Why taking political sides in Pakistan is STUPID

There is no way to phrase this nicely so I am just going to say it straight; taking political sides in Pakistan is stupid. Yes I said it, it’s stupid. Now before you go all insane and start fuming at that statement, relax and hear out my whole argument. I am making this argument because an increasing amount of people are starting to believe that taking political sides is somehow cool and it’s the right thing to do. These are people who are new to politics and genuinely believe in the sanctity of democracy and think that the system can be changed and that if ‘real’ votes are to be cast, all our problems would simply vanish.

Like it or not, politics in Pakistan like everywhere else in the world is dirty, messy and mostly ugly. People are vindictive, childish and in most cases very revengeful. What this means is that political parties and other such organizations, do not forget easily. So while they may shower their supporters with favors and special appointments, they go out of their way to screw over anyone who has ever said a single word against them. Biggest example of this is probably PML N who is famous for remembering those who forget them or betray them. And every time they come to power, the first order of business is to make sure that the lives of such people are made in to a living hell, in most cases this includes making unfriendly bureaucrats OSDs. This is not limited to one party, this holds true for all parties. PPP for instance would bully anyone who is not willing to bend to their wishes, case in point Kanani and Kaaliya as well as the Hashwanis, one of them is in jail and the latter is in Dubai for the last 4 years or so. So point is, political parties do not tend to forget stuff, and while they might give out favors to their own, they make sure that their opponents suffer in any way possible.

If that is not enough, the reality of life is that in Pakistan in order to get things done you need to be on good terms with everyone i.e. you need to be friends with all sides. Now you may be thinking well that is why the system is broken and that in a way is encouraging corruption, but thing is you try getting things done during a government that is not of your choice. Try getting transfers, postings and other simple things done on merit during the time of your opponents. Most people who talk about taking sides and go all Cultist on social media, have never had to actually do any of this. You might be saying well you know I can live without getting postings and transfers done for people who are around me, and you may be right. But try running a business, a proper business that has a scale under the government of your opponents and you will realize how magically nearly all government departments have a deep interest in your operations. Talk to most businessmen and they would tell you how they get harassed for being affiliated with one party or another.

And if all this is not enough, our general public cannot even begin to understand how nearly all major political families are related to each other in way or another. Pir Pagara alone is directly connected through family ties to PPP, PML N, PML Q and most leaders of PTI South Punjab. In numerous cases, half the family is one party and the other half is in another party. Classic case of this is Khokhars in Lahore. The family controls one National Assembly constituency and cousins keep contesting against each other on different party tickets just so the seat stays within the family. In other places like Faislabad, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Gujranwala, Khushab, Chakwal and so on, family members/baradari members contest elections against each other just to keep seats within the family. They side with different political parties to ensure they remain in power or more accurately one part of the family remains in power.

Given these facts, it is actually stupid to take one side. I mean come on, our politicians and our so called representatives are not sticking to one side and instead choose to look out for family/baradari interests then why shouldn’t we the people do the same. People often ask me which political party do I support and I reply I do not pick sides. And for some reason that is an odd answer to them, but to me it makes sense. I have good terms on all sides and that allows me to do things my way and have a long term perspective about things that I work on and invest in because I am not afraid that a change in government will hurt my plans. That is actually what most of the business people do across Pakistan. The whole point of this game is to grow economically and have an improved standard of life, and for that we require stability. That stability comes from being able to plan long term and work without constraints.   

So while it may be momentarily cool to take sides and identify yourself based on your party preference, the truth is it genuinely does not matter. You can choose any side you want but know that they are all the same. The idea that our politics is based on ideology and principled stances is a myth. If that were true, we would not have the same damn candidate run for election from 3 different parties while never changing their beliefs even once. So, like I said in the start and based on all of this, taking political sides in Pakistan is Stupid. 

