The Managing Director of Tourism Developing Corporation of Punjab, Saad Sikander Khan was confessing to the Lahore High Court that he had filed two FIRs against an architect on fake charges at the beckoning of the Honourable Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif while a TV channel was showing an old recording of Imran Khan’s father standing in line behind some children waiting for his turn to be examined by doctors at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital: standing in line in the very hospital built in memory of his wife and his son’s mother. We already have Shahbaz Sharif’s Pakistan and we might have Imran’s Pakistan: the choice will be made by the people of this country in a not very distant future.
The stark difference is that the custodian of law and order of the province of Punjab had ordered government officials to break the law, while the man who built the Shaukat Khanum Hospital refused to break the discipline of his hospital even for his sick father. It is more revealing of the character of the CM Punjab that in one of the fake cases the architect was charged with stealing his own goods. Accusing a man of crime for stealing his own property! Who has heard of such ridiculous charges: waiting in queue for one’s turn in the hospital built and run by one’s own son! Who has heard of such regard of equality of everybody before not just law but internal discipline of a hospital, a mere private organisation! Now the advocate general of Punjab has also confirmed that the FIRs were filed at the whim of Shahbaz Sharif. It was also revealed that the grade 19 officer was unqualified to have been assigned to such a high-level post. Being undeservingly posted so high, he had to cater to the craze of his political master. The Managing director has confessed to his crime of filing FIRs on fake charges, it is now for the Court to decide if he deserved to be punished for misusing his authority and putting a citizen in physical and mental distress and for punishing Punjab for giving such orders which resulted in bringing uncalled for misery on a citizen .
The reward for Imran Khan to treat his fellow human beings so justly and so equally, regardless of their poverty and social status is with God. The people of Pakistan will, however, show their gratitude when the time to show it comes. There is a stark difference between the two mentalities. Shahbaz Sharif is considered to be among the better politicians morally. He has shown compassion for the poor. He has started completed many projects which mostly, or totally, benefit the down trodden. He works hard and tries harder that he does good and his reputation among the people is on the positive side. But there is a limit to his goodness of heart. It ends where his political interests begin. He will fight for justice for the poor if such justice does not hinder his politics. He, however, will not reform the police culture, for if he does that and the police is reformed and simply follows the law and law only, the law enforcing agencies will not do what he wants them to do from time to time to keep his rivals in place. He will not reform the revenue system, especially, the patwaris because there will be an open revolt by his own party MNA and MPAs who not only will lose their power to manipulate the downtrodden and thus have them beholden to their influence and authority but some will also lose their properties which they have accumulated with the help of patwaris and other government officials. He will also not establish a strong democratically elected local government because there may be many instances where his political rivals may be in power in such local governments. He will want to give sugar at low prices to the poor but will ultimately side with the sugar cartel because he belongs in that class. He loves the poor but as one does his pets and no matter how much one loves one’s pets they are not equal to one’s self or one’s family, relatives, friends, class and kind. Yes, the poor are humans but humans of a lesser kind to him. Remember, even the very kindly white men and women in the United States of America in Nineteenth century and the beginning of twentieth centur and thought that Africans were human but only two-third. . There is a new thinking in Pakistan says that every citizen of the country is equal before law and everyone should have equal opportunity to pursue happiness and that merit, dedication to work and honesty, not wealth or good connections should be the measure of man and woman. The PML-N leadership have as yet not shed their old thinking and as a result has not embraced the new thinking. Many think of them as political dinosaurs and not fit to rule the new Pakistan.Imran Khan on the other hand is a man who has embraced the equality of all human beings. He has also taken to heart the notion that all Pakistanis should be treated equally, legally and socially; that they should be given equal opportunities to earn their living according to their abilities and hard work; that they should have equal opportunities to educate themselves, keep themselves healthy and; that the rich should pay taxes in proportion to their earnings. But the most important thing is that he has a sharp understanding of respecting human dignity and equality as when his father had to stand in line for his turn at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital for his turn; that would be unthinkable with the Sharif Brothers. Nevertheless, it took long for the dinosaurs to disappear, and, the Neanderthals lived side by side on this earth along with the modern man before the last of ancient species said goodbye to this earth. But it may not take so long with us, as a modern human being and politician who understands and respects the new thinking in this country has appeared and could start the rebuilding of the country on sound foundations. Eventually, time will take care of politician who do not develop the qualities needed to survive in the current political climate. But human beings are very versatile and can change to cope with new circumstances; maybe, the Sharif Brothers will change their thinking and ways and prove to be worthy rivals of the new kid on the block, Imran Khan. That would be a good thing too.
