_______________________________________________________
By Tallat Azim
There we were, chugging along at our usual pace and concentrating on nothing more than seeing the holy month through. The only thought on our collective brains was how to cope with the onslaught of Eid expenses. We had very little time to think or worry about ‘Irene’, the hurricane that was creating havoc in another, far removed, corner of the world at that particular time. Little did we guess or know that there was a ferocious hurricane called ‘Mirzene’, which was hurtling towards us at breakneck speed and which would give us no preparation time!
Dr Zulfiqar Mirza has been in the public limelight ever since this government came to power. The primary reason of his importance stemmed from the fact that he was a childhood buddy of the all-powerful President and considered his right-hand man in the province of Sindh. That he was outspoken and dabang, ala Salman Khan, was no secret but he had, hithertofore, remained more or less within party discipline.
On August 28, only three days before Eid and within the last 10 days of Ramazan, Mirza went public on several issues that have been major stumbling blocks in the way of good governance. As a dumbfounded country listened on Dr Mirza, who disclosed important national secrets, named names and called the Federal Interior Minister the biggest liar on earth and went on to explain why he did so, he did not stumble or falter anywhere in his lengthy press conference, had files and documents to support his claims and, the icing on the cake, he did it all with one hand either on the Holy Quran or while holding the Quran with both hands over his head.
The brunt of his frontal attack was the person of Altaf Hussain and his party the MQM, as well as Interior Minister Rehman Malik. Like a ball of wool, he unravelled their alleged modus operandi and made some direct accusations, including the most serious one on MQM of being hand in glove to undo the federation of Pakistan. All these accusations have been made previously too, but only in the privacy of closed doors and that also in roundabout phrases. Primarily, because people are scared of the MQM and its silencing abilities. Thus, Mirza’s diatribe had a freeing feel for everyone. There were no saving graces. We have reached a point in our political life where all parties will have to clean their acts to survive, if we are to survive that is.
Many political analysts have described this as a master stroke by the President and they do not believe that Mirza has acted without his permission. That train of thought does not appeal to me. I, somehow, think that this is a real life example of a verse from the Holy Book that says: “On the Day of Judgment your mouths will be sealed and your hands and feet will bear witness against your deeds.” Best friends can be compared to one’s hands and feet, would you not agree?
More than what Mirza said, and the way he said it was also a real presentation of the values that we, rightly or wrongly, hold dear. We tend not to doubt anyone swearing on the Holy Quran in the manner that he did and that too in Ramazan. We think it is a sign of being well bred, if you are called a yaaron ka yaar and Mirza repeated umpteenth times how he holds the President in the highest esteem, as his childhood friend. He also disclosed his lineage and his family tree as well as his sectarian leanings, all of which could have been left unsaid. But by stating them he reveals a mindset and the importance we store by such facts.
The Eid holidays have been spent in absorbing and assimilating all that we heard. The Supreme Court has its tasks all laid out before it, as it resumes its hearings on the breakdown of the law and order situation in Karachi. The holidays have in all probability given time to the political parties too, affected or otherwise, to meditate, take deep breaths and plan their strategies in the light of the reveal - all, particularly if proof can be found to substantiate Dr Mirza’s serious allegations. These are interesting times indeed!
Postscript: After the thumping success of Shoaib Mansoor’s Bol more Pakistani films have been released on Eid. The industry seems to be struggling to survive and we must encourage its efforts. Reema has given us Luv main gum and Faisal Bukhari has given us Bhai log. We cannot continue to bask in the glory of a bygone cinema era, which is all that we have as reference. If we could do well previously, I am sure we can do well again. This is a country that likes its good times and remains resilient, despite best efforts to bring it down. As was visible in the holidays, the nation, particularly the cities, displayed an almost unbelievable zeal towards finding moments of joy and relaxation. The throngs of people and maddening traffic jams leading to parks, food streets and so on was a telling display of what people really want. They only want a very small part of the pie and a chance to be happy too.
The writer is a public relations and event management professional based in Islamabad.
Email: tallatazim@yahoo.com
The Nation
کوئی تبصرے نہیں:
ایک تبصرہ شائع کریں