Opinion Poll: Yes To Democracy, No To Dynasty.

[Kompromat]

Democracy yes, dynasty no
​

By Salman Ahmad
Published: December 31, 2012

"The punishment for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by idiots.” — Plato

In his speech at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on December 27, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, 24, boasted about the party’s ‘proud’ record of bringing real justice to Pakistan. Three days earlier, 20-year-old Shahzeb Khan was brutally gunned down in Karachi by the sons of the same corrupt feudal elite that Bilawal represents. Shahzeb’s only ‘crime’ was defending the honour of his sister who was harassed while returning from a wedding. A verbal brawl broke out between Shahzeb and two absconding suspects. Shahzeb’s father, an officer in the Sindh Police, mediated the scuffle and implored both parties to back off.

But power and money intoxicate and corrupt absolutely. The feudal sense of entitlement and revenge of both the accused — one said to be a Jatoi and the other a Talpur — emboldened them to act above the law and they did precisely that. Accompanied by armed guards, they followed Shahzeb’s car and allegedly pumped four bullets into the young man near Mubarak Masjid in Defence. This kind of senseless violence has become the norm in Pakistan.

The Pakistani feudal mindset symbolises injustice and greed and it is eating away at the heart and soul of the nation. Any Pakistani who challenges injustice does so with considerable risk to himself. As in the case of Shahzeb Khan, they often pay with their lives. The core problem plaguing Pakistani society is lack of accountability across the board. During the late 1990s, I recorded a song called Ehtesab and made a video that satirised Pakistani politicians and dictators whose corruption scandals were being reported internationally.

The response of Bhutto-Zardari and Nawaz Sharif’s government was to ban the video and Junoon and threaten my life. However, I’m not the only Pakistani artist who has been punished for expressing the truth. One of Pakistan’s greatest Urdu poets, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, spent many years in jail for his anti-establishment views.In Garhi Khuda Bakhsh , Bilawal’s speech-writers thought it appropriate to recall Faiz’s poem Bol.

Had Bilawal actually understood the Urdu poetry he was reading with a gora accent, he would’ve known Faiz’s poetic legacy has been to speak truth to power. Faiz sahib condemned authoritarianism and class warfare and struggled for the rights of the downtrodden. The revolutionary poet today would be shocked to hear that a privileged son of a flawed president was cynically co-opting his poem of freedom and justice.

To add insult to injury, both Bilawal and his father demanded five more years of democratic revenge from the people of Pakistan.Since the death of Benazir Bhutto, President Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal cynically extort sympathy votes from the nation and yet, are impotent in protecting the lives of ordinary Pakistanis. If losing a family member was the criterion for democratic rule, America’s Kennedy family should’ve been in power in the US ever since the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy in the 1960s. Pakistan needs democracy, not dynasty.

As Shahzeb’s wanton murder illustrates, the last five years under President Zardari have been the rule of the gangster rather than the rule of law. How can he call himself a democrat while appointing his son as chairman of the PPP for life? His time as the president of Pakistan has brought staggering levels of violence, corruption and graft. He is accused both by Fatima and Ghinwa Bhutto of murdering his own brother-in-law Murtaza, who challenged his power during Benazir Bhutto’s second term.

The Holy Quran says: “Killing one innocent person is like killing the whole of humanity”. If that allegory was applied to Pakistan, we would be mourning the death of life itself. How many innocent Pakistanis have to die before President Zardari can hear the cry for justice?Pakistan’s future lies with neither of these ‘DNA democrats’. The key to moving forward lies in the genesis of Pakistan’s freedom movement: Our nation’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, struggled and sacrificed to win our independence from Britain, setting clear examples of legal and political activism.

Jinnah was a constitutional lawyer who was inspired by Islamic values of social justice. Sixty five years later, my generation sees Jinnah’s tenacity, incorruptibility and idealism embodied in the leadership of Imran Khan. The main battle in the forthcoming 2013 national elections will be between the saviours of dynasty and the people’s Junoon for justice.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2013.

*The writer founded the rock band Junoon and is author of the book, Rock & Roll Jihad. He tweets at @sufisal

Democracy yes, dynasty no – The Express Tribune

@niaz @Icarus @fatman17 @ajpirzada @TaimiKhan @Bezerk @balin2 @Asim Aquil @Luftwaffe @Hyperion @Armstrong @Last Hope @nuclearpak @VCheng @WebMaster @Elmo @Adio Amigo @Talon @Xeric @F.O.X

*Poll is public & only for Pakistani citizens.

 

[Spring Onion]

he wants to equate himself with Faiz??

come on salman ahemd its too much of self-boasting.

anyway seems he invites defamation

 

[F.O.X]

Only the Elite ( the ones in power / Enjoy power ) will support the Current political structure , where no one questions the leader ,Why is your Son/Daughter is leading the party ? , why half of your Family members are leaders of Different wings/Factions .

Democracy will never work in Pakistan until there is literacy Rate above 80% , and system will not change until people start to realize & Differentiate between the short term & long term benefit . The countries who want to progress don't Spend half of their budget on Foreign tours or useless Expenditures /Protocols.

To Change the system we the people need to Question the ones claiming to be our leaders , We need to Stop blindly Trusting our leaders , they have & will continue using that trust against us Until WE change ourselves .


