The uproar would have been lesser had police officer Arsala not saluted Maryam Safdar. Had Maryam appeared modestly, the uproar would have been zero. According to BBC Urdu, Maryam got better security and protocol than her dad when she appeared before the JIT. Arsala rushed towards Maryam, saluted her and instantly bent to pick up a pen Maryam had dropped. Viewers assumed a courtier was touching the princess’ feet!
Facebook posts flayed Arsala labelling her as a born slave who could have stooped to any level to please her master. Maryam is referred to as ‘shehzadi’ because she is the daughter of a prime minister. She uses official resources and protocol for her projection as future prime minister. She has no portfolio, yet the first daughter is seen chairing government meetings that are attended by senior bureaucrats. Nawaz Sharif wants to launch her as his successor. Roads were sealed; 2500 police personnel escorted her; this arrogant appearance rubbed salt on the wounds of the deprived class. Media decided to take her to task.
Columnist Haroon Rashid declared Maryam’s speech in his Dunya column (July 7) as scripted not spontaneous.
“ZA Bhutto wanted his intelligent and courageous daughter Benazir Bhutto to be his successor. He sent her to Oxford; trained her in foreign affairs; took her to Shimla talks but did not spoil her with money or power. She was drunk with power. But Sharifs have lost this war”, writes Rashid.
Kazim Atif wrote on his Facebook page: “I am a supporter of Imran Khan but I am condemned to admire Nawaz Sharif after listening to Maryam’s speech. Mian saheb makes no distinction between the nation and his daughter. He has kept the both ignorant!’
Ayaz Amir says in his column, “I couldn’t help laughing when I saw Maryam Safdar performing outside the Federal Judicial Academy. She had obviously rehearsed her lines… she is very svelte… graceful and stylish. Her brothers compared to her look like fresh arrivals from the local ‘akhaara’… the pitch where wrestlers practice their art. Hamza and Salman — the Khadim-e-Aala’s bright boys — can eat their hearts out. Hamza can have himself photographed as much as he likes looking thoughtful and with his fist stuck under his chin… Allama Iqbal. But he will always remain a Punjab boy.”
The nation is bashing Arsala for nothing. Her realism should be admired not condemned. This salute might make her the first female police chief of Islamabad
Izharul Haq wrote, “The princess decided to visit her garden that day. The city was sealed. People on footpath were stopped. Eleven elephants carried her to the garden. Each elephant was of thousands of horsepower. They had strange names like Mercedes, BMW! When she alighted from the elephant, the lady kotwaal (assistant superintendent of police)bowed before her and saluted her. The coming generations will be proud of her slavishness.”
In my opinion, the nation is bashing Arsala for nothing. Her realism should be admired not condemned. This salute will make her the first female police chief of Islamabad. Very soon, she would be the chief guest in the programs of the NGOs working on gender. The same media will be glorifying her. After the retirement, she can be the ambassador in Norway or chairperson of the PTV or special adviser to the prime minister. She is not from Mars but amongst us. For a meteoric rise in service, you will have to be a great bootlicker. Obsequiousness and stabbing benefactors in the back is our genetic strength. Our people are so ignorant that they don’t understand the plain meanings of proverbs. One ignorant was so impressed by the Urdu proverb pair dhokar peena that he washed the feet of his in-laws on his wedding day and drank that polluted water! The proverb simply means that one should be respectful to the elders. The video of this ignorant guy was appreciated so much that other idiots started following him. Arsala should not lose heart if she is under fire. Her detractors are jealous because they did not get the historical chance to bow before their masters and salute them. She should not give a damn and continue her mission of ingratiating herself with the masters.
Last but not least, social media is flooded with posts that can be summarised in one sentence — Maryam Nawaz Sharif cannot be compared to Benazir Bhutto. Gunnysack and velvet have no match!
The writer is a freelance journalist and researcher based in Islamabad. He has been editing Pakistan Media Monitor, a weekly media summary, since 2003. [email protected]
Published in Daily Times, July 10th , 2017.