Voting fever rising by the day

Since the voting fever is reaching its crescendo in Pakistan, and twitter, facebook are abuzz with many wannabe social scientists and analysts or even prophets, informing of the 'awesomeness' of voting, 'voting rights' and the possible bright future. I will write down a few of the conversations I had with random people on the road.

Sohail Khan is a taxi driver. Originally from Charsadda and now a resident of Banaras in Karachi. Former Jiyala, who calls Zardari a dog (like a lot of other people) and considers him the murderer of Bibi - supports Jamaat-i-Islami now. Who in his own words are lousy politicians, with nothing to offer as a political party except 'chutyapa', his words, not mine.

Q: Aap kisko vote dengay is dafa? (Who will you vote for this time?)
Sohail: Ye awam chutya hai, phir unhi logon ko vote day kar lay aayegi, jinhon nay mulk ko kha kha kar iska ye haal bana diya hai. (The public is stupid, and will again vote for the same people who have brought the country to this stage with their corruption). Mein kisi ko vote nahi donga. (I will not vote for anybody). Ghar ko tala lagaonga andar se, or araam karoonga. (I will lock my home and relax).

Q: Leken aap to JI ko support kartay hein ab, unko vote nahi dalengay? (But you support JI now, you will not vote for them?)
Sohail: Nahi, bekar log hein. Jub tak Bhutto zinda tha, Benazir tha, hum vote dalta tha, ab to koye nahi bacha. (No. Everyone is useless. Till Bhutto was alive, his daughter was alive, I used to vote, now there is nobody worthy enough).

We laugh together and enjoy the rest of the ride while talking about different topics, especially the law and order situation - speculating about bomb blasts and target killings. Sohail is a Pakhtun and faces racism in this city every other day. Being a Pakhtun can automatically at times translate to being a supporter of the Taliban and their likes. Another taxi driver cum marble cutter, Zahir Khan said that he has to at times allow police to 'random check' him. Zahir is from a village in Shangla. He lives in Nusrat Bhutto Colony, Karachi, that is famous for being a Taliban infested area and therefore, has to go through police and Rangers' operations every other day.

In Zahir's opinion the only solution to all this trouble is dictatorship. Although, he swings between supporting the Awami National Party and Army rule, he considers Ziaul Haq's era as something that was better for his class.

Q: Aap vote kisko dengay? (Who will you vote for?)
Zahir: Mushkil hai vote karna. Halaat bohat kharab hein. (It's difficult to vote. City situation is very bad).

The conversation goes into a discussion about how the military operation in KPK made some differences for his relatives. How the feuds died down a little, because Army regulated the ownership of weapons. The most enthusiastic about voting thus far, judging from different discussions, seem to be the youngsters who will be voting for the first time.

A student at Karachi University said that he will vote, since it is his right, and without participating in the election he cannot pin the blame on anybody. However, he was honest enough to admit that all he knows about democracy 'working out in the long run' is theoretical. So for him, as long as the country gets on a track for betterment, he does not care whether it is a democracy or a dictatorship.

In all this rhetoric, a resident of Thatta had a very simple statement to make.

"I will vote who my landlord asks me to vote for."

This perhaps is the culmination of the 'democratic process' in Pakistan. Where rural areas comprise a majority. Pakistan has a total population of 180 million, out of which around 60 percent live in rural areas as per a World Bank report. The voter from Thatta is not the only one to be saying this, a majority of the rural population vote either the landlord they work for, or for someone the local feudal seeks to gain from.

This leaves one to ponder the differences between a democracy of choice, and a democracy per say. One might even feel better if it ended here. But it does not. If weening votes from helpless peasants was not enough, the number of portfolios and ministries that our 'democratic' regimes boast add insult to injury.

To accommodate the left over senior leaders and ex-legislators, several posts are created to appease their hurt sentiments and egos. Following is a very basic breakup of the number of seats we have, despite being a smaller country compared to United States and India.

Oh and lest we forget. The interim setup that we have numbly accepted is not much different either. The power (to maintain the status quo) is now being shared between the feudal families, and their homies. Be them the Sethis, the Mandviwalas or the Shahs.

Well played (na)Pak army!

