Comment: Riots in Punjab, point scoring in parliament

All over the place.

I have been a journalist for 25 years, but I have not yet understood how and why a definite narrative dominates the media and politics in this country.

This year’s monsoon rains were ferocious and unprecedented in Sindh, affecting more than nine million people. Only 6% of people were given shelter in government relief camps amidst warnings from global aid agencies that hunger and various epidemics may exacerbate the misery of millions of people if more donations are not made.

As if the widespread gloom in 22 out of 23 districts in Sindh was not enough, Lahore was invaded by a deadly variety of mosquitoes.

Our vigilant media did report these calamities, but in an insensitive manner. There was hardly any attempt to inform and educate. As if to support the indifference of our mainstream media, Admiral Mullen made a few comments while appearing before a US senate committee for the last time before his retirement. We created a mood that suggested as if Pakistan would have a General Giap of its own to stage another Vietnam for the sole superpower of these days. The hype compelled the government to have an All Parties Conference that met last Thursday and clearly conveyed to the US that our nation of 180 million ‘ghairatmand’ Muslims wants a space for Mullah Omars and Haqqanis of this world on the table negotiating the post-US scenarios for Afghanistan. Thanks to the diligent assistance of Dr Shireen Mazari, Imran Khan was also able to convince the political and military elite to begin looking for means to establish lasting peace within Pakistan.

While the Zardari-Gilani government and its praetorian handlers might still be looking for interlocutors to engage the TTP leaders, massive and violent crowds took over all the main cities, mainly in Punjab.

However, in the face of such enormous problems, the National Assembly met on Monday evening its usual manner. The house looked deserted, for a large number of people were stranded on the blocked GT Road on various points of entry and exits on the Lahore-Islamabad motorway. The deputy speaker had no choice, but to grant suspension of rules and allow the usual point scoring for issues of public concern.

Khawaja Asif, the hardened hawk from the PML-N, opened the discussion. He was his lethal self. He also amused us while talking of one scandal after another.  Most of his speech sounded like a swan song. He kept insisting that thanks to the “corrupt and inefficient management by this NRO-tainted government, the masses have begun hating democracy. They now view all politicians as money grabbers and scornfully keep abusing them via SMS messages.”

After Asif’s long speech, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan walked into the house and delivered an equally long speech before leading his party out of the house in protest. Syed Naveed Qamar, the minister of water and power, did attempt to deliver an assuaging speech, but it failed to instill confidence. No wonder then that riots in major towns of Punjab continue to turn more violent as I write. One thing is for sure though: there seems no immediate solution to long hours of darkness.

In the end, the prime minister took the mike as well. He was not too convincing when he said the issue of circular debt would now be addressed. Instead of remaining focused on the problem, he strayed to thank the opposition parties and leaders for attending the All Parties Conference, which he believed was convened to tell the world that all Pakistanis were united and steadfast when it came to the “defence of the country.” In passing, he did speak of Karachi as well. I am not sure whether to laugh or cry over his speech.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2011.