes yours, mine and the rest of Pakistanis) in building highways to only please his respective constituencies which have served as his vote bank or could do in future.

However, Nawaz Sharif, needs to draw this bitter lesson from Hitler's experience, that no amount of road-building will lead to appeasing public opinion or bringing durable change in the intangible services that are extended or expected by the state (such as Rule of Law, Justice, Accountability, Devolution of Power etc). No one could deny the economic, communication, strategic and logistical roles and benefits of Highways, but they are not an end in itself or serve as a means to redress genuine political grievances. For Nawaz Sharif, he should realize that no amount of turning the gaze will make the ongoing political crisis avert or dwindle, it will only and only aggravate.

by webmaster@insaf.pk (tkiadmin)