The rise of RAILU KATTA ACTIVISM

Recently there has been a mushroom growth in the amount of people who are now ‘activists’. Throughout social media, more and more people are now identifying themselves as ‘activists’. Do not get me wrong, I personally strongly believe in activism and I firmly support all actions that can lead to social change. In the grand scheme of things, this would be fine albeit a stretch i.e. if you have an interest in a particular issue and you choose to become involved in it, you will eventually be an activist for that issue and end up bringing a certain amount of social change.  So in essence, ‘activist’ or ‘Activism’ is not the issue, it is the rise of the RAILU KATTA ACTIVIST (Railu Katta means 'Jack of all trades') that is an issue. RAILU KATTA ACTIVIST is one who does not know shit about shit and yet has to take a position/stance or whatever on nearly all issues without ever understanding the underlying problem to get some amount of attention on a consistent basis. 

The rise of the RAILU KATTA ACTIVISM has been steady. Ever since Pakistan got exposed to twitter and facebook, there has been a slow movement towards this idea of people who have nothing to do with the issue constantly talking about it as true experts of the issues chose to initially were slow to move to social media and the newer forms of communications. In that vaccum, the Railu Katta Activists thrived, talking about everything under the sun because there was no one else to challenge their opinions. For example, the Railu Katta Activist might have a degree in say English Literature but they would go on and on about the issues with economy and why Pakistan is not doing enough with regards to spending on people's health and education. Initially this was not considered too annoying i.e. people read two articles and think they are experts is fine because well they have nothing else to offer. But over time as the social media culture has evolved in Pakistan, these hacks have managed to continue being Railu Katta Activists over everything. In essence they have hijacked the educated discourse on crucial issues that exists and have in fact turned all of that discussion in a to vanity exercise for their over sized online Egos. It is as these people are perpetually angry at something or the other. But the irony of it all is, while these people bitch about whatever is wrong, they are also the 1st ones to shove down 'Positive & Happy Thoughts' down your throat throughout social media.

By now you might be saying what is wrong with that? What is wrong with a bunch of insecure people trying to gain attention by jumping in on issues they do not know about? Well see here is why that is a problem in the long run. What essentially these Railu Katta Activists do is they genuinely hurt actual activists of that certain issue by greatly distorting the narrative. How does that happen? Well that happens in a fairly simple manner. When an activist is making an argument about an issue that they feel deeply about and have researched, they come up with a narrative that includes all the issues and possible solutions.

Now in order to look smart and basically fulfill inner insecurities, a Railu Katta Activist jumps in and adds absolute made up shit to that narrative that badly hurts that narrative’s credibility. The Railu Katta Activist does that to firstly sound smart and show they have extra super special hidden information about it that no other person has (which is just made up stuff mostly) and secondly to show that their interest is in this issue as well (this normally involves dropping a few names to show how connected they are).  So after they are done screwing the credibility of an issue and the activism being done for that issue, the Railu Katta Activist then goes in to over drive and starts publicly blaming the blaming for not taking that issue seriously any more. At this point of time they reach out to western sounding people over twitter, Facebook or even Linked In to basically show them how connected they are with the issues of the common man in Pakistan. The people they reach out to, hail them as warriors and protectors of truth, while the actual activists get ignored. And by the way the actual issue gets lost in the whole vanity program and is often stopped being taken up as an issue that needs to be thought about.

The rise of the Railu Katta Activist is something that is going to continue. In a country where failed producers who owe people money are hailed as saviors of the public, Railu Katta Activists go on to make a killing through flaunting their brand of Bull Shit. But what they do to real activism is unforgiveable; they desensitize the people to a point by constantly crying over something with minimal information about it is hurting Pakistan.

So next time you see one of these Railu Katta Activists throwing a vanity hissy fit, do remember they are actually hurting a very real issue and activists associated with that. 

Why PML N will lose the next Elections...

In the last 8 months or so, PML N has done pretty much everything a party can do in an election year. They have gone out and literally dug up every road in Punjab, they have made serious noise about stuff in other provinces; they have even gone on recruiting spree to beef up the party ranks. Effectively they have prepared and prepared well for the upcoming elections. And even though there is this Tsunami coming for them, they are still focused on the real competitor. So all in all, looking at PML N, one would say that they are ready to go to polls and seize power. But in this case, all is not what it seems. 

