MARDAN: This is in response to Kamran Shafi’s opinion piece of May 23, “Onward, after the elections”. I am curious about the extent of the needless venom that Mr Shafi routinely directs at the PTI and Imran Khan, as well as some of the pretty questionable conclusions he tries to put forward as facts. Yes, there is plenty of tasteless rubbish on the internet and social media. But Mr Shafi’s suggestion that the PTI is responsible for this tasteless rubbish put out there by its supporters is a bit far-fetched. It could equally be argued that the PTI’s detractors are responsible for the offensive content in question so as to give the party and its followers a bad name. Which is the truth? I have no idea, but neither does Mr Shafi, who is trying to sell the former theory as the reality. In any event, if we are to start judging leaders by the calibre and behaviour of their followers as Mr Shafi seems to propose, I do not think that anyone would be left standing then.
Opinion writers are, of course, entitled to their opinions. But they should try to hang these on facts and should try to hold at least somewhat consistent positions.
More generally, and Mr Shafi is not alone in this, it is quite boring seeing opinion/column writers quoting themselves at length, which Mr Shafi did in this particular article, describing himself as the sole voice that urged Nawaz Sharif to not confront the PPP government.
The gist of my argument is as follows: those who are privileged and take pride in their ability to act as watchdogs over key decision-makers in our polity should take good hard looks at themselves and their own sometimes less-than-consistent positions before casting stones left, right and centre.
Sher Ali Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2013.
