Monthly Archives: May 2022

Unmitigated dissent

By Rifaat Hamid Ghani

HOW much negativity within leadership can people sustain and also how much will they sustain? Native intelligence (and I am not speaking of indigenous Intelligence services) tells us that sooner or later people demand more: solutions rather than accusations; actualized effort not oratory. The most recent of our former PMs, Imran Khan, is yet to learn to lose gracefully politically. Admittedly he was also ungraceful in victory; but deem him braggart or sporting legend, he was spot on when he warned he would be far more dangerous in political opposition than as PM. The cheering multitudes mesmerized at his subsequent jalsas give the statement alarming substance:

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Is this democracy?

By Zubeida Mustafa

CAN the political melodrama being enacted in Pakistan today be called democracy? 

Those involved — all political leaders, the media, the anchors and others — believe this is democracy. The events that are portrayed 24/7 on TV, WhatsApp and Facebook are seen as giving the people a voice. How the ‘voice-giving process’ is being conducted is nobody’s business. All we old-timers know is that we cannot call a spade a spade.

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