Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Saeed Ghani’s terming of Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry as ‘a lying robot’ indicates where does morality stands in opposition style of politics. One can only wonder at the deterioration in their political world. By the time Pakistan had gained independence, the earliest crop of political leaders emerged and taught the nation valuable lessons in grace and dignity. What did quite help was the fact that most of them were highly educated and those who did not gain any formal education gained their dignity by placing national interests above petty political ambitions. By no means do we expect the current generation of politicians to imitate Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, or Liaquat Ali Khan but the least expectations of refraining from mud throwing and hurling abuses seems too much to ask. It is a fact that most of us do not wish to put ourselves or our families through the pains of foulmouthed political speeches. Our parliament should be saved from the use of unparliamentarily language, and from lack of grace in conduct. Frequent disruptions and name calling are common but things shouldn’t be stretched too far to heap scorn on each other; from being caught snoring during session to indulging in physical fight in the house, our politicians have done it all, said it all. Protests in the Parliament are almost an everyday affair now. It is almost a dream to expect from our politicians to ever let a session go by smoothly and give each other time to speak and voice their opinions. Parliamentary proceedings at times look like street brawls. We, the people, have been left wondering if we are merely moving from the frying pan to the fire between political parties and leaders. The personal ethics of a politician or a leader is always in question in the minds of the electorate when it comes to casting votes. In our political system, personal attacks have become the norm, irrespective of the political stand taken by any politician over issues faced by the country, and under such situations the media furor is always at its peak. Indiscretions and resultant personal attacks have become common and no one seems to raise an eyebrow any longer. Mud throwing and foul-mouthing continues. If you believe that a TV channel’s phrase ‘tabdeeli sarkar’ that it coined subsequent to the Imran Khan’s general elections victory is not derogatory for his followers who still believe in his election promises, if you think that this nomenclature of our prime minister is not outright offensive, then think again and correct yourself. Thinly veiled abuses and outright mimicry shouldn’t become the rules of the game.
Beyond Politics: Ensuring Judicial Independence for a Thriving Democracy
it is evident that some people believed that senior judges would be as "manageable" as our more experienced politicians. This...
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