A slap for slaps

The Election Commission of Pakistan's stiff action against Waheeda Shah, a PPP candidate for bye-election to PS-53, for her errant behaviour is a telling event on the national political landscape, expected to lift the pall of ambiguity about its potential to deliver free, fair and impartial elections in Pakistan. For her slapping two lady members of the polling staff she has earned punishment that should become a precedent. Hopefully it would ensure the independence of the commission, which seems to have been considerably reformed under the 20th Constitutional Amendment. That the PPP leadership is miserly in expressing this game-changing headway is beyond one's conception that the ECP should be absolutely free of any encumbrance, political, social or bureaucratic. It would be in the abiding interest of the PPP, which claims to be the most popular party having roots in the masses, to respect the commission's verdict with open mind and heart. How optimistic a prelude is this verdict which came on the eve of International Women's Day! The women of Pakistan have never been given the sense of socio-political parity with their opposite gender - in clear defiance of our constitution which grants the two equal status and equal rights. That the two victims of Shah's highhandedness 'pardoned' and said their action is in line with the cultural values of the society, there can be no stronger argument for the drastic overhaul of our outmoded, decadent customs and traditions. We believe the ECP's decision to deliver Waheeda Shah slap-for-slap justice would prove to be the proverbial first drop and not the last drop. Feudal politics is a lingering curse and would be amenable to modification only if there is concerted action by all segments of our society and the governments of the day. Otherwise, the curse would persist, given the oxygen its gets from helpless, hapless masses - like the ones who responded to the shutter down call in the blighted constituency. The ugly event at the PS-53 polling station not only exposes our political parties' inability to move out of the rotten groves, it brings under sharper relief the need to depoliticize the police and protect our media's newly won independence. But for the TV cameras we would have never ever known the gravity of the offence committed so brutally and blatantly. No doubt, 'news is where the media is'. Therefore it is all the more important that the ongoing surreptitious moves to constrict the role of electronic media in the garb of refining it, should be resisted and defied. And no less urgent is the need to put on ground a strong police force to enforce the rule of law, something which is so very essential for the growth of democracy. The service of the policemen should be cleansed of the nasty political patronage by improving and updating the police service. How apocalyptic was the scenario when Waheeda Shah was dictating her version of the elections and the two gallant police officers just watched and did nothing against the crime being committed before their own eyes. But all has not been lost, yet. The authorities have taken action against these statues in the uniform of police officers. And the ECP has also ordered registration of an FIR against the Waheeda Shah. Copyright Business Recorder, 2012