Stop! Look what you're doing

The string of profanities that came from the lips of PML (N) and MQM leaders against each other's top leadership as they spoke to reporters at the main gate of the Parliament House on Wednesday is too obscene to be printed on this page. Had this sparring match taken place on the floor of the National Assembly the chair would have definitely expunged their abusive vernacular as utterly unparliamentary.
But these leaders preferred to stage their theatrics at a public platform, oblivious of the negative impact their antics would have on the already much-tarnished image of the elected political elite. We hate to go into the content of their bad-mouthing and the authenticity of their accusations - these are unprintable. But, certainly, these myopia-afflicted leaders have done no harm to anyone else but to their own credibility and public standing.
Is that the stuff we elect to represent us and decide our destiny, the people ask? We hope these leaders would desist from getting into yet another round of vitriolic abuse, as they already have inflicted much harm to their image and spare the people the agony of repenting their electoral choices.
Of course, the provocation had come from leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali, though his narration was quite measured. But in their prompt reaction the MQM leaders just crossed the Rubicon. Their words were incisive and personal against the Sharif family. Then they also warned the PML (N) against travelling unto their 'area' - a kind of idiom used by a person in the street. That's a dangerous mindset and is unacceptable in a polity whose survival is so much contingent on a strong and functioning federalism. There are no no-go areas in Pakistan.
They also threatened to open what they called a Pandora's box; only God knows what more can be said against one another's political chiefs. We would call upon the MQM leaders to stop at it and go no further in this game of hurling invective at their political opponents. We also call upon Chaudhry Nisar Ali and his comrades to desist from launching yet another salvo targeted at the private life of the MQM chief, Altaf Hussain. In politics, the slander has to stem from opponents' ideological stands and their governance negatives and positives affecting the lives of people.
Frankly, one is flabbergasted by the fact that they are accusing each other of sabotaging some kind of 'revolution' they claim to be working on - as if they are some dark horses and people don't know their past. Both the PML (N) and MQM have had enjoyed long spells of government empowerment and people are aware and have full knowledge of their not-too-hidden propensity to grab power whatever be the ethical and political price. What 'revolution' is now in the making, which they couldn't bring about when they held the reins of power?
The PML (N) twice captured power at the Centre, and has been literally in the driving seat in Lahore for nearly three decades. What is their legacy - an incessant fight with other institutions of the federation and an economically poorer and more volatile Punjab? And who doesn't know how the MQM has been single-mindedly working all these years to impose its own writ and worldview on a huge metropolis which is home to a variety of ethnic and linguistic components of population. Hasn't it been increasingly alleged by all their political opponents that their overwhelming representation of Urban Sindh in the assemblies is in part due to gerrymandering of constituencies?
In democracies, political leaders derive their strength and clout from their acceptance among the people. And should they forfeit their popularity - as the present leadership increasingly tends to do - they are disowned, for failure is an orphan. The fact is that the present democratic system is dangerously poised; it has not delivered. For much lesser 'crimes' the elected governments have been shown the door by the Establishment, which has, rightly or wrongly, acquired the role of Pakistan's godfather. Agreed, that vote has its moral force but running a country is an issue of real-politik and it brooks no sentimentality.
Even when the present elected set-up can rightly claim to have passed the 18th Constitutional Amendment; given a unanimous National Finance Commission Award, handed to Balochistan the so-called Rights Bill and what not, the reality on the ground remains unchanged. The sad truth is that the country is more insecure than it was during the military rule of General Musharraf and people are in more trouble than ever before. By carrying further the game of abusing their opponents' leaders the PML (N) and MQM are only digging the grave of democratic process in Pakistan. They should stop it forthwith and work towards restoring their image among the people of Pakistan.