Sialkot incident
The weekend incident where Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan lambasted an assistant commissioner is a reminder of what some politicians think will get them positive media coverage. Perhaps Awan was projecting. After all, the ‘electable’ former PPP federal minister lost the 2018 election despite a PTI wave. She was then ‘compensated’ by being appointed special assistant to the prime minister, but her gaffes and general poor performance led to her being removed. She is now on the verge of another sacking.
To cap it off, in a later press conference, Awan refused to accept that she had done anything wrong. Awan was on a photo-op tour of a Ramazan bazaar — we know this because her official role does not encompass price check, and the bazaar serves her Sialkot constituency. Since her current government role does not directly relate to food prices and she is not the local MNA or MPA right now, why was she even ‘investigating’ the market? Then there is the incident itself. Awan first yelled at the AC for not being there to welcome her. We can recall the PTI chief saying his party does not believe in the ‘protocol system’ of past governments. Perhaps Awan should have heeded his advice instead of expecting a welcoming committee.
Awan then made a crass remark that has about the AC believing her life to be more precious than others, which appeared to be a Covid-19 reference. Here, we must remind that Awan is a medical doctor. Does she not know that there is a deadly airborne disease that the government has failed to control? If the AC was avoiding crowds for health reasons, it makes her an example to follow. Awan then asked which “shameless person” had appointed the young CSS officer. Depending on how you look at the appointment process, that “shameless person” is either the Punjab chief minister or the prime minister. We would pay good money to watch her try to use the same tone and language against either of them.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2021.
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