PTI and Marvi: A love story turned sour
When the PML- Q joined hands with the current PPP government, Marvi Memon took a stand (along with some other MNAs and MPAs of her party) and decided not to join the federation. She even went a step ahead and tendered her resignation from the National Assembly. This move improved her image in the public eye and people began to feel that she will take revolutionary steps in politics; that she will use her political standing for the people of her country. Political analysts and critics were of the view that Marvi Memon will join the PTI after she left her parent party. But due ...
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How to avoid getting slapped
Recent events have led me to believe that this world is a very dangerous place. Teachers get slapped at polling stations, bouts of amnesia suggest that politicians don’t believe the accused is the accused at all and then politician’s claim the slap never occurred, contrary to video footage! Even after you pardon the person who slapped you, there may be naysayers who say you were never actually slapped at all!! How are we supposed to protect ourselves from the inevitable? In these troubled times getting slapped has become a greater threat than ever before. While PPP’s Waheeda Shah seems to be the new ...
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Privacy issues and the media
The role of the media regarding the matrimonial issues of politicians has received a mixed response in bureaucratic circles. To witness such debate among bureaucrats on the role of the media, and how it covers the personal issues of politicians, is quite interesting. Some appear to discuss such rumours, including those on the secret marriages of some politicians, just to dilute the heat created by Memogate. Some bureaucrats vehemently criticise the role of the media in bringing to light such things and say that this is done with an ulterior motive: to tarnish certain politicians who may be out of favour ...
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Don’t close hearts because of Shamsul Anwar
The story ‘Waiting to receive pieces of daughter’s dead body’ aroused a series of vacillating emotions. Shock and horror washed upon the public after hearing Shamsul Anwar’s heart-wrenching and soul-shattering story, affecting everyone who heard of or read it. People lost sleep over the desperate father’s horrific state and many even reached out to help him as much as they could. Those emotions were then replaced by more shock, but this time layered with deceit and betrayal as it was revealed that Shamsul Anwar’s story was untrue. Aside from pointing out the obvious negligence and shoddy efforts of proper research on ...
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The corruption within
Irony appears to be wasted on many citizens of Karachi. I’ve had one conversation too many sitting in the passenger seat of a car, hearing an animated driver furiously lambast devious politicians of the country from behind the wheel, then promptly run a red light at a crowded intersection. Surely some parallels could be drawn between these two sets of people: the corrupt politicians and the negligent drivers. Politicians are entrusted, among other things, with the responsibility of being honest and fair during their tenure in office. They are expected to have concern for the welfare of the general populace. ...
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Pakistani politics, a messy affair
Why is Pakistani politics so insipid? With no charismatic leaders to look up to after the country’s founder, parties floundering in their unkept charters and distinctions between left and right shrinking, it is no wonder that a majority of Pakistanis give the ballot box a miss. Coupled with the irregularities in the electoral system that have finally been identified and being worked upon, the prospect of voting in elections seems daunting, to say the least. Right leaning parties are abundant but most of these are just reactive blocs who have found it difficult to provide real services to people, thereby failing ...
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The PIA problem
This article is not written with the intent of defending President Asif Ali Zardari or his party.It aims to illustrate how the hyper personalisation of politics and governance in Pakistan has created unachievable expectations for quick fixes, based on overly simplistic explanations of state failure. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is an illustration of perhaps the biggest disservice the president has done for his country; he allowed himself to become a lightning rod for every explanation of state failure. By explaining the poor performance of the state to the person who occupies the Presidency, we overlook the many structural, underlying and historical reasons that perpetuate state failure. The dominant ...
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KP politics: Of name changes and one-line manifestos
Walking out from parliament is one of the oldest forms of expressing dissent or dissatisfaction with the government. However, on December 9, there was a walkout in parliament over an issue of immeasurable proportions. No, not drone strikes. No, not memogate or Ghulam Nabi Fai. No, not Zardari’s health or Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif’s exchange of dirty laundry and certainly not pictures of Veena Malik. This was much bigger, yet it could be summarised in three letters. KPK. Apparently the ruling party of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ANP, decided that the abbreviated use of the province’s name in ministries’ written ...
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Discourse on corruption: an exercise in futility
If there’s one thing that captures public imagination in this country, it’s the phenomenon of corruption. The very word, thrown around in public discourse by politicians, talk show hosts and drawing room conversationalists, is as omnipresent as the occurrence of the phenomenon itself. Although the idea of ‘scourging’ Pakistan of corrupt politicians appeals to our morality-crazed middle class, my argument is that this paradigm is an inherently flawed way of viewing the problem. Asking Nawaz Sharif or President Zardari to declare their assets is not going to rid the country of corruption – and here is why. Corruption and fraud are ...
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My burning home
War drums are being beaten left, right and centre in every part of the country. Phrases like ‘America is here’, ‘attack on our sovereignty’ and ‘we’ll give them a bloody nose’ are coming out of all and sundry in the streets and everywhere. The media machinery is in full swing amplifying this rhetoric, interviewing every Tom, Dick and Harry on the roads and ‘getting them’ to speak what it wants to. Only if the common man knew what was going on behind the scenes in the corridors of power. Ask yourselves some questions: Is this the first time our sovereignty ...
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