Daily Times

In years to come, there will be
one image that will remain emblazoned in my mind as evidence of all that is wrong with Pakistani politics today. No, I am not talking about the image of Imran Khan claiming that religious intolerance will not be accepted by his party in January 2011 whilst refusing to censor Aamir Mughal, the General Secretary of the PTI Islamabad, who openly called for the assassination of Salmaan Taseer on December 30, 2010, five days before the said assassination took place. Don’t believe me? The said speech remains proudly displayed on the PTI’s own official website. (http://www.insaf.pk/Media/Videos/tabid/62/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/5413/Amir-Mughal-speaking-at-rally-on-defending-blasphemy-law-Dec-31-2010.aspx)
Nor am I talking about the images of Nawaz Sharif crying foul of the system of corruption at every rally, whilst failing to discuss why in 1993, when he was the prime minister, he allowed the Ittefaq Group of Industries, owned by his own family, to accept billions of rupees in donations from cooperative societies, which then went bankrupt, thereby looting just under a million poor, bread-line poor, Pakistanis of all their savings and their hopes.

Nor am I talking about the images of the man who has somehow managed to lead a coalition democratic government to term (for which, he should be applauded and recognised), but was himself bequeathed the chairmanship of a supposed democratic party by way of a will that no one has seen, as though such a bequeathal would have been democratic in the first instance.

Nor am I talking about the image of a military dictator who proudly proclaims: “I have come to save Pakistan and am unafraid” whilst he wears a bullet-proof vest and ignores the manner in which he himself assumed power, raped the national constitution and has not been asked to ‘save’ the nation by anyone.

No, I am talking about an image of a billboard in Lahore. A short drive past Main Gulberg, near the townhouses by the Ufone office. The image is one many Pakistanis will be familiar with: people advertising ‘clinic time’ with no medical qualifications nor offering medical services whatsoever. She offers ‘child and marriage counselling’ when she has neither a child nor a marriage, an unregulated industry of voodoo and witchcraft on sale in an unregulated country. No, the ‘Dr’ is offering ‘healing’ and recommending her sister for services such as ‘removal of evil eye’, ‘telepathy’ and ‘tarot-reading’. What qualifies these individuals to practice black magic is beyond my comprehension. Indeed, I’ll wager that they haven’t even heard of Hogwarts.

Chillingly, the practice of black magic in Pakistan is one where the intention is to inflict pain or control over another. Apart from ‘revenge spells’, practicioners offer love potions, hex spells, evil eye spells and charge anywhere between 3,000-50,000 rupees for this service. Such practices place the practitioner beyond the pale of Islam.

A quick google search reveals that the Dr ‘practices’ from her sister’s ‘healing’ centre.. In their own words, they proudly display that the Dr has a PhD in Clinical Hypnotherapy from the National Guild of Hypnosis in California. Another google search (who needs wikipedia?) reveals that the said National Guild is an online place that offers distance learning.

Here is my final link: http://www.hypnosisnetwork.com/articles/this-cat-is-not-a-hypnotist.
In this link is an article by Dr Eichel PhD in which he explains that he paid a fee and the National Guild certified his cat. His actual feline cat. Let us be clear. There is no assertion that this is how the Dr obtained her PhD. Or that she is an actual cat. There is the inference that perhaps the National Guild is not quite the conventional academic institution one would think of in relation to a PhD. But why is this relevant to what is wrong with Pakistani politics? Here’s why.

The Dr is the reserve candidate for the PMN-L at the forthcoming election. What prompted the ‘tiger’ to include such a person in its litter is unknown. Again, let’s be clear, this is not an article about the merits or failings of one political party. This is about the failings of the process. Whether one chooses to believe in the virtues of the law of the land or not, the law is the law. Up and down this country, returning officers convened in order to scrutinise the candidacy of people seeking public office. They were asked questions to prove their Islamic credentials. They were forced to prove their good standing in terms of education. Naturally, this in itself is amusing and a further example of the deplorable standards that our nation has sunk to; however, the process can, and is, being circumvented. Reserve candidates are slipping through the system unvetted. Come election day, those voting for the PMN-L in Lahore may not realise it but they may well be electing the likes of the Dr, someone who by her own billboard endorses black magic, someone who would never pass the electoral vetting, someone who preys on the weak and the vulnerable and the stupid, of which there are many in Pakistan. These candidates will be crowbarred into seats already won by parties. Yet nobody is asking the pertinent questions:

1. What are your policies to help the poverty stricken?

2. What makes you a suitable candidate?

3. What experience do you have in public service?

4. How will you fight to fix the issues that the average family faces?

5. Do you know what Hogwarts is?
The chattering classes will talk about a better Pakistan but that offers no comfort to the dispossessed, the abandoned, the weak, the frail, the poor of our society. How can people afford basic food staples? Karachi is being destroyed by violence. Lahore is being ravaged by escalating costs, shameful power shortages and religious intolerance. Why? Because Pakistan is a society that has lost its humanity. We don’t care about our neighbours. We don’t care about the poor. We care about status and power and aesthetics. No longer is it a matter of character. There will be no more Jinnahs. No more Salmaan Taseers. No, there will be these kinds of ‘doctors’ who seek status and power for the sake of the same with a callous disregard for the responsibilities of office. The image seared in my head may be a small one but if we want to see change then it begins from the ground up. There is little point in looking towards the national leaders unless we fix the localities in which we live. No point in screaming ‘Yes, we Khan!’ when clearly, you won’t. And even if you Khan…then what? Do you think an Imran Khan government will be one in which you will thrive? Change your locality and through that you change a nation. Deal with local politics first. The little things become the big things.

In the end, character will prove to be far more valuable than status, power and aesthetics. But at what cost? We can either recognise it now or spend a lifetime of regret and be forced to accept the truth later. However, we will all accept it in the end. The Dr has every right to stand. I have every right to question. If you want me to ‘rock the vote’ then give me a candidate worth rocking the vote for otherwise my vote will be cast for ‘none of the above’ and I will hope that it forces a new election. Ultimately, Pakistan will get the candidates it deserves. So, think before you vote.

The writer is a freelance columnist and can be contacted at mirzaasifahmad@gmail.com