God bless Marvi Rashdi and Shazia Marri for turning the Sindh Assembly proceedings around. They kind of went from a taupe Chanel long-lasting concealer to MAC’s eye-shadow in Sushi Flower and Sumptuous Olive, if you catch my drift.
The ladies effortlessly picked up where they left off on Tuesday. In round one, Rashdi literally stuffed her ears with cotton to avoid having to listen to Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri.
“If I don’t listen, I won’t have to respond,” she told The Express Tribune later on.
But Rashdi’s stunt was overshadowed by Marri’s speech. She slyly peppered it with several choice quotes from politicians speaking on women’s rights and belittling women for using make-up, including former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and ex-Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim.
Ironically enough, Rashdi’s colleague Nusrat Seher Abbasi also noted that, “women were criticised for putting on make-up”. This prompted Marri to raise her eyebrows till they threatened to disappear into her Féria by Préférence NEW P50 Pure Amber hairline.
It was a case of two-tone standards as Marri did not feel the need to upbraid party MPA Tauqeer Fatima Bhutto who struggled to read the text of a resolution. Just a day earlier, Marri had unleashed a tirade at Rashdi for not being able to speak English properly.
It did not end when the house wrapped up for the day either. Marri went on to elaborate on her criticism of Rashdi outside the Sindh Assembly and reprimanded reporters for picking up what she called a “non-issue” … before she went on to speak about precisely that for a good ten minutes.
Meanwhile, the celebrations of International Women’s Day dominated the Sindh Assembly, albeit without even the slightest mention of the ministers who defended Waheeda Shah for slapping polling staff, including Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani, who had this gem to offer on Wednesday: “[She] only slapped the staff.”
A man I once interviewed – who spent almost two decades dealing with Karachi’s political elite – wisely remarked that politicians make a lot of sense when they’re in the opposition, but rarely when they’re in government.
Make-upgate was mercifully ignored for a bit during the impassioned speeches by MPAs on International Women’s Day. The speeches featured a mangled version of Dr Khalid Javed’s poem “Main Baghi Hoon”, a few novel suggestions – one from MPA Humera Alwani, who said Section 144 should be imposed on jirgas, and another from MPA Khalid Ahmed who said men who harass women on the street shouldn’t even be called men – and a quote from the hit 1990s song “Choti si Asha” off the Roja soundtrack. There was lots of grandiose talk from MPAs elected on reserved seats, delivered without a trace of irony, about women not being treated differently. One did, however, offer this reality check: “There’s a quota because things will never change.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 9th, 2012.
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I have never heard a truer saying- "politicians make a lot of sense when they’re in the opposition, but rarely when they’re in government". Who ever said it, truly understands the political system in Pakistan well!