What is not fair, a smear campaign that creates an impression that all of society’s ills are due to PTI’s activities.
CAIRO: As an avid reader of almost all English dailies of Pakistan, I have come across a highly disturbing pattern that cannot be a mere coincidence. Almost daily, there is an op-ed piece in all the major newspapers announcing, confirming and then celebrating the demise of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). The pundits who write these pieces claim to have precise knowledge of how the popularity graphs of the PTI are going down and then almost prophetically explain the exact reasons behind the party’s demise. The similarity in content is uncanny with the celebratory note in these columns being unmistakable. The PTI merits plenty of criticism in many areas of its conduct since the October 30 rally in Lahore and for a party that promises to be the harbinger of change, it deserves to be minutely scrutinised.
However, what is not fair is a smear campaign that creates an impression that all of society’s ills are due to the PTI’s activities. It could be that the enlightened souls writing these columns are genuinely feeling betrayed by certain actions on the PTI’s part but there seems to be no reason for these pundits to be disappointed by the party as the PTI has never been given a chance to rule. So what could be the raison d’être for this recent surge of articles critical of the PTI? Can someone please help me understand this phenomenon?
Omair Hasan
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2012.
