Politics in Pakistan was never civil, to begin with, but the new plunges of provocative rhetoric, the rife culture of hatred and vile polarisation still manage to take the nation by storm. However, looking at the knee-jerk defence of those shooting poisonous daggers by people from all walks of life, we, too, have become part and parcel of the same crowd. Because neither half-hearted condemnations nor platitudes from apologists can push the proverbial genie of uncivilised politics back into its bottle. No matter how passionate of a supporter one may be, encircling a female member of a sitting cabinet in a public space in a foreign land and heckling and harassing her with chants of “chor, chor” should be condemned in the strongest of terms by all quarters. Kudos to Information Minister Marriyam Aurangzeb for reacting to their boorish sloganeering with exemplary grace and composure! It was far too easy to unleash a barrage of deplorable digs at her appearance and her clothing, on top of the usual “toxicity,” but the iron lady remained unfazed just as she had braved the shameful ridiculing at the holiest site in Islam, Masjid-e-Nabwi, back in April. This time, however, she took a page out of Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s playbook and tried to–very calmly–reason with allegations. While Ms Aurangzeb has definitely added to her stature by a heroic display of her thick skin and unconditional aplomb, her attackers, especially those of her gender, would soon be scampering for excuses. In their proudly recorded slanging match, not only have they threatened a single woman but also managed to drag the ideals of their country through the mud. As if this shocking onslaught of spite was not depressing enough, another viral video of one aggressor, who emphatically refused to pay up her pledged donation to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government because she could not wrap her head around the idea of “imported hakomat,” simply takes the cake. Do the notions of political allegiance only circumscribe pandering to a no-holds-barred denigration of the rival parties? More crucially, have we actually prepared our youth, our greatest asset, to charge forward and hold the baton or are we shamelessly fanning the flames of an inextinguishable partisanship? *