Singer and Barabari Party Pakistan Chairman Jawad Ahmad says he aims to fight the status quo by ‘giving voice to the middle class’. The singer-turned politician is contesting today’s general elections from three constituencies against mainstream political leaders Shehbaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. from NA 132, NA 131 in Lahore and NA 246 in Karachi respectively. The left-leaning party was formed last year and is now going to test the waters by contesting election in hopes of providing an alternative to the status quo. 14 candidates have been fielded by the party across the country, most of whom will be challenging the political bigwigs. Daily Times sat down with Jawad Ahmad to know more about his agenda and manifesto. “If the common man continues to be represented by rich politicians who are least concerned about improving the public’s standard of living, no positive change will ever be seen,” he says. Jawad believes politicians and the establishment do not want to economically empower the people because the poverty-stricken citizens are easier to manipulate. “People will make more informed decisions if they are given a conducive environment and opportunities to improve their lifestyles. And the current stakeholders don’t want that.” Jawad says all political parties are the same and their agenda is driven by their anti-poor policies. He added that the government is involved in economic terrorism against the public through its unjust policies aimed at benefiting the elitists. Speaking about his party’s manifesto, Jawad says if elected to power, he will declare an education emergency and a uniform system of education will be introduced across the country. He said the politicians whose children go to foreign institutes will never be interested in improving the country’s educational system. “Children of politicians, bureaucrats, elitists will all go to the same kind of schools and learn the same curriculum if we are given a chance to form the government.” Speaking about the need to introduce critical thinking lessons in school curricula, Jawad said the issue of fixing the quality of education can be solved by a government which is trusted by the people. “Otherwise the people will be hostile to such changes.” Further, he says poverty and economic deprivation of the people is among the root causes of other issues including terrorism. He says people who don’t have the financial means to send their children to formal schools opt for madrassas (religious seminaries), some of which are the breeding ground for terror. “That’s how the poor’s child gets involved in terrorism. Most of those who show extremist tendencies and later become terrorists come from poor backgrounds. If economic exploitation of the public is put to a halt, we will also be able to fight the menace of terrorism.” Terrorism, he says, is linked to extremism and the threats will keep coming if the latter is not dealt with effectively. “If schools are made accessible to the underprivileged children, their parents would never choose to send them to madrassas,” Jawad said, adding that a complete revamping of the country’s madrassa system is needed and a reform process for these seminaries should begin at the earliest. On the question of minority rights, Jawad says the state has completely failed to provide protection and security to the religious minority communities, adding that his party would ensure equality in true sense of the word and minorities will no longer feel alienated from the mainstream society. Jawad also condemns bigotry and the use of religion card in politics. “We are very clear that religion and politics should be kept separate.” In a reference to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, he says those who use religion to further their political agendas do not practice it in their personal lives, which speaks volumes about their hypocrisy. While commenting on women right’s he says his party supports economic and social empowerment of women, adding that many politicians engage in casual misogyny, and they should be held accountable for it. Jawad reiterated that all pressing issues can be resolved by a government which is trustworthy and has a good track record. Published in Daily Times, July 25th 2018.