Bilawal and predatory mindset

However short-lived and expedient the “ideological squabble” between Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and father Asif Ali Zardari may be, this brought to fore the mindset that holds Pakistan firmly in clutches — the brutal quest for political power regardless of the moral cost. The mindset thrives on a) Machiavellian deceptive approaches b) patronage off national resources and c) little moral or ideological scruples for securing and preserving power.

Bilawal sent ripples across party cadres when he — at a public rally in Chitral — urged “the old guard above 70” to take the back seat from politics.

The father struck back two days later. In a TV interview he callously ran down his son, called him “yet not mature enough” and threw yet another damper. “I will decide the candidates for elections not Bilawal,” Zardari said with his usual guileful smile.

It was the conventional political mindset at display, to say the least.

Recall, how Zardari embraced the Sharif brothers after tragedy struck Benazir Bhutto in December 2007 but the deep-seated mutual dislikes, if not hatred, cut the honeymoon short. During the election campaign in 2013, all the evil they hold of each other became an essential part of their speeches.

This finally — yet again — stamped the deception that these politicians deploy in pursuit of power. They continue to call out each other (after 16 painful months of the PDM government), albeit with a varying degree. But the approach and the content has hardly changed from the past.

As far patronage, the senior Zardari takes pride in recalling how he survived for five years as the President of the country. “I paid for every single minute of those five years,” he used to tell close friends, implying that he bribed all those who mattered for his survival. Guess who he paid.

Sharifs acted hardly differently, with Shehbaz Sharif taking his boundless lust for political power to new lows, when he as the chief executive spared no occasion to please and placate the masters.

The Sharifs have raised and consolidated their “fiefdom” in Punjab through massive patronage — plots, permits, business contracts, and favours in promotions and postings. This heavy investment across bureaucracy and business for over three decades literally stalled governance during the Usman Buzdar era, the latter’s reputation as an inefficient, petty-minded politician notwithstanding.

Both Zardari and Sharifs mince no words when speaking of safeguarding their personal or party interests. “Our vote, our constituency, our politics, our achievements” are euphemisms that denote their mindset.

Bilawal, Maryam, Hamza, Aimal Wali Khan are the extensions of the same mindset. For them, stalwarts such as Sherry Rehman, Raza Rabbani, Taj Haider, Farhatullah Babar, Pervez Rasheed, Ahsan Iqbal, Khurram Dastgir, Zahid Khan (ANP) are all but facilitators. They are the cheerleaders with little, if any, chance of elevation to the coveted offices of President, Prime Minister, Chief Minister.

As far morality or principles, the elite’s mindset knows no limits — neither depths nor shame. The PML-N was instrumental in spreading Benazir Buutto’s bedroom, concocted stories in the 1990s.

The party in the last few years has again either been in the forefront or acted as a facilitator in disinformation on Imran Khan’s private life. Multiple videos (forget about Mohammad Zubair and Talal Chaudhry episodes), Reham Khan and Hajra Panezai’s books — the latest being a slur on the name of book — and the concerted print and electronic media campaign provide a glimpse in to the lowness of this mindset.

Even more distressing is the appearance of several journalists at the launch ceremony of Panezai’s shitty compendium of lies. This reflected an extremely bitter and base reality of the present politics — the overarching desire to upend one person. Politicians, journalists and bureaucracy have joined hands without the slightest tinge of shame or remorse.

This unholy nexus comprising — I would say — commercial interests and monetary incentives has turned most of the media landscape into a one-way dirty propaganda platform  led by lots of those who once stood for democratic values and advocated against non-political forces. Today, unfortunately, they are all singing in unison just because they don’t like Imran Khan.

One wonders how they can justify their support through spoken or written words or convince their children of the rightness of their cause.

I also think of those leaders on top who are funding, endorsing and promoting slanderous material directed at Imran Khan — videos, books, notorious models, political turncoats, journalists and intellectuals.

Is this country fated to forever reel under this mindset?

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2023.

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