How about tackling the major issues for a change?

I wish someone would stand up in NA, thump the table and say most of what is discussed is a lot of twaddle

When I switched on the telly a couple of days ago, PTV World, the least hysterical of the local TV channels, was televising the debate on the 2015-2016 federal budget. Attendance in the National Assembly was relatively thin. Suddenly, the prime minister walked in rather deliberately, shook hands with a few gofers and sat down close to his finance minister. To emphasise the point that this was supposed to be an important event, the ticker at the base of the screen reminded us that PM Nawaz Sharif was attending the NA session. This, of course, gave me the impression that as a rule the prime minister did not make a habit of entering the National Assembly. I got a good look at some of the people who had been elected. Except for Mushahid Hussain, who always has a twinkle in his eye, the rest of the motley crowd appeared a little bored. Once again PTV World came to the viewer’s rescue with another ticker which announced that the session was being chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq. I always thought that that was what the speaker was supposed to do — chair meetings. Anyway, the speaker gave the floor to Tariq Ullah of the Jamaat-e-Islami, who had been fidgeting for some time and wanted to be the first in line to give the nation a lesson in economics. He had the right mixture of righteous indignation and outrage tempered by an irrepressibly jaunty optimism. But he came across as too linear, too single-issue, too obvious. Afraid that somebody might steal his thunder he hit on a number of points in rapid succession from a prepared speech and occasionally looked up to see if anybody was listening.



Nobody appeared to be interested. The camera picked out one MNA who was picking his nose, another who sat totally impassive, and a lady in white who sat two rows behind, her head suitably covered. She remained expressionless and was probably wondering if her cleaning woman had turned up that morning. A ticker appeared which announced that a murderer convicted in 1992 of killing three people had just been hanged. We also learned that Sartaj Aziz had condemned the Indians for their provocative statements. A few other condemnations followed. Somebody said “We will not be provoked.” The Speaker suddenly interrupted the JI man to state that it would soon be time to offer prayers. I don’t know what happened after that because the electricity suddenly went off.

There are times when I wish somebody would stand up in the National Assembly at the risk of being expelled from his party, thump the table and say that most of what is discussed in the assembly is a lot of twaddle. Take for instance The Protection of Women Act. What is the point of re-introducing something which has been initiated and passed during the PPP’s heyday but never has and never can be implemented in this country, unless you chop off a few heads and start castrating rapists? Themes like protecting women and children are just ploys to divert attention from the real issues plaguing the country — issues like the desperate shortage of electricity and water both for agriculture and domestic consumption. Currently the prime minister is obsessed with the Metro Bus Service which is being put together at phenomenal cost. Couldn’t this money have been used to set up small dams and water reservoirs or desalination plants, and to tap energy from the sun in the rural hinterland? Or do we have to wait until some other party takes over?

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2015.

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