By Irum Saleem
Keep an individual out of elections? Or more? While elsewhere we have set lower and lower targets for what counts as success, in the political sphere, ambitions are sky-high; to ban not just an individual but also a party, observes journalist Arifa Noor.
For even Ziaul Haq couldn’t manage this back in the big, bad days, which were so much worse than the unprecedented times of today.
“This is more than the IMF deal and its benefits may just continue to feed the uncertainty surrounding us. And we may just have to wait till October to get some answers.
For whichever way we go — election and a ‘happily forever’ for PDM — or no election and a ‘happily forever’ for Shehbaz Sharif — it does not seem to lead to certainty any time soon. The IMF may not have provided an answer to our political questions either way,” Ms Noor says.
Postscript — it is worth remembering the ‘stability’ experienced during the Zia or Musharraf period had more to do with the generosity of the West during those years than the abilities or the power exercised by these men themselves. Even authoritarianism requires deep pockets.
Raising voice for safe recovery of missing journalist Imran Riaz, Ms Noor says “A journalist is missing. He is a journalist and he has been missing for nearly two months now. This is all that matters; his views, his professionalism or even his biases are irrelevant. Journalists can be good or bad, professional or unprofessional, but none of this justifies a disappearance. Can the government pay attention to this issue? And perhaps the industry called the media? Imran Riaz’s disappearance and the ensuing silence is the collective failure of our employers and press representatives. But eventually, history will only remember the government under the watch of which he disappeared. And it might be remembered for longer than the IMF negotiations,” she says. PAK DESTINY
