Maleeha Hashmey |
Man is a social animal and is privileged enough to be declared as the most superior creation of all by none other than the Almighty Himself. What sets humans apart from rest of His creations, though, is their empathy and a strong sense of responsibility that urges them to be there and extend support upon finding one another in the lurch. That’s what makes human society superior to the animal kingdom, hands down.
However, sometimes, people upon getting themselves positioned well in their careers (read political careers), absolutely get oblivious of the fact that all humans are equal and entitled to similar rights irrespective of their socio-economic status. Two days ago, while we were all having the time of our lives, zealously celebrating Pakistan’s 71st birthday, we saw a video of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf newly-elected member of the Sindh Assembly, Dr. Imran Ali Shah thrashing a citizen in the middle of the road near National Stadium in Karachi doing the rounds on social media, which went viral all across the electronic media.
The whole country had their eyes on the newly elected Government, intrigued as to how the torchbearers of “Naya Pakistan” would deal with this “Purana issue” an issue which led to undue political interference in the bureaucracy and day to day state operations, prevail and turned the term “rule of law” into a joke.
As per the news, the only crime of the poor citizen to deserve this mistreatment was to make an attempt to cross “THE VEHICLE” of “THE MPA”. As a citizen of Pakistan, I did not have a hard time believing it to be true, as I have grown up in this country watching the public office bearers abuse their power and position in the worst possible manner, ruining the lives of the masses, because of whom they enter these prestigious Assemblies and dare I say, to serve whom, they draw their salaries from the state.
Dr. Imran Shah put PTI to shame and stood first in bringing this massive internal challenge to his own party on day one. The whole country had their eyes on the newly elected Government, intrigued as to how the torchbearers of “Naya Pakistan” would deal with this “Purana issue” an issue which led to undue political interference in the bureaucracy and day to day state operations, prevail and turned the term “rule of law” into a joke.
Read more: Imran Khan wins in a ‘Post-Truth’ world
The party’s Karachi President, Mr. Firdous Shamim Naqvi, promptly took notice of the incident and issued him a show cause notice to explain his actions within 24 or else stern disciplinary action would be taken against him. Dr. Imran Shah circulated his video message on social media stating that he saw two motorists quarreling next to him while he was waiting on the road’s signal and he only got off his car to resolve the issue. As he intervened, one of the motorists pushed him and went abusive, as a reaction to which he pushed him back.
“Err… Sorry, sir! We are not buying it. It’s not 90’s anymore. Nor is it the era of Nawaz-Zardari – Sab pe bhaari. You are an MPA. Wow. All the more reason for you to be held accountable for your misbehavior. We want justice to be served right now”, said the whole nation collectively.
A strong foundation of transparency and accountability has been laid by PTI even before Imran Khan’s oath-taking as Prime Minister. Congratulations PTI for qualifying the first round with flying colors
What amused me here was the severe backlash on this issue pouring in from none other than PTI quarters itself. The party supporters and workers were hell-bent on getting the guy taken to task. Contrary to the previous political tradition of saving the culprit, here we saw a new trend of having the culprit’s own political party disregarding his inappropriate behavior and encouraging the Sindh Police to take action instead.
Read more: Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly are to be…
I have no doubt about the fact that after Imran Khan, the best thing that has happened to PTI is its supporters who just don’t seem to compromise on the principles set by the party and go to any extent to uphold its values. Little did the world know, PTI supporters were going to play the role of opposition for their own Government, in such an effective and constructive manner. That’s a first.
Today, I woke up to the amazing news of the culprit being expelled from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and his membership revoked. Full marks to the ideological and high principled supporters of PTI for being the unforgiving prosecutors and eagle-eyed examiners of their own party and keeping it on its toes. This stern disciplinary action has not only set the tone for PTI-elect MNA’s and MPA’s but also the state-owned institutions and their employees.
Read more: KP, Sindh Assemblies appoint Speakers
A strong foundation of transparency and accountability has been laid by PTI even before Imran Khan’s oath-taking as Prime Minister. Congratulations PTI for qualifying the first round with flying colors. Keep raising the bar high. We just can’t wait to see the unprecedented and inconceivable examples of truth, justice and equal rights to all citizens of Pakistan to be set and followed for the next five years. Pakistan Zindabad!
Maleeha Hashmey is a Management Consultant with Telecom Industry with focus on Human Resource Development. The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.