Daily Times

Is the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) becoming a begumat’s party? (The word begumat in Urdu is a plural of the word ‘begum’, which means the wife of a rich or influential man. In the social context, a simple meaning of the word begumat is the ladies of the elite class; in the political context, the meaning of the word begumat is the ladies who are party workers but not field workers.) The answer is in the affirmative, at least at the Punjab level. Reportedly, in the women’s reserved seats contest that went on in the party, the begumat have finally got their names included at the top of the list.

The formula devised for the women’s reserved seats is that on every 4.53 general seats won, one women’s reserved seat is allocated to a party. In this way, the inclusion of the names of begumat means that even the minimal victory of the PTI will ensure the entry of these begumat into the provincial assembly.

This may be a grand strategy not known to many lesser human beings. That is, put the names of non-begumat (women field workers) down the priority list to keep them stirred up to ensure the party’s sweeping victory as a prerequisite for their joining the next provincial assembly. It also means that the PTI has acknowledged that its non-begumat have worked really hard to popularise the party amongst the masses and are equally capable of making the party win all the seats available in the forthcoming general elections. These women, who are at the end of the list, are real field workers who can join the assembly only if the PTI sweeps the forthcoming elections in Punjab. The other side of the argument is that if the PTI had put the names of begumat down the list, the PTI would fail in the elections in Punjab. By adopting the pro-begumat policy, the PTI has ensured not only the entry of these begumat into the next provincial assembly but it has also ensured its own overwhelming victory in Punjab in the next elections.

The episode of preferring begumat to non-begumat indicates clearly that the PTI has entered the next phase of maturity. The first phase was to spread the message of the party to the women who were least interested in politics. The gathering on March 23 finalised the height of the party’s popularity. One can surmise that the way non-begumat ensured the mobilisation of women (from their homes to the Minar-e-Pakistan) to make the gathering successful, the PTI leadership must have decided to assign these non-begumat another task to ensure the sweeping victory of the party. Now, the second phase has begun. It is of consolidation of the popularity achieved to translate the popularity into electoral success. In this phase, perhaps, non-begumat may be sacrificed for the larger benefit of the party.

There is another dimension of the issue that may be encouraging for non-begumat. If someone works hard and has proved to have worked hard, why should that person be freed from tasks to stop working hard? Should virtues be admired or condemned? Should good habits be reinforced or dropped? Certainly, virtues are admired and needed to be reinforced. That is why, non-begumat have been tasked with ensuring the victory of the party to make their own entry possible in the assemblies. One wonders why they are agitating.

Did non-begumat not raise the slogans of change? ‘Change’ is such a versatile word that can produce an effect even at the last moment. The same word ‘change’ has also changed the prospects of non-begumat in the party. The names of several non-begumat were initially included at the top of the list but under the effect of ‘change’, the change of mind took place and their names were replaced with the names of begumat. What is the problem then? Do non-begumat not believe in the word ‘change’ anymore?

It is not Imran Khan that recommends or finalises the list. It is a selection board that does this job. At the board level, it is a different ball game: you recommend/select my favourite and I will select/recommend your favourite must be the formula. That is how the top order of the list suffered most (some say, all) from exclusion and inclusion of names. It is not yet known what the equation between begumat and non-begumat of the PTI in other provinces is.

Generally speaking, the PTI of today is banking heavily on two presumptions. First, it is anyway going to sweep elections in Punjab. All infighting going on in the PTI is owing to this presumption. Second, for the field work of the forthcoming elections, the PTI will not be in need of any non-begumat to pay door-to-door visits, spread the message of the party, register new members, woo voters and mobilise them to vote for the PTI. Probably, the presumptions would not have caused the intra-party rift if the PTI had gone through the by-elections and got an idea of its true electoral worth.

But then this is how the phenomenon of make-and-break goes on in parties. In Lahore, there are several renowned leaders of the PTI who used to be the members of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). They learnt several party organisational and electoral management techniques on the platform of the JI but got detached from it for one reason or another, and joined the PTI. Women field workers of the PTI falling in the category of non-begumat can also think of other choices. Apparently, those non-begumat have failed to preserve their positions in the reserved seats who did not do lobbying. The conclusions of the story are that (a) in a political party, one’s field work without lobbying does not pay dividends and (b) no one political party can be the final destination of a field worker. The third is a piece of advice: do not fall prey to presumptions. Be patient and just wait for the final electoral results.

The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo.com