The first week was spent battling a horrendous jet lag of nine hours. The only diversion was to watch television which the house staff seemed to be addicted to. I had been mesmerised by the pristine and exacting speeches of the fire-brand cleric Dr Qadri. Intellectually, I had parted ways with Chairman Khan’s jaded bluster as I did online research from my home in Toronto. Yet, in fairness, I watched both as the deafening loudspeakers rent the night air bludgeoning the Zen charm of the white city of Islamabad. Where the hell is the loudspeaker ordinance which every civilised country has?
The next shock was seeing laundry festooned on the iron picket fence encircling the Supreme Court. I had the privilege of catching a session here on a previous visit and felt a prickle of outrage that this august edifice with its spell binding architecture could be desecrated in this fashion. Where was the prime minister? It would take me two weeks to discover that he was finessing all the travesties with the oldest ploy in the world. Give everyone a long enough rope and eventually they would hang themselves.
Soon, the mob which had gone mad, tried to storm the private residence of the prime minister and was effectively repelled by law enforcement agencies. I had my first crisis of confidence. My acquaintance, Dr Qadri’s utopian dream of the perfect Muslim welfare state which had won my heart and the notion that in a perfect world the PTI may have had another five seats or so in the National Assembly took a backseat. The subsequent seizure of the PTV building, ensuing vandalism and disruption of transmission was the last nail in the coffin of the Twin Protest movement. Privately, I thought, two hundred people should head to the Bani Gala home of Chairman Khan, loll about on his lawns, urinate and defecate wherever they choose and hurl garbage in all directions. After all, a man’s home is his castle?
Now my ire had been provoked I became a protest junkie. This was compounded daily by hearing Chairman Khan’s coarse invective hurled at the sitting Prime Minister of the country, the elected leader of Parliament. He contravened every notion of verbal civility which the Pakistani culture holds close to heart. In a fascinating turn I thought I had entered Oscar Wilde’s searing portrait of Dorian Grey. Khan, the darling of the stout matrons of Lahore, had transformed himself into a thug? His visage showing more lines by the minute, the eyes narrowed in meanness, the coif displaying bald spots on the crown. He chewed gum on the podium swaggered and swayed to DJ Butt’s quaint version of revolution rock. It was a royal tantrum of a child banging his porridge bowl daily. The breakfast he howled for was the prime minister’s gilded seat.
Dr Qadri’s fury emerging in a shower of spittle accompanying the legendary rasp had a Shakespearean flavour. A pound of flesh was required to assuage the Model Town deaths. Nothing less would do. The point of no return seemed to be reached. The government obviously could not find a Portia. Gentle rain did not fall from the heavens to strain the quality of mercy instead it pounded the makeshift tent city into cess pools of hazardous hygine while damp toddlers caught colds.
Clamping my straw hat on my head I descended a long flight of meandering steps and entered the D chawk sprawl. Walking along I peered at the makeshift tents, dodged the garbage littering the broad avenue and held my breath as the stench of sewage was over-powering. Groups of men had gouged open underground water mains and were bathing merrily and washing clothes. Small plastic pouches of yellow coloured rice and a liquid curry were opened and spread over nans. This was the food supply provided. The faces of people were all marked with apathy. Further along the PTI’s area was no better. The same garbage littered the floor and small pockets of people simply lounged about.
This clump of humanity like wind-up toys are animated each night by the misguided exhortations of two men who suffer not an ounce of deprivation or discomfort in their air-conditioned containers with working toilets and fresh food supplies. As the air is thick with the scandal of rented or compensated attendees culled from the working class of this nation, the only music in the air is that of defeat and the ensuing face saving retreat. Let it be done and quickly! Pakistan Zindabad!
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (53)
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Ahhh finally, something that endorsed majority opinion appeared about the sit-ins; glad to read it.
your 5th paragraph stating nawaz sharif is the elected leader of the parliament is where you have got it all wrong. Don't you see that's the whole point?? Elected by who? Not the people! But the means to make up illegitimate votes and make a democratic election turn into a joke!
