Pakistan Election 2008 is a serious business. Our present and future depends on it. There is however, a lighter and human side to it too. Soemtimes it brings smile to us and sometimes a laughter. And that lighter side is also a part of our Pakistaniat. I’ve tried to collect few such moments here.
(1) Following photo is of a celebrating ANP candidate, Mr Aqil Shah. He is seen offering sweets to his wife in Peshawar after winning the elections. The photo has such an aura of innocence and a feeling of pure happiness that I just felt like sharing it here.
(2) Pakistani jhoom uThay: Following cutting is from daily nawa-i-waqt where the reporter Abdul Shakoor couldn’t control his own joy at the election results. He has used the words ‘Pakistani jhoom uThay’ to describe the joy of overseas Pakistanis in Kuwait who were following the election results.
(3) “tu tu mein mein“.. and ….the Great Escape of Sughra begum & Shamim Bibi:
Following news item is from Jang Multan and it covers the polling process in and around Multan. I’ll let you read and enjoy the news except I want to highlight the use of phrase ‘tu tu mein mein’ and how four women who were trying to poll bogus votes managed to escape from police custody. All in a day’s work.
(4) What did Kanwal do on Election day? In case anyone was wondering . . . .
The Following cutting is from nawa-i-waqt. Under its top five show-biz news, the paper covers how Kanwal (who is she?) spent her election day. In case anyone was wondering; look no further; The ever present ‘cultural reporter’ of nawa-i-waqt was there to cover this story for us.
(5) A maali (gardener) turned Officer in Karachi
Well there is nothing wrong with the profession of gardening. It is as respectful as being an officer except a person needs to be fully trained before switching the two professions. Following news is reported by the Daily Times.
The shortage in the supply of competent polling staff was witnessed in different polling stations of the city when a gardener was made the polling officer in Karachi. He did not know his duties and could not fill the ballot papers properly. The Provincial Election Commission had assigned illegible staff to fill the ballot papers and others formalities at polling station number 40 located in the City District Government Karachi Elementary School.Presiding Officer Syed Masood Kazim Jaferi told Daily Times that to manage the shortcomings and to continue the process of elections, change in the status of the staff has been done.
(6) Grandfather losing Elections in Multan
(7) Celebration in Rawalpindi
Youth celebrating their candidate’s victory in Rawalpindi with dare-devil wheelies.
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BhindiGosht,
I certainly agree with you and now if people of Pakistan have chosen them to rule, thats fine with me. There is a saying,
Jaisay Awam, Waisay Hukmuran
Having said that, the solution to this problem is “Democracy” and free and fair elections. First of all we will have to create a very strong Election Commision, which can organise fair elections.
These elections seems to be pretty fair and if we keep on having 3-4 more elections in a span of 15-20 yrs, like these kind of elections or may be better, than these CHORS will be flushed out of the Pakistani political arena forever.
The problem is, we NEVER gave Democracy the chance and I hope that down the line Democaracy will prevail in Pakistan and we will start chosing the sincere leaders. Still then I’ll say: Jaisay Awam, Waisay Hukmaran.
Milestone, I have a question. If both AZ and NS are chors, then what do you suggest? What should happen? Who should form the Govt? I for one, am sick and tired of hearing about their corruption. Sure they were corrupt. But what is the alternative at this point? We have to move forward. The military stifles all political activity, and somehow when the wheel finally turns and the military gets out or is pushed out, we expect new leadership to show up out of the blue. Paani bahey ga tau dariyaa saaf ho ga.
More Electainment :)
1) Jang is reporting Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed is delibrating forming his own party.
2) Daily Times is reporting Ejaz-ul-Haq has said on Feb 19, 2008 that he might form his faction of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) in future.
Once again best news is everyone will have to face free media a gift of Musharraf , Already we see positive changes in Pakistan politics because of that. Now I hope media plays responsible role in the interest of Pakistan. They should give a chance to new comers while keeping them on their feet.
Zardari also said that he is not a candidate for prime minister. That is good news.
- For all those who rightly point out the past corruption / poor governance of Nawaz Sharif, Zardari, et al. - Yes, that is correct, but the PML (Q) leaders have records that are no better. The argument that a Musharraf-led regime is “cleaner” may have been valid from 1999-2002, but he chose rather unattractive political bedfellows.
- It has also been rightly noted that the victorious political parties lack internal democracy, and also rely largely on the same old faces as their rank and file MNAs and MPAs. Let it be the voters’ choice to toss them out if and when they tire of these circumstances! The Pakistani people have demonstrated that they don’t need patriarchal solutions handed down to them, they can create their own choices.
- The best long-term solution for this is simply to create the conditions that foster the spread of education and economic growth. Once people are educated and employed, the petty failings of the politicians will have little impact on their daily lives. (In another area, land reform and such measures could be considered - but we are well beyond that point)
- Zardari’s press conference today, where he had a very welcoming stance toward the MQM, is another sign of increased political maturity and moderation. An indicator that perhaps he should not be immediately judged based on his past actions.
Values and mores may differ in different cultures, but there are certain behavioral traits that are universally despised. Change of loyalties for personal gains is one of them. The just concluded election has amply proved this. All the turncoats or Lotas of PPP and PML(N), with one or two exceptions, have been soundly defeated. This is a very good news, as it will act as a warning to any potential Lotas.
Insha Allah our country will grow strong as strong foundation Musharraf has set for Pakistan. Today all parties know better that media is free and its going to be hard to put media in jail. Free media means they better think before they say anything. Because everything they say becomes part of record. Even free judiciary will play the same role. Will keep everyone on their feet. Every Pakistani must play a role of intelligence of Pakistan by keeping their eyes and ears open for the out sider enemies inside Pakistan.
Now lets get on electricity , poors issues. Stop talking about other things lets talk about the needs of people.