Unsavoury attacks

Prime Minister’s Adviser Shahbaz Gill was pelted with eggs and ink during a court appearance, another unsavoury reminder of the state of political discourse in Pakistan. Gill took the attack in his stride, and criticised the opposition for not controlling their supporters. Several PTI leaders also joined in criticising the opposition. This was both understandable and surprising. It was understandable for obvious reasons and surprising because it made us wonder where this outrage when others were on the receiving end.

The attack, incidentally, comes just a few days after PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal took a shoe to the head outside parliament. After that incident, Gill said he and the party condemned such behaviour, but then, in the same breath, started accusing PML-N men of instigating the attack. Of course, we must also point out the irony of the fact that Gill’s court appearance on Monday was as the accused in a defamation suit. But this is not an isolated problem. Federal ministers Shireen Mazari and Hammad Azhar referred to PML-N workers as hooligans and accused party leaders of being responsible for the attack. Mazari also referred to the PML-N’s 1997 attack on the Supreme Court. We wonder what they have to say about the mobs that attacked Parliament House in 2014 and destroyed public property at the Pakistan Secretariat and PTV headquarters.

The fact of the matter is that hooliganism runs deep in every political party. Senior politicians are known to have distributed sweets and celebrated when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged while others mocked the Sharif family when Kulsoom Nawaz was on deathbed. While such behaviour is routinely condemned, little real action follows. Political leaders and party workers who indulge in such vile acts often end up getting ‘promoted’. Each of the last three governments’ federal cabinets has featured such characters. If political leaders really want to reform the system, they must actually punish such behaviour and those instigating it, with no ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2021.

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