The burdens of governance. Said to be able to thrash sense into the most reckless of populists. Pre-election, a politician that has never been in power might promise free electricity, no taxes and state-sponsored biryani every day.
When one comes into power, however, one realises the way things work. One realises the importance of finishing one’s vegetables. Of choosing to pay the utilities bills instead of splurging on shiny toys.
Well, that doesn’t always happen. In the aftermath of the unfortunate incident of a poor little girl dying in Karachi, ostensibly because of the delayed medical attention she received due to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s security protocol, the PTI chairman announced that the province his party rules isn’t going to have undue VIP protocol and that no traffic and roads are going to be blocked for the same.
Well, tough luck. Because, in these precarious times, it is not just overtly anti-Taliban political parties like the ANP that need security detail, but also just about any political office-holder, even of parties perceived to be sympathetic to the Taliban, like the PTI is.
Tucked away in the blanket coverage of the Bilawal incident, and the adulation of Imran Khan’s response, was the expert sound-bite of retired IG Afzal Shigri, who had been taken on the line by one of the channels: in certain situations, you really can’t protect the VIP in question without a measure of traffic blocking. But the populist media doesn’t want any narrative that doesn’t paint those in power as Disney cartoon villain evil, so the former policeman’s views weren’t given much heed.
Truth be told, it is not as if the PPP had handled the situation well. First of all, the protocol officers there could have ensured that at least the emergency gates at hospitals were still open for business. And in the aftermath of the unfortunate incident (of which there is always a chance, regardless of how well-prepared they are) their media management should have been better. Yes, Bilawal Bhutto’s life is certainly at risk and yes, tied to his life and well-being is a delicate balance that would spill out into the most gory sort of violence, but these aren’t things one is supposed to say to the recently bereaved. A better choice of words, on all fronts, was required.
Bilawal did some damage control, personally visiting the deceased child Bisma’s home.
But the PTI, however, was stuck with its word. The KP chief minister’s cavalcade broke the new rule the very next day. A day later, at the inauguration of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, the traffic from all sides was blocked because of the security detail. On the same day, when the terrible suicide blast in Mardan took place, CM Khattak showed up at the district hospital in a nine-vehicle entourage as did Health Minister Shahram Tarakai, in a five-vehicle cavalcade. Not only was traffic blocked, but so was the entry of the next of kin of the victims.
Those images you see occasionally of Prime Minister David Cameron taking the tube to work are carefully crafted publicity photo-ops. The London Underground at that time is swarming with security officials.
You know the story of Mahatma Gandhi, who famously used to travel in economy class to show that he was a man of the people (which he was). This made protecting him far more difficult than if he were in the sanitised, sparsely peopled first class. It required far, far more people to protect him and was a headache to boot for the various district administrations on the route. This led an English officer to quip, quite famously, “It costs us a fortune to keep Gandhi poor.”