What a shameful article by the rich and posh. These are precisely the kind of aristocracy Pakistan seeks to get rid off. Ms Sheikh buzz off to your pristine villa in canada.
oh my god, she doesnt know any thing, she is living in fools paradise.......
Ms shiekh. This was a rather harsh slap to a nation struggling to survive. I wish you had shown some empathy or a basic understanding of what life in pakistan is like. Add a disclaimer to your article : your views are those of an outsider trying to make sense of pakistan.
Your ancestors might have played a role in creating pakistan but that does not make you an authority on pakistan and its affairs. Best of luck
@S Hashmi: I also live in Canada but I have learned in this part of the world that the system is more important than anything. No matter how bad the system, no one takes law into their own hands and no one attacks government buildings and police with sticks. People don't go to the capital to go to washroom on government property even though politicians here too are corrupt like all over the world. Imran Khan and TUQ should be ashamed of themselves and their behavior. They need to charge the protesters and force them to clean up their mess. They have the typical quick fix mentality of Muslim people instead of wanting to work. We saw how quickly things got " fixed" in Libya, Egypt and Iraq when you encourage mob rule.
@Sharjeel: Brilliantly written article. The Great Khan is an egotistical megalomanic. If you listen to him you from the frying pan into the fire. NS is the best of several poor choices. @Anon. Yes IK has never been in a position to steal from the people from Pakistan but the protests prove how stupid he is and how badly the country will fare under him
@nazneen sheikh: Ms Sheikh, before you leave your 'charming villa', sit in your 'chaffeur' driven car and take your fligh back to your home (read Canada), how about writing a 'mild rejoinder' and express some genuine condolance for the innocent people who were killed like dogs, on the streets of Lahore and Islamabad, by your 'elected prime minister'? Please enlighten us all as to how your 'published work' in Canada gives you the right to ridicule and undermine the struggle for justice by the real owners of this land - the people of Pakisan (and not someone who only claims 'ancestory' and has no real stake).
@Brig Harwant Singh (Retd): What a logical and cogent comment by you on what ails us and what can cure it. Thank you. Really enjoyed it and agree on every point.
@Sharjeel: Class (Y) on the face (Y)
@nazneen sheikh:
Your forgot to mention amongst your illustrious achievements of third rate books that no one reads and articles in B-newspapers where you only get published on the "Muslim" quota, your addiction to tobacco and your three failed marriages.
We know who you are. Publish this, Mrs. Doubtfire!
@nazneen sheikh: Your insolence was not un-expected. Despite the overwhelmingly negative response you have received, you only want to continue to ridicule the aspirations of the poor and downtrodden people of Pakistan. Believe me, you do not have the slightest feeling of what it means to live in the modern day Pakistan for a common man. Do you want to use the power of pen, use it for writing something that may be in favour of the people. Or continue to be scorned for your Bourgeoisie-centric articles - just don't forget to mention again your chauffeurs, villas and multiple servants; as a way to mock off the people even further.
To the above responses of varied hues and stripes, a mild rejoinder. As a published author of ten works of Fiction and Non-Fiction, and scads of Op/Eds for my national paper The Globe and Mail in Canada, I am trained to believe that engaging public debate is what good journalism is about. However, the debate focuses solely on the views expressed. These are interesting times for Pakistan and will evoke varied commentary. Finally, to set the banal speculations at rest, I am not an ex-pat but a proud Canadian citizen who has Kashmiri ancestry and spent my childhood in a free nation,Pakistan, which people like my father along with Mr.Jinnah created! Any attempt to denigrate the ideals of this nation will be met with resistance through the power of the pen! . .
