The BackBencher: Newly elected MPA Hasnain Mirza makes his first appearance
Zulfiqar Mirza can teach him on what the press expects from his son – the art of delivering a killer sound bite.
KARACHI:
The stage was set for The Son’s arrival. Journalists and security officials jostled for space, others pondered the possibility of the chief minister showing up. The reception committee, which consisted of a beaming Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Humera Alwani, stood at the steps.
The gleaming cars rolled up, and a statuesque Fehmida Mirza – the first female speaker of the National Assembly and the wife of one of the most controversial figures the Sindh Assembly has had the honour of calling a member in recent years – alighted along with an entourage of family members.
It was quite like the first day of school, when teary-eyed parents wave goodbye to their children, awkward in brand new uniforms, with butterflies in their stomachs and heavy schoolbags. But The Son, the newly elected MPA Hasnain Mirza, was neither awkward in his suit nor was his formidable mother seen reaching for tissues to wipe away any tears. Proud, assured and with the confident stride of the politically influential, they met their greeters, offered a few headline-worthy sentences to the cameras, and swept into the assembly.
“Our family has a tradition of serving the people,” Fehmida said, adding that she hoped her son would work for the people of Badin. “I will follow in my father’s footsteps,” offered Hasnain, perhaps a precursor to how he will conduct himself in the assembly.
And then in he walked, into the hall where his father once held court as Sindh home minister. The air filled with the sound of MPAs thumping their desks, a few constituents chanted “Jiye Bhutto!” from the gallery and The Son made his way to a seat.
Not everyone was on Team Mirza, however. Except for a few of their older members, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPAs looked entirely put out, as did National Peoples Party MPA Arif Mustafa Jatoi.
The new occupant of the PS-57 seat was asked whether he would like to be sworn in, in English, Urdu or Sindhi and he opted for the first. His smiling family witnessed the ceremony and the chants continued as Hasnain walked around the hall greeting party members, ignoring the MQM entirely.
But for the MPAs who had once supported Hasnain’s father – even at the cost of their positions in the party – it was as if their saviour had been reincarnated.
Sharjeel Inam Memon, who lost his job as information minister for defiantly refusing to sever links to Mirza, and has been skulking into assembly sessions since, was brimming with joy.
Even though he came across as a shadow of his fiery father, Hasnain vowed to work for his constituency and reminded the MPAs that his successful election was an “endorsement” of the work the PPP government had done during the recent floods. For his part, Speaker Nisar Khuhro reminded him that he was starting a “life of more responsibility and commitment and public representation”. In a short speech, featuring a smattering of accented Sindhi, he thanked PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and co-chairperson, President Asif Ali Zardari, for the trust they had put in him and said he would uphold the oath he had taken.
“You can say goodbye to your mother, this is your home now,” Khuhro quipped to Hasnain as they stood at the Sindh Assembly steps after the session. He took the advice to heart and came across as a man of his constituency on Thursday, posing for photos and videos, surrounded by his supporters. “Kuch naaray hojayein?” How about some cheering, he asked in a populist move so classic of his father Zulfiqar Mirza.
He declined to speak to the press until “the MPAs” had arrived. But the first one to make it out, Sharjeel Inam Memon, couldn’t get through the crush around Hasnain. “An MPA’s job is of a legislator, and I plan to work for my people and their issues,” he said.
The shadow of his father loomed large. When asked how he planned to work with other political parties, particularly the MQM, considering his father’s relationship with the party, Hasnain seemed tired of the comparisons. “The media always brings the discussion back to my father. Whatever he did was in his capacity as the home minister. I am not the home minister, I am an MPA.”
But Hasnain is still his father’s son. “I will work for the rights of the people of Sindh,” he repeated before heading off to find Sharjeel Inam Memon. Perhaps, for his next coaching session, Zulfiqar Mirza can teach him on what the press expects from his son – the art of delivering a killer sound bite.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2012.
The stage was set for The Son’s arrival. Journalists and security officials jostled for space, others pondered the possibility of the chief minister showing up. The reception committee, which consisted of a beaming Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Humera Alwani, stood at the steps.
The gleaming cars rolled up, and a statuesque Fehmida Mirza – the first female speaker of the National Assembly and the wife of one of the most controversial figures the Sindh Assembly has had the honour of calling a member in recent years – alighted along with an entourage of family members.
It was quite like the first day of school, when teary-eyed parents wave goodbye to their children, awkward in brand new uniforms, with butterflies in their stomachs and heavy schoolbags. But The Son, the newly elected MPA Hasnain Mirza, was neither awkward in his suit nor was his formidable mother seen reaching for tissues to wipe away any tears. Proud, assured and with the confident stride of the politically influential, they met their greeters, offered a few headline-worthy sentences to the cameras, and swept into the assembly.
“Our family has a tradition of serving the people,” Fehmida said, adding that she hoped her son would work for the people of Badin. “I will follow in my father’s footsteps,” offered Hasnain, perhaps a precursor to how he will conduct himself in the assembly.
And then in he walked, into the hall where his father once held court as Sindh home minister. The air filled with the sound of MPAs thumping their desks, a few constituents chanted “Jiye Bhutto!” from the gallery and The Son made his way to a seat.
Not everyone was on Team Mirza, however. Except for a few of their older members, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPAs looked entirely put out, as did National Peoples Party MPA Arif Mustafa Jatoi.
The new occupant of the PS-57 seat was asked whether he would like to be sworn in, in English, Urdu or Sindhi and he opted for the first. His smiling family witnessed the ceremony and the chants continued as Hasnain walked around the hall greeting party members, ignoring the MQM entirely.
But for the MPAs who had once supported Hasnain’s father – even at the cost of their positions in the party – it was as if their saviour had been reincarnated.
Sharjeel Inam Memon, who lost his job as information minister for defiantly refusing to sever links to Mirza, and has been skulking into assembly sessions since, was brimming with joy.
Even though he came across as a shadow of his fiery father, Hasnain vowed to work for his constituency and reminded the MPAs that his successful election was an “endorsement” of the work the PPP government had done during the recent floods. For his part, Speaker Nisar Khuhro reminded him that he was starting a “life of more responsibility and commitment and public representation”. In a short speech, featuring a smattering of accented Sindhi, he thanked PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and co-chairperson, President Asif Ali Zardari, for the trust they had put in him and said he would uphold the oath he had taken.
“You can say goodbye to your mother, this is your home now,” Khuhro quipped to Hasnain as they stood at the Sindh Assembly steps after the session. He took the advice to heart and came across as a man of his constituency on Thursday, posing for photos and videos, surrounded by his supporters. “Kuch naaray hojayein?” How about some cheering, he asked in a populist move so classic of his father Zulfiqar Mirza.
He declined to speak to the press until “the MPAs” had arrived. But the first one to make it out, Sharjeel Inam Memon, couldn’t get through the crush around Hasnain. “An MPA’s job is of a legislator, and I plan to work for my people and their issues,” he said.
The shadow of his father loomed large. When asked how he planned to work with other political parties, particularly the MQM, considering his father’s relationship with the party, Hasnain seemed tired of the comparisons. “The media always brings the discussion back to my father. Whatever he did was in his capacity as the home minister. I am not the home minister, I am an MPA.”
But Hasnain is still his father’s son. “I will work for the rights of the people of Sindh,” he repeated before heading off to find Sharjeel Inam Memon. Perhaps, for his next coaching session, Zulfiqar Mirza can teach him on what the press expects from his son – the art of delivering a killer sound bite.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2012.