White Lies

Sometimes the country can go into such a panic mode that even a simple news strip (and news strips are meant to be brief) can trigger the imagination and start a rumour. On Thursday, a few channels carried the patti “General Kayani suspends chain of command system” without adding “to allow officers to take timely action against aggression.” Well that brief half baked info was enough to activate dooms day sooth sayers and start a chain of phone calls and SMSs. Who had been suspended from the chain of command? Who was being sent home? Dr (?) Babar Awan did not help. With the backdrop of his impassioned talk of a fourth coffins being prepared just a day earlier, the rumour factories made their own interpretation of the patti. We hear that some people were actively looking for their sherwanis and others furiously working on their contacts. Well it all turned out to be a misunderstanding. However, the mobile business made a packet and Imran Khan’s Tehrik-e-Insaaf gained a batch of new members. Now that is the power of a patti. It should not be taken lightly.

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 It used to be a father to son affair with rare exceptions but what is this growing phenomenon about daughters and political dynasties? We know that this trend was initiated in India and Sri Lanka and imported into Pakistan much later, but now it is almost an epidemic. Every daughter wants to be her father’s heir but some it seems have to tamper with history to create a throne. Take last week’s Children’s Literature Festival in Lahore, courtesy ITA, an NGO with remarkable services to free quality education, partnered by OUP a publishing house that has stimulated literary activities for decades. The last day of the fest had a panel for discussion on a book written by Dr Hamida Khurro on the history of Sindh or, as it turned out, history rewritten of Sindh.

Apparently, the last chapter of the book titled “Children’s History of Sindh” invited severe criticism from a woman member of the panel who happened to be an educationist of considerable standing, owner of a school chain in Islamabad and consultant to various international NGOs promoting education in Pakistan. The lady pointed out that this chapter listed the late Ayub Khurro as the main leader of the Pakistan movement.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was not even mentioned. However, The Quaid’s picture (unnamed) was included at the bottom of a page along with several others including that of Gandhi. Obviously, daughter Khurro would have us believe that her father was the founder of the Pakistan movement and The Quaid supported him much as Gandhi did. Now daddy’s girl really needs to brush up on Pak history. As for the publisher, surely he needs to fire the editorial board that approved such a literary scam.

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