The problems of Pakistan’s ruling elite is that they all try to emulate a lifestyle of Mughal emperors and princes, who other than tales of their opulent living, have not much to their credit. Imran Khan, like other politicians that he criticises so much, suffers from the same mental affliction to live in a home spread over 300 Kanals and than talks of championing for downtrodden masses, whose daily life is full of misery, aguish and denials of basic necessities of life.
For instance, the other day, IK advocated celebration of Basant, totally unmindful of the ground realities that hundreds of poor have had their throats slit by chemical thread while the few could have their moments of ecstasy flying kites whose thread would cut other kites.
What Imran Khan must realise is that as long as the state cannot enforce discipline and regulate import or manufacture of such chemical thread, and punish all those involved in this ruthless business, ban on kite flying must stay. You cannot justify provision of such avenues of entertainment which result in death of citizens just because few dirty rich could have kicks.
The same absurd logic was forwarded by members of the so-called misled civil society that was discussing the death of minor girls in a stampede during a musical concert held by a school owned by an affluent group minting billions engaged in the business of private education. Just because this group runs a media channel, nobody dared point a finger at them.
The issue in this case should have been that why such schools and colleges, charging premium fee, are allowed to function without provisions of basic recreation facilities like an auditorium or playgrounds. Had this music concert been held within premises of a school, the sad incident would not have happened.
While hundreds of poor citizens of Pakistan have died from spurious drugs handed out to patients of Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Pakistan’s political elite, be it those in power or those in opposition, thought it appropriate to go on foreign tours and continue on such leisure trips in spite of the gravity of this crisis.
The issue here is not PIC, which has been serving the poor afflicted with cardiac illness, but the corruption within the federal ministry of health which regulates drug manufacturers or the federal and provincial drug inspectors, the police or FIA tasked to check manufacture of fake and spurious life saving medicines.
Instead IK was in Davos surrounded by his new courtiers, most of whom had served Musharraf or the present regime and were involved in abuses of office with many having risen from rags to riches.
GULL ZAMAN
Peshawar