Without any fear of contradiction I can safely presume that many of “our representatives” from the K-P had got the news of a deadly attack on Malala Yousafzai via messages on their cell phones, at least 45 minutes before the National Assembly was adjourned until the next morning.
Not one of them cared to push the panic button, though. After all, this girl has proven herself as a courageous icon of the struggle waged by thousands of law-abiding middle and lower middle class families in Swat, who want their daughters to attend regular schools to prepare themselves to cope with the challenges of a digitalized world.
The attempt to kill her through a daredevil act clearly sends an ominous message: Islamic Republic of Pakistan is becoming increasingly unsafe for those wanting to live in a pluralistic and forward-looking society.
Instead of wailing over the lack of security for our future generations, member after member kept taking the floor to helplessly complain on primarily trivial issues. After 80 minutes of listless waiting the house had assembled to consider various initiatives that ‘our representatives’ are presumed to push in their individual capacity on a private members’ day.
First, however, surfaced a calling attention notice that Bushra Rehman had posted to find out how successful the government had been in banning the use of ‘sheesha’ in local restaurants.
Once upon a time, Ms Rehman had been famous for writing Urdu novels that furnished desi version of the Mills and Bones stuff. Then she turned to column writing and eventually ended up as a woman member in successive assemblies. Being a hyperactive legislator, she often agitates to ensure that Pakistan “does not drift from its Islamic ideology and culture.”
She was furious to discover that interior minister Rehman Malik had not bothered to come to the house to brief her on official efforts for stopping the spread of ‘sheesha culture’ in Islamabad. The parliamentary secretary had also not been briefed by any official from the same ministry. That offended the PML-N members and they all started complaining that Rehman Malik habitually avoids, when it comes to questions from honorable members of a uniquely sovereign house.
As the Chief Whip, Syed Khurshid Shah was in no mood to defend his ministerial colleague and the momentum started building to force the chair to summon the interior minister before a house committee to “explain his rude conduct.” Chairing the session, Faisal Karim Kundi felt hesitant in daring for this decision.
To his good luck, a lady member suddenly stood to casually wonder as to how the National Assembly members should go about filling in the questionnaire that the Election Commission had sent to them. Kundi reminded her that the matter should be ‘mutually’ handled by each member and the Election Commission. That provoked usually quiet and lie-low Syed Mumtaz Gillani to ask for the floor.
In a very helpless tone this PPP veteran from Bahwalnagar informed the house that as directed by the Supreme Court, the Election Commission had formally asked all members of the national assembly to submit affidavits to show that they were not dual nationality holders.
“As a humble citizen who prefers submitting before the law, I had gone to the local court to acquire the required affidavit by appearing before an Oath Commissioner. The Election Commission is still not satisfied. It has now sent me an elaborate questionnaire that I am directed to get attested by the Secretary of the National Assembly after filling in details about my person. And sir your secretariat tells me that they had no instructions from the speaker to attest this document. What should I do? We (the legislators) can end up as the collateral damage of territorial battles between the legislature and the judiciary,” he forewarned while pleading for mercy.
Gillani’s passionate wondering inspired many in the house to start bickering on the same issue. Their heartburning culminated in building up a sob story which tried to make us believe that “public representatives” were deliberately being maligned these days.
Previously the military usurpers treated them as “hardened cheats and criminals” and now the superior judiciary has begun to portray them as a herd of “recklessly corrupt persons.” In the end, most members openly started endorsing the ‘Gillani’s line’ which had suggested that instead of being constantly derided and ridiculed, “public representatives should be sent home by dissolving the national assembly and let the judges rule until holding of next elections.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2012.
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