the writer should buzz off
This despicable writer seems to have the mentality of ABCDs (America bonn confused desi). She compared the killing of 18 innocent people with a pound of flesh.She did not find anything wrong with the mega corruption of the rulers who probably paid for her visit and her column. As for the comment about matrons, maybe she has fist hand knowledge. visiting islamabad for 48 hours and becoming an overnight expert on the situation is Pakistan as become a favourite past time of the immigrants. they only find time to visit Pakistan when their girls grow up and are of marriageable age because they find the foreign culture alien. The second time they remember Pakstan is when they have to spit out their venom against Pakistan. The writer, if she is that concerned about PAKistan should quit her foreign nationality of permanent residency and come to Pakistan to do some good. i will be the first one to stand up and salute her. Until then please buzz off and stop shedding crocodile tears for Pakistan.
I am dumbfounded at the ridicule this article aims to bring to those who want a better life and future for their children. Did the author even try to listen to these protestor's woes let alone try and understand them? These protestors are not fools. They are there because they believe in something. And every ounce of my being believes that they are not alone. There are millions at home rooting for them and praying for their success. My only advice to the author is that she should have spent her 'holidays' in Raiwind- where her 'elected prime minister' is being protected by thousands of security personnel, with all the high expenses paid by tax payers money. Not to worry she is soon on her flight back to her real life of 'fiction writing' in Canada.
@Brig Harwant singh Mughal empire rulled india over three centuries and most of that system followed by few thousand english and there shameless indian servents who open the Dehli gates and later who supported and killed its own peoples including whole of punjabis. and one man can change the system just think about it Mao of china and Imam Khomani of pershia..... just wait and see how our Kaptaan will change this crrupt country to better than westren democracy. inshallah.
Elected leader of some black sheeps of internal and external powers but not the public and we want jinnah pakistan if not then Abul kalam azad and Ulama e Deoband were right who need it
I also live in Canada. But I, along with several other Pakistani Canadians that I know are supporting the Dharnas and follow it day and night. The author is probably one of the few (10% I would say) who hypocritically support democracy in their adopted country, but support autocracy in their native land.
ET refused to print my comment as it was harsh.....and I said so in my comment. At least let me explain why I was harsh......it was because of the condescending, patronizing tone of the article. I hope ET you will let this one through. The author has a right to know what the reader thinks.
What was this all about? Here in Toronto no editor would allow this piece of 'writing' to be published. They would return it with thanks and a smug.
she showed her sheer hatred for poor and under privileged and that disgust she uttered id the root cause of this uprising..people have spoken their voices..imran today..someone else tomorrow..people will not stay quiet now
Biting satire - pungent and on the nail. No wonder PTI walas are finding it hard to swallow. Incidentally, this is how most of the foreign press has been describing the dharnas. Of course, all of them are paid, corrupt, misguided or illiterate, the few hundred PTI walas online being the only independent, honest, sane and educated persons in a sea of great unwashed. After all, it was for nothing that their leader, IK, accused everyone failing to turn up on the streets as a political animal.
A fiction writer in Canada and a lost one in Pakistan. On your brief tour to Pakistan, you have decided to ridicule the the political beliefs and aspirations of thousands on the streets of Islamabad and millions at home. And mind you, the protestors on the streets included the most dispossessed as well as the well off. There are the poorest of the poorest and the 'burger families'. There are professionals and students. There are celebrities there. There are families there. What are they asking for? A better Pakistan. Shame on you to ridicule them on your little visit to this country.
@nadeem: The young people are looking for Chairman Mao, Ernesto G and real revolutionaries in these Thugs. Dharna loosely translated means held for ransom, change now!! Revolution sans substance is anarchy
Finally "democracy" has made it to the same level as the famous idols Abraham smashed without even as much as a " this is bad behavior son. Half backed religious narratives always result in subsequent delinquent behaviors.Wonder where "we" Pakis went wrong?
Ms Sheikh, you keep writing fiction coz it seems that its something u r good at. Coming to ISB and giving ur views like u r some authority on humanities, epic fail. Go save ur own face plz; I mean use more meke-up..
