Pakhtoonkhwa and a Pakistani tragicomedy Print E-mail
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 14:53
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By Faisal Shakeel

We may not be a match for the developed world in the fields of education, technology and wealth, but we are certainly oceans ahead when it comes to bad politics.


For some, politics may be like a game of chess that requires time, focus and a certain level of devotion.


But in Pakistan it is seen more like theatre, where action, comedy and tragedy are rolled into one for everyone to watch for free – though there are hidden costs.


If you have any doubts, please consider the popularity of shows on news channels: the most watched are the ones in which comedians mimic politicians and explore the hollowness of their statements. People love it. They love it because the performances reflect the personalities.


Who is to blame for this tragicomedy? I guess the responsibility lies with the politicians, who not only scheme and hatch conspiracies against each other, but also give people a chance to laugh at them.


They should realise it is about time they shunned making empty promises, opposing for the sake of bargaining, and deliberately stirring up a fuss to take people’s attention away from issues of greater significance.


Protest in Abbottabad against renaming the NWFP - photo: PPI

One current example of this wanton politics can be seen in the protests over the renaming of one of the provinces of Pakistan. At least eight people have been killed and several dozens injured in the clashes, which erupted after the National Assembly passed a bill to rename the province.


What does this exercise about changing the province’s name mean? You ask this question and you get people staring back at you with blank faces.


The main opposition leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif, who heads the PML-N, recently opposed renaming Sarhad (also known as North West Frontier Province) to Pakhtoonkhwa.


Although Sharif’s party had been part of the parliamentary committee, hashing out details to rename the province and to propose other constitutional amendments, he chose to bypass the process agreed upon to settle disagreements between parties on the committee.


Sharif’s opposition was seen as a deliberate attempt to sabotage the process of purging the constitution of changes made by former dictators. When people could not understand what the disagreement was about, they conjectured that Sharif does not want President Asif Ali Zardari to take credit for removing the changes that Pakistan’s dictators introduced.


As well as the other parties on the parliamentary committee, the media lashed out at him for attempting to forestall the process of making amendments. Baffled by the reaction, Sharif held three press conferences in three days in an attempt to clear his position, but no one could really make out his rationale.


Finally, the ANP – the largest party in the NWFP – had to amend the proposed name for the province from ‘Pakhtoonkhwa’ to ‘Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa’ after holding negotiations with Sharif. The word is that Sharif agreed to the amended name after ANP agreed to help him become prime minister for the third time at some point in the future.


But now other politicians hailing from the NWFP have also started expressing reservations about the new name on the pretext that ‘Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa’ denies the presence of ethnic identities other than the dominant Pakhtoons. The voices of disagreement turn into dissent, which sparks street protests in Abbottabad and elsewhere.


But the idea of renaming the province carries little significance in the face of issues like excruciatingly long absences of electricity, unabated price hikes, devastating militancy and the sinking levels of water reservoirs in the country.

 
Comments (1)
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1 Monday, 03 May 2010 07:33
javed iqbal
thanx for ur objective artical, v want and love pakhtoonkhwa

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