Daily Times

Sir: Barring a few prominent exceptions, like Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and former Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, almost every politician of repute or ill-repute, has eventually ushered in their own children in to the political sphere in our country. While our founding fathers used the platform provided by politics to serve the people, and to lead them to a new nation where they could live in peace and dignity with one another, most of the new entrants in to the politics of our country had other ideas.

Most of these upstarts got their first chance to enter politics during the tenure of the military dictator Ayub Khan, who at the time, had barred many notable politicians from running for office under his Elective Bodies Disqualification Order (EBDO), paving the way for others to take their place.

These traders in politics went from rags to riches, and in collaboration with corrupt paid public office holders, have been involved in institutionalized corruption, patronizing the land and drug mafia in the country, and harboring criminals, among several other dishonest examples.

Their biggest crime perhaps was to convince the voting public to vote based on the candidate’s family name, instead of their merit. These beneficiaries of hereditary politics were nurtured in a political environment that rewarded those who claimed subservience to them, rather than the people of the country. They were convinced that that they held the true power in the nation and they deserved to do so, which is why they never spent the time in understanding the needs of the poor or disenfranchised, instead focusing on the accumulation of power and wealth.

Almost every political party today is infected with these arrogant scions of their political fathers, who consider the political office as a hereditary physical asset. Years of abuse have driven the people of Pakistan to desperation as they are devoid of basic health and medical facilities, as well as security of life, and it seems now the public has had enough. There is a visible desire to change this status quo, and the upcoming elections are the perfect time to do it.

MALIK T ALI

Lahore

Published in Daily Times, June 28^th 2018.