Change of 'Individuals' will NOT make any difference. It is the 'System' that needs to be changed. An example should suffice .After the decline of the Mughal Empire , many kingdoms emerged in India ; notably the Marathas , Haider Ali and Nizam in the South and the Sikhs in the North (most of the present day Pakistan) in the North , but they DID NOT change the Mughal system and retained the same , so much so that the Maratha Peshwa's court had more splendour than even the Mughal court . Since they worked as per the old Mughal 'System', all of them were overwhelmed by the British because the latter had superior civil and military SYSTEMS. Technologically there was hardly any difference between the Native rulers and the British (before the advent of the steam engine and telegraph but by then whole of INDIA was subjugated by the British) . In fact some native rulers had better technology, e.g. the Lahore Durbar (Sikh) Artillery (almost entirely officered and manned by the muslims - Artillery then the most dominant arm ) was better than the British artillery , similarly Tipu Sultan used even rockets in battle against the British . All that was no match to other better and superior military , civil and 'diplomatic' systems of the British .
When the British annexed the Lahore Kingdom in 1849 , it was in financial ruin. The Sikh rulers used to levy tax equivalent to one fourth of the agricultural produce. The British reduced it to ONE SIXTH but tightened the tax ' collection system' ). In very short time the state was financially surplus ; the people were prosperous and happy
No amount of 'Revolution' will help Pakistan. She has to examine what is wrong with the 'SYSTEM' and rectify the same . Mis-governance is the mother of all evils (including corruption and inefficiency, amongst many other evils) and only a strong, dedicated and 'VISIONARY' leadership can improve 'Governance'Ms. Sheikh, Shame on you!
A writer whether a fiction or real, reads things in minutest of details. I wonder how your imagination is so superficial. Not a single line written about the objectivity of protest. I think you should pack your bags and leave to your place of abode leaving the stench of protestors in the air behind. Even the stench of innocent blood or theft of peoples' mandate could not move your pathetic heart. I read fiction and every writer tries to connect with majority's sentiment. You better return to your world of affluence and write romantic novels. You have no place here.
I was apolitical. But, now the stench of status quo is too unbearable, I dream of 18th century guillotine and the beheading of ruling class whether they are politicians, bureaucrats, media people, members of Judiciary, members of law enforcement, members of armed forces. All those who are directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of people in streets or in floods. Plundering the wealth of nation and building their empire on innocent peoples' blood.
With all due respect madam:
Please try to live in the shoes of a poor Pakistani for a few days then I will ask you. The poor don't have enough to eat, cannot even get peaceful sleep due to frequent power breakdown (as they cannot afford the privilege of owning a generator or ups like yourself), and are stopped and harassed by police all the time, are denied the basic right to education.
Even if one dislikes PTI there is absolutely no reason to defend this corrupt regime..do not forget what has the parliament done for the poor people in the country is the last five years: absolutely NOTHING.
Also read the news of how an elected PML-N MNA's sons have recently gang raped a girl in Punjab and gotten away with it without being even arrested. Read about how the Punjab police killers shot down innocent women in Model Town Lahore were caught on video but still roam around the country freely with no fear. Read about how Rana Mashood asked for bribes on camera but is still the law minister. Read about how Gull butt vandalized public and private property in Lahore, Read about the fake flood relief camps setup by PML-N government, read about how this government reduced the education budget in real terms in the last budget, read about how this government's VVIP protocols don't even let ambulances pass,
I am sorry Madam that I cannot agree with you and support this sort of democratic setup as my moral values do not allow this.
While you cause hue and cry over the loudspeaker noise, young people are being kidnapped from their homes, against the law of course, taken into custody and put in jail, for their political beliefs and aspirations. Innocent people were shot dead and injured in Lahore? Is that what happens in Canada too? Is that how the 'elected prime minister' in Canada deal with his political rivals. Shame on those who try to muffle the voice of the people standing up for their rights.
