As the scraggly man threw his shoe at Zardari, I smiled. But, Zardari was not deterred. Luckily, his glasses didn't fall off his face. He maintained his composure and grinned his usual toothy smile, and looked back at this man with his looming eyes....what else could Zardari do? It wasn't really him----it was a poster of Zardari.
The Feb. 25th verdict of the Pakistan Supreme Court declaring the Punjabi brothers, with artifically implanted hair (Nawaz Sharif & Shabaz Sharif), ineligible for elections resulted in roadside theatrics---not new to the Pakistani political scene, however. And of course, let's not forget the contribution by our relentlessly annoying media. The ones who make a whole lot out of nothing at all. The ones who stop us dead in our tracks every hour with their flashing red banners of "Breaking News!". In fact, much of the theatrics that occur as a result of the mediocre events in Pakistan are for the most part initiated by this insanely neurotic media. And so it should come as no surprise, that after the Supreme Court ruling, the dramatic society (read media) donned its costumes and started with the first act.
Their theme and news coverage was aimed at showing the nation how the people had come out on the streets rejecting the Court's verdict. That the awam was distraught and angered by this decision. "Awaam Ka Ihtejaaj!" yelled one reporter. Channel after channel showed live footage of men tearing down posters of PPP's leadership and damaging public property. Hurling their shoes at pictures of Zardari, Gillani, and Benazir and screaming anti-PPP slogans--this awam was revolting. Every news channel showed this awam waving their dandas in the air and setting on fire any and all of public property--a demonstration of their fury (view http://lahore.metblogs.com/). How could the Supreme Court even think of laying a malicious eye on their Sher-e-Punjab? This awam wanted answers! And was not the least bit happy with the outcome of the trial. But, while this manically loaded media showed us live coverage of the awam pulverizing public property and creating havoc through the streets of Lahore, I had to ask myself 'Is this the real awam?!' And the answer is a very sensible and irrefutable NO!
A nation, whose average citizen can barely afford the public transportation fare, and on most days walks 4-5 miles to work--toiling away at a job that hardly pays the monthly expenses, cannot be bothered nor have the time to take part in a protest that serves no substantial purpose to them. Anyone who understands Pakistan knows that the individual of the real awam is consumed by the worries and concerns afflicting his family. He has a family to take care of. In most cases him, his wife, and their 7 kids. With expenses sky-high these days, the average Pakistani is lucky, at best, to find manual labor which only pays daily wage, and yet at the end of the day is still not enough to pay for food, clothing, or medicine. In these kind of dire circumstances do you really think he has the time to run on a rampage across Lahore denouncing a verdict regarding an individual, who feasts on biryani everyday while sitting in his luxurious Raiwind estate flanked by vibrant green lawns and the world's exotic birds??
Does the media really want us to believe that all those men and women, who were protesting outside the Governor House yesterday, were representative of the real awam?? They weren't! And don't get sucked into the lie that they were! I'll tell you who they were: supporters of the party--paid to get out there and run amok. Men and women bribed to come out and take part in these theatrics. This dramatic club enthralls and serves only the purpose of the maniacs behind them, and no one else. And while the brains, behind these nobodies, inject them with colossal momentary temptations, so that they will scream, plunder, and create chaos.....the real awam suffers. Suffers and toils.
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