The Leaders Reflect the People , the sooner we realize the better it will be for us.

 

[BATMAN]

COA shall always be the CEO.

We are in state of war for heavens sake!

 

[Kompromat]

he wants to equate himself with Faiz??

come on salman ahemd its too much of self-boasting.

anyway seems he invites defamation

I, don't see that.

 

[Kompromat]

Only the Elite ( the ones in power / Enjoy power ) will support the Current political structure , where no one questions the leader ,Why is your Son/Daughter is leading the party ? , why half of your Family members are leaders of Different wings/Factions .

Democracy will never work in Pakistan until there is literacy Rate above 80% , and system will not change until people start to realize & Differentiate between the short term & long term benefit . The countries who want to progress don't Spend half of their budget on Foreign tours or useless Expenditures /Protocols.

To Change the system we the people need to Question the ones claiming to be our leaders , We need to Stop blindly Trusting our leaders , they have & will continue using that trust against us Until WE change ourselves .


The Leaders Reflect the People , the sooner we realize the better it will be for us.

In, a country where the political elite deliberately won't allow schools to be built? - We need an immediate change on the top that could help raise our literacy rate because it ain't happening while the current structure exists.Once the literacy rate is over 80% you can kiss these Dynasties goodbye for ever.

 

[Spring Onion]

I, don't see that.

"However, I’m not the only Pakistani artist who has been punished for expressing the truth. One of Pakistan’s greatest Urdu poets, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, spent many years in jail for his anti-establishment views.

Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/nation...l-yes-democracy-no-dynasty.html#ixzz2Gi3F4g8m

 

[Jango]

This structure is in place because of the people, mostly the rural population. The folk in those parts idolize these personalities rather than their government and policies, you often see pictures of people doing ' sajda' in front of BB's pics, Tahir Ul Qadri himself and many others. People follow these families.

The political parties also get sympathy votes through this, PPP being the major beneficiary of this. First they got it through the injection of BB into politics on the slogan of 'daughter of Shaheed', and when she died, PPP again got sympathy votes. Now when elections are approaching, His Highness Bilawal *cough Zardari cough* gets thrown into the scene again to get sympathy votes. And stupid people still will vote for him and PPP, just on the basis that he is the son of BB.

In short, those who benefit will never let go of this system, and those who make these politicians benefit will not let go of their flawed beliefs. It's kind of a vicious circle.

 

[Progressive Conservative]

The trouble is that only the educated middle class holds these views. The poor and uneducated power base of the PPP are now so blindly attached to the Bhutto dynasty, there is no hope of getting this current generation to change their ways. If real education could begin now, then in maybe a decade, you'll see the PPP's voter bank crumble.


And on the topic of democratic parties, when was the last time PTI held internal elections for their leader? Hypocrisy much?

 

[Kompromat]

The trouble is that only the educated middle class holds these views. The poor and uneducated power base of the PPP are now so blindly attached to the Bhutto dynasty, there is no hope of getting this current generation to change their ways. If real education could begin now, then in maybe a decade, you'll see the PPP's voter bank crumble.


And on the topic of democratic parties, when was the last time PTI held internal elections for their leader? Hypocrisy much?

Currently underway.

 

[Spring Onion]

This structure is in place because of the people, mostly the rural population. The folk in those parts idolize these personalities rather than their government and policies, you often see pictures of people doing ' sajda' in front of BB's pics, Tahir Ul Qadri himself and many others. People follow these families.

The political parties also get sympathy votes through this, PPP being the major beneficiary of this. First they got it through the injection of BB into politics on the slogan of 'daughter of Shaheed', and when she died, PPP again got sympathy votes. Now when elections are approaching, His Highness Bilawal *cough Zardari cough* gets thrown into the scene again to get sympathy votes. And stupid people still will vote for him and PPP, just on the basis that he is the son of BB.

In short, those who benefit will never let go of this system, and those who make these politicians benefit will not let go of their flawed beliefs. It's kind of a vicious circle.

very right but again the issue is how many urban educated Pakistani take pain to visit poling stations and cast vote?

the onus is on them.

I will appreciate Indians for this atleast that they do cast their vote no matter rural or urban

 

[Jango]

very right but again the issue is how many urban educated Pakistani take pain to visit poling stations and cast vote?

the onus is on them.

I will appreciate Indians for this atleast that they do cast their vote no matter rural or urban

I think this time it will change with the introduction of PTI. Not all will come out to vote, but there will be a significant increase.

Previously people had no choice. It was either PPP or PML, so they got pessimistic and thought 'kis ko vote dain!'. Some voerly optimistic folks voted PTI in the late 90's, but that was a small population.

We can be optimistic though!

 

[Leader]

ooopsss....

 

[Spring Onion]

I think this time it will change with the introduction of PTI. Not all will come out to vote, but there will be a significant increase.

Previously people had no choice. It was either PPP or PML, so they got pessimistic and thought 'kis ko vote dain!'. Some voerly optimistic folks voted PTI in the late 90's, but that was a small population.

We can be optimistic though!

whoever they vote but my opinion is we must vote since the regular elections and voting will one day filter the dirt

 

[Kompromat]

ooopsss....