Both the pro-dharna and anti-dharna voices are losing objectivity. LIke everything else in life, the dharnas have had some positive effects and some negative effects. Positive: they have highlighted the shortcomings of Nawaz Sharif's governance (even if many of these shortcomings have been inherited from past misrule) Even NS's supporters are now sensitized to the fact that governance needs to improve. Negative: precedent has been established that dissent over policies is to be worked out on the streets (only) and not in the Parliament - this is a degradation of the democratic process. Another negative: the shadow of the 'script writer' can be seen all the time, and this has diluted the credibility of the protesters. Time will tell if the dharnas were a net gain or a net loss for the nation.
Why bother write about the woes of a country you are visiting? Even more so, while residing in your 'charming villa'! It beyond me as to how a visitor like you will be able to comment on the beliefs, aspirations and dreams of the future generation of this nation!! How dare you?
@Blithe
CHANGE is in the air...that is what will happen soon insha Allah. Let others who feel themselves in majority ( such people being the literate class ) will ride home blistered. Those wishful thinking of some will never materialize who thinks these dharnas have failed, it did not, it has created awareness among the majority of poor people ( they are the majority - more than 55 % ) who are being denied their basic right to life & justice...IK / TuQ are fighting for the basic right to life & justice for the majority of poor people not you Mr Blithe & your majority....
Now also right your of present government and parliamentarians including Aitazaz & Nisar Ch saga to complete the picture and then give your assessment.
@Peshawar wala:
yes and burn the hilltop fortress of bani gala too................where your leader rests comfortably every night.
It's so funny and sad at the same time. People just need to ask themselves the following questions... Has Imran Khan ever stolen from the people? Have the Sharifs? Has Imran Khan got a business empire that benefits from his political activities? Have the Sharifs? Has Imran Khan ever been caught trying to influence judges? Have the Sharifs? Has anyone given a written affidavit swearing that they laundered money for Imran? Has anyone done so for the Sharifs? Does Imran Khan use the police in KP as his own personal army? Do the Sharifs do so in Punjab?
What is Imran' biggest crime? uncivilised language? What is the Sharif's? Choose from any of the above.... possibly even murder... if you include the Model Town incident. And btw... the Sharif's too have stormed the Supreme Court, protested outside parliament house and asked for the resignation of an elected President.... not to mention the all-famous threats to Zardari!
Get some perspective!
It's so interesting that there is so much outrage over the "desecration" of the buildings by hanging clothes on their walls to dry.... and yet there was none when the actual desecration takes place... by the use of these buildings by the rich and powerful to rob and kill the poor. These are the very buildings the corrupt politicians have used for the past sixty years to enrich themselves and enslave the poor. Where was the outrage then?!
And as for Khan's "coarse" language about an "elected PM".... O how distasteful. Nevermind that this "elected" leader of ours has been accused and found guilty of everything from money laundering to influencing judges to using the police as his personal army. How come nobody found that distasteful? The fact of the matter is, had this "system" that everybody is so keen to protect, been functioning the sharif brothers and their cohorts would have been disqualified and been languishing in jails many many years ago.
But no, everyone quietly accepted each and every breach of the ethical and legal code required for a democracy to function...The erosion of this very system! And now, when somebody protests and points out the sheer hypocrisy of it all, and the fact that the system has been paralyzed by personal interest, they attack his 'tactics' for not being civilised enough!
I forced my self to read this article full and when i read the first line, I came to know what I am reading and have to control my BP.
People like you Mrs. Sheikh, who are living in Canada, US or Europe doesn't know or even imagine what this country mean to us who are living and dying for this country and as you said the "Darling of the stout matrons" he is not the darling of stout matrons only but the darling of the young educated and illiterate, farmers, labors, housewifes as well, you can have hundreds of differences with Qadri as well but his 14 workers (2 Women, 1 was pregnant) were shoot dead and 85 were injured and no FIR why, Gullu Butt is out of Jail but DJ Butt is behind the bars, you are talking about the law of loudspeaker is there any law for human for justice the Canadian government also taught you, Can you imagine in your country (Canada).
