Behold Naya Pakistan

I am leaving this country in spirit today, my body will follow whenever the next chance arises.


Farrukh Khan Pitafi August 29, 2014
Behold Naya Pakistan

So the cat is out of the bag. Naya Pakistan is before us. And boy is it ugly? Uglier than a mad man’s dream. Our revolutionaries have brought us on our knees. But why complain? Fatalist as I have become, I am convinced that this is our luck. But let us just not go there. Perhaps, people are unaware of the full extent of the disaster being averted. And yet today is not the day to regale you with the details. Nor the year. Perhaps in 2015 you will know the extent of the full circus.

For now, let us not go there. Imran Khan is celebrating. He’ll probably get married soon. Seeds of change he has sown today will bear ugly painful thorns soon. Painful for him, mind you, not just us. But where does he go from here? A return to the good profitable cricket commentating days? But what of his politics? And that in essence is the question.

We have seen some unsavoury scenes. A parliamentarian threatening to storm parliament. A man considered a national hero not just by cricket lovers but patriots, asking us to stop paying taxes, boycott the state-owned banks. A self-proclaimed prime ministerial candidate threatening to attack and take over the prime ministerial mansion. Will you vote for this man? Don’t answer just now. Give it a few months. Then we’ll see.



Messrs Khan and Qadri together have brought a deadly disease to this town. Or perhaps, it was always there and they just compounded the impact. The disease named incurable doubt. They sit on their high pulpits and accuse just anyone of a crime. No evidence needed. And their gullible followers just lap it up. They say Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim is physically unfit and everyone starts parroting it. They say election commission is corrupt. And believers shun all suspicion. They say Iftikhar Chaudhry is great. We all say he is. They say now he is evil and we all shout, ‘blood, blood!’

The first casualty in all this is reason. Try reasoning with this lot. In a second you are dubbed a lifafa journalist. That you have braved self-imposed poverty your entire life to avoid any corruption doesn’t matter. That you have remained almost an untouchable all your life in a system that has actually made them will not matter. Your entire life’s struggle down the drain. They have a licence to do every ghastly thing known to man. They can tell you to rot in hell and you know someone will take you there soon.

And that’s not it. Trust me I have no interest in my vote being stolen by a rich and powerful family. Nor do I want to be killed like the victims of the Model Town massacre. That is why I have kept my eyes, ears and mind open for any serious evidence substantiating their broader claims. I have seen many issues but not any smoking gun that connects all the dots they are so eager to connect to sell their story. There is a difference between a conspiracy and an accident, reckless mismanagement and premeditated crime. Mismanagement I have seen. Conspiracy I haven’t.

But since their word is now law they don’t need to prove anything. They have shifted the burden of proof to the accused. Guilty until proven innocent. This state of affairs is not acceptable to me as a citizen dear readers. I had seen great dreams for this nation and my children. I have stopped seeing them now.

Perhaps, the biggest casualty in this entire sordid saga for me is my faith in this nation. No matter what happens it will be a breeding ground for new monsters. As if we have not seen enough. So Mr Khan is most welcome to live in the new Pakistan he has built. It has no place for the insane like me. I am leaving this country in spirit today, my body will follow whenever the next chance arises. I swear I will never look back. May you have fun with your latest inventions.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2014.

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COMMENTS (41)

saifullah Mahsud | 10 years ago | Reply

Read the article and the readers' comments. Your point stands proven dear Pitafi. But no remorse, eh?! As a journalist and a student of politics, I am sure you saw the trolls coming. After the events of the last few weeks, as a concerned father, I wish my family had dual nationality like Qadri. Best of luck with your future endevours and may no harm come upon you and your family.

PU | 10 years ago | Reply

At least together, they're poking the N league along with the whole political machinery in the ribs. Asking them about accountability. Standing up against status quo. Have you ever stood up for anything in your life?

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