Daily Times

In a true democracy it does not matter what the father of an elected leader did or did not dofor his livelihood. Whether the father was a cobbler, ironsmith, weaver or a bus driver, it should not and must not matter. What should matter is what the candidate did in his or her life, and what the accomplishments of the candidate are. Last week’s mayoral victory of Sadiq Khan in London was a reminder that even seasoned democracies such as the United Kingdom need some improvements. First and foremost, I did not quite understand the overplaying of media all overregarding the profession of his late father. As if being a bus driver is some sort of disease. Why being a bus driver is even a topic of any discussion? Transporting people, in one of the busiest cities of the world, is a herculean task and takes extraordinary skills. Perhaps, there is this stigma attached to this so-called ‘blue-collar’ work.

I don’t know who came up with this white and blue-collar classification. It is nothing but another form of indirect racism if you were to examine it more closely. The class differentiation by these labels categorises and labelsworkers that fuel economies with their hard labour as some ‘inferior’ members of the societal structure.It is adegrading assumption or insinuation that this is the ‘labour’ class that was not smart enough to earn a college degree. People who go to colleges and universities end up in what is widely called the ‘educated class’. It is not necessary that all education earned from institutions of learning brings what isknown as the right intuition and valuable wisdom.

I know most of you are thinking that the scribe has lost his marbles. The mere mention of Khan’s father being a bus driver was to inspire other children to emulate Khan. The not-so-lucky ones to work hard and make it big. Understood, but what people have conveniently forgotten is that Mr Khan did not wake up one fine morning and decided to become the mayor just because he grew up in a very simple and humble household. He worked through the ranks of the Labour Party to place himself in that slot. Next, it is equally important to mentionthat he is not some sort of isolationist who has soughtany special or preferential treatment just because he came from an under-privileged segment of society.

The media did beat the drum way too muchon Mr Khan being the first ‘Muslim’ mayor of London. Our hyper-patriots went into overdrive on social media gloating over this historic achievement. I beg to differ with folks overplaying the Muslim card. Again, this should not be anyone’s business whether Mr Khan prays towards Mecca or meditates at a monastery. His belief system is his personal moral compass and cannot be imposed on citizens he has pledged to serve.

Well, some of my critics would wonder what is wrong with me. Here comes positive news for Muslims all over and it should be celebrated. I respectfully disagree. A person elected to the public office can hold any kind of belief system, and it should not make any difference. His or her religious beliefs have no bearing on his or her ability to serve as the mayor of such a diverse city. The religious angle of ‘first Muslim’ that media has highlighted gives the impression that Muslims are some backward nomads who are incapable of understanding and coping with the demands of the modern western world. This is a classic case of ‘Muslim identity confusion’. As if Mr Khan being the mayor of one of the busiest cities of the world will carry out any kind ofpreferential treatment of his coreligionists.On the other hand, it is a reminder for the folks at home that despite all the negative campaigning against the candidate, Mr Khan, and especially malicious accusations against his belief system, voters ignored it all and elected him on his merits and not because of his faith.

Let us touch on the other overplayed item in media about Mr Khan’s Pakistani origin. Mr Khan was born and raised in England, and lived all his life in England. He is a through and through British. Much like my children who were born in the US, with the features of their Pakistani parents, are Americans. Hence to gloat on his Pakistani background is again a sign of our immaturity. Mr Khan will not extend any special favours to any Pakistani just because he or she belongs to the land that his father once migrated from.

Very dispassionately, the people of London elected the best candidate who they felt would look after their wellbeing, prosperity and security. This is all what matters. An electorate should and must be completely dispassionate about colour, faith and ethnicity of all candidates. Period.

The writer is a Pakistani-US mortgage banker. He can be reached at dasghar@aol.com. He tweets at http://twitter.com/dasghar