Today all the corrupt barons are at one side and poor deprived who not even treated as human being are at one side.
The NA-7 constituency who's population is about 500,000 more or less is the constituency of ANP leader Asfandiyar Wali Khan and you know 19 Billion Ruppees has been spent in the last 5 years PPP Government but you can hardly find out where the money has been spent, this is one example which i know, there are hundreds of such like that.
Every Political party says that the last election was rigged but they accept to get their share they accept for money not for democracy, what is the harm to democracy in 5 demands of IK, which he demands to find out through 3 Judges of Supreme Court commission that who, how the election was rigged and how to stop this in future and what measurement should be taken for free and fair election, was this demand is not justified in your country (Canada)? Is there any space for corrupt mafia, rigged election.
@Ch. Allah Daad: Ch. Allah Daad...burn containers?..You are getting out of control!
writer is correct.....dharnas have failed and its leaders have too large an ego to send their cadres home.
What a piece of self serving tripe.This nauseating notion of I, Me, Myself. The author could have covered any topic but it would smelled of the same vain glorious, self centered barf.
Aunty, I'm so sorry the protesters spoiled your holiday to pakistan. Maybe you should check into the PC or Marriot for a few days. No riff raff will bother you there and you can enjoy the real pakistan. Kind regards.
Ah you said your view, so we will leave it that.
Glad you live in Canada. Pakistan doesn't need citizens like you.
"sitting Prime Minister of the country, the elected leader of Parliament"..... Yes those elected through rigged elections might be acceptable in your fiction writing but here we want things to change.
In real revolution, people would have burnt containers of these thugs.
Excellent piece!!! It really resonates with the majority view.
These two thugs have hijacked Isloo and the kids are suffering from Stockholm syndrome. And some of the kids just cannot leave because they are being blackmailed by IK and TuQ
'..chauffeur,..villas, domestic staff..' Madame author, please!!, right now this country does not need elitist pablum and piffle! You should have declared in first paragraph that you need a job, with Nawaz's govt....the whole article....is bad fiction. Please madam,..go back to Canada,..er...was it England?
[woman wearing a straw hat walking about, in this country, would be considered deranged, or object of ridicule, or object of curiosity, or a mulla would slap her hard. put her in a burqa]
[ moderator, fair assessment, and in your face truth, about straw hat]
your views are yours but we have to defend our everyday bred in our own country we are fed up with a foreign oriented culture which has given only troubles foreign language imposed on our people we have must find our way of life we are Muslims we have our own culture eating speaking clothing etc. be happy where you are we must defend what is legally belongs to Pakistan made in Pakistan!
Maybe you should stay in Lahore and enjoy Nawaz Sharif's regime, don't go back to Canada. Just until a few years ago I used to support PPP but now i have realized that they are all the same whether PMLN, PPP, MQM, JUIF or ANP. They don't care about the common people. PMLN can try all they want but the azadi movement will never die, NS can never defeat IK and Qadri because they are the leaders of an ideology that aims to make everyone in Pakistan equal to one another, and ideas never die.
I forced myself to read this article completely but I am lost as to what was the author trying to say. The first line of the article should have warned me about what I was going to read.
Though I am not in favor of IK or TuQ but the people also don't want a corrupted leader who has been tried three times and has done nothing for them except filling his own pocket. But, YOU, I don't suppose will get it. Afterall with your two storey brick villa placed right beside the D Chowk, accompanied by a dozen servants, how can you see or feel the poverty that is entrenched deep inside people, who BTW you will obviously think are compensated or rented.
Though, even if they are compensated... has the proverty left Pakistan? Are we not deprived of our rights or has the corruption ended.
But again, how can you care when you live in Canada having ordinance for everything - even for loudspeakers!