Regarding Sadiq Khan's election, most people in the West are self-made and that is the very pride of these societies
TORONTO: Pick up any Pakistani paper and you’d find an emphatically-mentioned prefix of “Bus driver’s son” alongside the name of the newly-elected London mayor of Pakistani origin, Sadiq Khan. What’s the big deal? Most people in the West are self-made and that is the very pride of these societies. Nobody cares what someone’s father has done in the past. This is the splendour of these societies and the very reason for their development. If one is born privileged, their efforts for self-improvement or progress would be sluggish or minimal at best — as opposed to a person with limited means, who would contribute to himself and society. It is an implicit process whereby you work for yourself and society at large also gains. It is a classical win-win situation.
Sadiq Khan, with his sheer hard work, made his place among the political cadres of the Labour Party and has become the mayor of one of the world’s premier cities. In the times when the tag of terrorism is affixed on Muslim communities around the world, it is not a trivial job for someone to bring himself to the forefront and lead the city where people like him are part of an ethnic and religious minority, and unfortunately, known for the wrong reasons.
A tribute is also due to Londoners who couldn’t be swayed by the Muslim-bashing galore around them and could actually see things clearly through the dismally blurred bifurcation of being a Muslim and an extremist. Prudent societies develop this ability only when they pass through generations of democratic experience. Congratulations to Sadiq Khan, a lawyer and now mayor of London — achievements made possible through his own hard work — for his electoral success.
Bahadar Ali Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2016.
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