The National Reconciliation Ordinance finally bore fruit for the Pakistani establishment, as the 'democratically' elected government imposed emergency in Baluchistan. Trust on people to demand for the army in Pakistan when the napak army's and CIA's illegitimate children, read Lashkar-e-Jhangvi kill innocent people in hundreds. Since killing a few here and a few there wasn't working for them, they had to come up with plan B. Kill so many at the same time, that people themselves ask for the father to interfere. And what best place to do so then Baluchistan. And who to target but the Shia, who have never been a laid back minority.

In Urdu this is 'aik teer se do shikaar'.

The cards were played well. This time the Pakistan People's Party government did not make the same mistake their pioneer made in 1970s when the Provincial Government in Baluchistan was toppled down and Governor's rule was imposed against the will of the people. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto made the mistake of declaring emergency without the consent of any group residing in Baluchistan, Asif Ali Zardari did so with consent from an ethnic minority, namely the Hazara community. The Shia Genocide issue has played well in favour of the central government and very much against the ethnic Baluch population, who will be further marginalized.

To hell with missing people, to hell with ethnic cleansing of Baluch. As usual, instead of punishing the real culprits who have been targeting the Shia community all over Pakistan, we have literally handed over the whole province to the perpetrators (directly or indirectly) of all these crimes, namely the Frontier Corps, loathsomely remembered as the FC brutes responsible for thousands of missing persons in Baluchistan.

The FC has got policing powers for at least the next two months. Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi is still Governor Baluchistan, FC has been in Baluchistan for ages now, only difference is, there will be no Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani. So what has changed? How does the FC propose to change the situation for the Shia Hazara community? We can only wait to see whether they kill the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jundullah militants or the Baluch nationalists.

Oh and lets not forget that Akhtar Mengal called top Hazara leaders in solidarity, while Baluchistan National Party (BNP) leaders participated in Quetta sit-in as per local media reports.

An excerpt from the Baluch Hal dated September 9, 2010, that incidentally cannot be viewed in Pakistan without proxy:

Senior Vice-President of the National Party(NP) Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo has said that the proposed Frontier Corps (FC) action against Baloch people was meant to impose an emergency rule in Balochistan or impose the direct central rule of the federal government through a governor on the oil and gas rich Balochistan province. (http://thebalochhal.com/?p=8931)

Umerkot rape cases: Where's the outrage Pakistanis?

While the Indian public is up and about regarding the Delhi rape case, Pakistanis are busy questioning the 'authenticity' and 'intent' of people who are bringing the Umerkot rape case in the public eye. In Pakistan rapists getting support from the ruling elite and their liberal mouthpieces, is a very common occurrence. Rather this is one of the feudal legacies of our country, to rape and watch. And while we are talking of legacies, let’s not forget another, oppressing minorities. 

The recent rape cases from Umerkot, a Pakistan People’s Party constituency, are the perfect examples of both our feudal legacies, sexual violence against minor-Hindu-girls. It is one of the worst weapons to silence and oppress people, be those women, children or religious and ethnic minorities. In Umerkot, a 6-year-old girl-child was raped by a Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) worker and a 14-year-old minor raped by influential men from the ruling PPP. (Read more details here)

Interestingly, the issue is hardly getting much attention since there is too much important stuff going on. First being the death anniversary of Benazir and second, continuing the Bhutto dynasty politics via Bilawal Zardari. Among all this are certain pseudo-liberals, for whom talking about the rape case is a method to malign the PPP.

Perhaps for them the case of Shahzeb Khan is also just to malign feudalism? After all, the feudal Bhuttos are the saviours of Pakistan. And with feudalism comes the ‘responsibility’ to oppress people, and help the ones who oppress (yes the oppressors and not the oppressed are protected where feudal-politicians-with military support run so-called-democracies). What do you plan now? Twist the story and claim it was a love match? (Rinkle Kumari) Or go the Sharjeel Memon way? Or simply make the lives of the families of victims hell, so they actually end up self immolating themselves. While you sit in your drawing room and spew shit on social media? Being in office does not make PPP exempt from criticism. The ruling PPP seems to enjoy perpetuating, supporting and even breeding rape culture.

And last but not the least. A question for all the 'staunch' patriotic anti-Indian Pakistani-Muslims and 'liberals', where is the outrage that you pretended at the Delhi rape case? Or is the rape by Indians more of a rape compared to rape by ‘Muslim / Pakistani men’?