Three main points were discussed in the Punjab Assembly yesterday, the 9th of February 2009. The opposition raised a lot of hue and cry over the snatching of a mobile from an MPA of PML (Q). For those who are unaware of this incident, some robbers in police uniform (aren’t most of them?) opened the door of Ms. Amna Ulfat’s car and snatched her mobile on the traffic signal in front of the Punjab Assembly. The PML (Q) MPA complained that none of the large number of police officials on the scene took any interest in the proceedings (as if it was an unusual occurring) and her driver had to (unsuccessfully) run after the robbers. She also complained that when she raised an alarm, one police official came and instead of taking her cries seriously, simply asked her to move her car out of the way so that the traffic could move on (talk about taking one’s job seriously). The law minister responded by saying that the SP Civil Lines had been asked to come and listen to the MPA’s story. He wondered why the poor lady was still upset. Come to think of it, the worthy law minister is right, she shouldn’t be upset, in fact she should be pleased that Pakistan is becoming such a fair country where an MPA is treated in exactly the same way as a normal citizen (Eh! Mr. Khan, it seems the Tehreek-e-Insaaf is succeeding in some manner at least).
The second main point of discussion was raised by Ms. Joyce Ruffins, again of the PML(Q). She reminded the government that it had not fulfilled its promise (in case anyone is wondering, this promise was not Quran or Hadees either) of providing separate quotas in jobs for Christians. The treasury was surprised at this since it had advertised several posts of sweepers which were especially for Christians (what else does an educated Christian need?). After this, the House went into a long discussion of how PML (Q) could also not take care of minorities (which obviously absolves all other parties of any such obligation) and how the PPP’s nationalization of educational institutions (which, by the way, happened more than 35 years ago) harmed the Christians.
In the end a little time was dedicated to the blast in Mianwali and a resolution was passed showing sympathy with the bereaved families. Of course, the time spent on this breach of security was much less than that spent on the mobile-snatching issue. But this was natural, since the blasts are already being taken care of by the war on (t)error.
I am not going to comment on these proceedings any further. For those who are confused and want to know why the hell I wrote all this, read on.
In the House of Commons on the same day, i.e., the 9th of February, the main points of discussion included the future of the Child Support Agency, a five year strategy on offender management aimed at protecting the public and reducing re-offending, the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill, Delegated Legislation, the Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Act, the School Finance Regulations and the Regulatory Reform (Forestry) Order among other things. More than a hundred speeches were made, not one of them containing irrelevant or meaningless material.
Just ask yourself. Why such a huge contrast? Are we incapable, uneducated or downright stupid? Think about it. And you just might get to the conclusion that it’s none of the above. We’re just indifferent. We don’t care what happens in the assemblies, and the people inside the assemblies usually don’t care what happens outside. Democracy is the government of the people, not government of the elected representatives of the people. This seems like a small distinction but it makes all the difference. Our choice is clear. Either own your government and take responsibility, or put up and shut up. If you feel there’s nothing you can do, then act on that feeling and don’t do anything. Think of some other topics for your drawing rooms, or better yet, leave Pakistan to those who care and let them do what they think they can.
There are three kinds of Pakistanis. Those who rob their elected members in front of the assembly, those who get robbed and those who ignore the robbery and ask the victim to move their car and then wonder why the victim is making such a fuss. There is a third kind living in Pakistan, those who don’t even know what’s going on and couldn’t care less. The question is, are this fourth kind just a type of people who live in Pakistan or can they actually be called Pakistanis?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment