What went wrong?
The complete rout of the PPP in the first phase of the local bodies’ elections in Punjab was quite traumatic for me. It was not easy to absorb for somebody who had seen the heydays of the party in Punjab. I can never forget the electric response that the party got in the land of five rivers. The PPP phenomenon pervaded all over the country but it got its maximum seats from Punjab in 1970. Even dictator Zia could not curb it. So what went wrong? This has kept me thinking for the past many days.
One obvious reason is that the Punjab leadership has forgotten its legacy. The anniversary of the Karsaz tragedy on October 18 went almost unnoticed by the provincial leadership. The fourth death anniversary of Begum Nusrat Bhutto on October 23rd was also ignored. Not a single function was held in Lahore to observe the two tragic events. The lapse showed how the Punjab PPP is detached from the services rendered by the supreme leadership. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed risked her life in the Karsaz tragedy where 172 PPP workers died. We used to observe the event diligently. This year Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Bakhtawar and Aseefa duly visited Karsaz, laid the wreath and prayed for the departed souls. They carried BB’s tradition by visiting the families of the martyred.
But nobody in the Punjab PPP bothered to observe the event. Some were found active only on the social media. It was more to impress the party leadership than a genuine effort to commemorate the tragedy on ground. Similarly, nobody in Lahore cared to mention the extreme sacrifices that Begum Bhutto gave to keep the party alive during the tortuous Zia regime. How she fought the dictator, suffered jail and physical torture. It was heartening to note that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari commemorated her deeds through their statements. But this did not stir the Punjab PPP to acknowledge the services of that grand lady who is rightly seen as the mother of democracy.
It is this omission of the PPP legacy that is causing deterioration in the party. The election results have exposed the tall claims of the local leadership. Who are they fooling, one may ask? The responsibility of the PPP’s downfall in Punjab definitely lies with its local leadership. Those who relished the perks of their ministries and ignored the party need to be pinned down. The biggest asset of the party, its devoted jiyala workers, was left on its own. They could endure the tortuous struggle when out of power but not the disrespect shown by powerful PPP ministers in the last government. They are hurt and need to be cajoled and loved.
But the Punjab hierarchy has still not learnt its lessons. Instead of acknowledging their lapses they have blamed everything on Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. I am amazed when I find some of them saying on TV talk shows that it was Asif Ali Zardari’s unpopularity that caused the Punjab debacle. And these are the very people who were found chanting “Ik Zardari sab parh bhari” not too long ago. The same cabal was never tired of saying that the former resident was the smartest politician. The sycophants thought that the era of SMBB and Begum sahiba was over and they were the champions of the new age.
I was shocked to find one of them claiming in a talk show that the PPP never had the office of the Co-chairman and that Asif Ali Zardari was a Rahbar. This is a negation of facts. SMBB was Co-chairperson for a long time while Begum Bhutto was the Chairperson. On the contrary, there is no tradition of the office of Rahbar in the party. I could understand the intent of flattery but let’s not disparage history in the process. Or perhaps this was intended to isolate Asif Ali Zardari.
I wonder why such suggestions were not made when Asif Ali Zardari was president of Pakistan. I recall how the same club of sycophants was out to prove that the former president was a wiser politician of the day. I remember a PPP leader actually declaring before Asif Ali Zardari at a meeting in Lahore Governor House that he was smarter than ZA Bhutto Shaheed and SMBB Shaheed and that he had rewritten the party history. The very same people are now found blaming everything on former President Asif Ali Zardari.
I think we need to go back to the drawing board and revive the party legacy. The party is still alive in the hearts and minds of the people but we need to rediscover the key to it. And beware the sycophants.