The article was published in The Frontier Post on Aug 11, 2011,by Manzoor Ali
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/?p=42543
The stark difference is that the custodian of law and order of the province of Punjab had ordered government officials to break the law, while the man who built the Shaukat Khanum Hospital refused to break the discipline of his hospital even for his sick father. It is more revealing of the character of the CM Punjab that in one of the fake cases the architect was charged with stealing his own goods. Accusing a man of crime for stealing his own property! Who has heard of such ridiculous charges: waiting in queue for one’s turn in the hospital built and run by one’s own son! Who has heard of such regard of equality of everybody before not just law but internal discipline of a hospital, a mere private organisation! Now the advocate general of Punjab has also confirmed that the FIRs were filed at the whim of Shahbaz Sharif. It was also revealed that the grade 19 officer was unqualified to have been assigned to such a high-level post. Being undeservingly posted so high, he had to cater to the craze of his political master. The Managing director has confessed to his crime of filing FIRs on fake charges, it is now for the Court to decide if he deserved to be punished for misusing his authority and putting a citizen in physical and mental distress and for punishing Punjab for giving such orders which resulted in bringing uncalled for misery on a citizen .
The reward for Imran Khan to treat his fellow human beings so justly and so equally, regardless of their poverty and social status is with God. The people of Pakistan will, however, show their gratitude when the time to show it comes. There is a stark difference between the two mentalities. Shahbaz Sharif is considered to be among the better politicians morally. He has shown compassion for the poor. He has started completed many projects which mostly, or totally, benefit the down trodden. He works hard and tries harder that he does good and his reputation among the people is on the positive side. But there is a limit to his goodness of heart. It ends where his political interests begin. He will fight for justice for the poor if such justice does not hinder his politics. He, however, will not reform the police culture, for if he does that and the police is reformed and simply follows the law and law only, the law enforcing agencies will not do what he wants them to do from time to time to keep his rivals in place. He will not reform the revenue system, especially, the patwaris because there will be an open revolt by his own party MNA and MPAs who not only will lose their power to manipulate the downtrodden and thus have them beholden to their influence and authority but some will also lose their properties which they have accumulated with the help of patwaris and other government officials. He will also not establish a strong democratically elected local government because there may be many instances where his political rivals may be in power in such local governments. He will want to give sugar at low prices to the poor but will ultimately side with the sugar cartel because he belongs in that class. He loves the poor but as one does his pets and no matter how much one loves one’s pets they are not equal to one’s self or one’s family, relatives, friends, class and kind. Yes, the poor are humans but humans of a lesser kind to him. Remember, even the very kindly white men and women in the United States of America in Nineteenth century and the beginning of twentieth centur and thought that Africans were human but only two-third. . There is a new thinking in Pakistan says that every citizen of the country is equal before law and everyone should have equal opportunity to pursue happiness and that merit, dedication to work and honesty, not wealth or good connections should be the measure of man and woman. The PML-N leadership have as yet not shed their old thinking and as a result has not embraced the new thinking. Many think of them as political dinosaurs and not fit to rule the new Pakistan.Imran Khan on the other hand is a man who has embraced the equality of all human beings. He has also taken to heart the notion that all Pakistanis should be treated equally, legally and socially; that they should be given equal opportunities to earn their living according to their abilities and hard work; that they should have equal opportunities to educate themselves, keep themselves healthy and; that the rich should pay taxes in proportion to their earnings. But the most important thing is that he has a sharp understanding of respecting human dignity and equality as when his father had to stand in line for his turn at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital for his turn; that would be unthinkable with the Sharif Brothers. Nevertheless, it took long for the dinosaurs to disappear, and, the Neanderthals lived side by side on this earth along with the modern man before the last of ancient species said goodbye to this earth. But it may not take so long with us, as a modern human being and politician who understands and respects the new thinking in this country has appeared and could start the rebuilding of the country on sound foundations. Eventually, time will take care of politician who do not develop the qualities needed to survive in the current political climate. But human beings are very versatile and can change to cope with new circumstances; maybe, the Sharif Brothers will change their thinking and ways and prove to be worthy rivals of the new kid on the block, Imran Khan. That would be a good thing too.
The article was published in The Frontier Post on Aug 11, 2011,by Manzoor Ali
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/?p=42543