PML N will lose the national elections again and here is why they will lose it.

Inability to Evolve

In a country that is obsessed with the word change, it does pay off to be the consistent one. While people harp on about change, a big chunk like the way things are not because they are just, but because they understand how things get done within the current scenarios, so while there is always this urge to change everything, majority of the people tend to be content with the way things are and wish for a few tweaks here and there. In such a scenario, one would imagine that a party like PML N would thrive by making small changes to make life easier for people. But that is the whole issue; change and evolution is not the same thing. PML N instead of evolving over time in to a mature party is still trying to get on the bandwagon of ‘Change’. The problem with that is you cannot be in a provincial government and harp on about change as that is effectively an OXYMORON! What you can do instead is to evolve in to a mature group of people who are focused on better governance.  And in 4 and half years, that is something PML N has yet to do. So while people may shout about how the Tsunami or Bhuttoism shall defeat PML N, they are all wrong. PML N will defeat itself.

No Media Strategy

Apparently Senator Pervaiz Rasheed is running some sort of media strategy at the PML N. The problem is, no one seems to have seen that in action. PML N often cries foul that when they do something it never gets attention and neither do they get credit for it. Well geniuses, it is simple why PML N doesn’t get credit for it, firstly it their duty and secondly it is because the message never really gets out. See thing is politically, the key is to get your message across. PTI, even though I do not agree with them, is brilliant at getting their message across. People identify with them every time the word, Insaf gets used in any context. That is the power of excellent media management and strategy. PML N on the other hand, throws money at things and hopes they work out. So yeah while Senator Pervaiz Rasheed is doing ‘excellent’ work at PML N, the party is slowly dying a very public media death.

No Message

Seriously does anyone including Baday Mian Saab know what the message of PML N is? I mean what are they going to fix when they come in to power? Jokes aside, the economy is screwed and will be screwed for a while, there is a food shortage expected globally to last the next 2 years and we are expecting floods starting in August. So seriously what is PML N going to do or for that matter what is anyone else going to do. And no, saying we shall end corruption does not cut it, because politically speaking a certain level of corruption exists in every system as it is endemic. This is in no way limited to PML N, this is a genuine question for all parties including the PPP and PTI. The fact is our budget is done in accordance with the IMF and the World Bank because we took loans, so no party can make massive changes to it as there is no money. So yeah, PML N what is your message, because it’s been 4 years and all I have heard is you crying and whining about what PPP does wrong while presenting nothing as an alternative.

Below Par Leadership

Yes PML N will lose partly because of the leadership too. It’s not Baday Mian Saab who is the problem; it is a bunch of other people. People like Ch Nisar, who says one thing and does another, people like Senator Pervaiz Rasheed who effectively blocks any decent idea from coming forward, people like Amir Muqaam who has impeccable records of genuinely not doing anything. With such a brilliant cadre of leaders, how can one win? It is as if in the last 8 months PML N has gone out there and made an effort to ensure the public face of the party is at least disliked if not hated.

Bad Advisors

This is a problem with nearly all parties but with PML N it is going to end up having a massive impact. It is well known that both Mians listen to their advisors closely and whatever is fed to them eventually is what they start believing. The current cadre of advisors is so awesome that they have somehow managed to screw up a done deal and put the whole party at risk of survival.

 A few months ago, Ayaz Amir Sb wrote an effective obituary of PTI in his column. At that time people said he had jumped the gun while a large number agreed with him. If he were to look at PML N now, that obituary would fit like a glove. PML N is a party that does not need enemies; they are their own worst enemies. All these reasons are there and have always been there. PTI did make a difference; it just highlighted all of this.

So while Mian Saab tells Pakistan why the PM is wrong, what he does not understand is his is the last party to talk about right and wrong. For his own are destroying his party and yet in 4 years he has not been able to see it. In essence;

Jis banday se apni party nai sambhaali jaati, us ne yeh mulk kya sambhalana hai?