The Inaugural National Assembly Session!

Haider Mehdi

Fire and Brimstone!

But first. Congratulations to the man who worked tirelessly for 22 years, supported by those who didn’t lose faith in him, and finally achieved his dream of becoming PM and start the most challenging task of turning this country around!

What a session!

Imran, in his moment of glory, unfortunately, couldn’t retain his cool after being heckled and harangued and abused for nearly an hour. It was very very petty of the PMLN. Not today!

Imran’s could have delivered what should have been a great speech of magnaminity, large heartedness and reconciliation.

A speech which would have included his agenda of eradicating corruption and bringing the looted money back and offering no NRO to the corrupt and the looters and plunderers. It would have been a wonderful speech for the new House, for Pakistanis and for the International audience!

While it’s easy to advise Imran on keeping cool from the confines of my armchair, but then this was his moment, his hour, his day and one can only lament on what could have been!

But Imran’s core message was and is clear.

We will govern well!
We will not spare the corrupt!
We will bring the looted money back!
We will not give any NRO to the corrupt!

Shahbaz and PMLN set a shameful standard which put even their already gutter values to shame. First by going back on their agreement to allow Imran to speak after 15 minutes of agitating and then to the garbage of his own speech.

Shahbaz and his cohorts represent a degenerate and corrupt status quo, breathing their last and hence the anger and desperation.

And Bilawal!

Well, I’d be petty not to admit that it was a very good speech!

But before we go gaga over his fine words and his cool and calm delivery, lets not forget that Bilawal has no trophies on the wall.

He’s but a mere twenty something, silver spooned, pole vaulted privileged young man who hasn’t done a day’s work in his life. Has no achievements to his credit. Has no struggles. No experience.

So what does he have?

A biological accident or incident of privileged birth, a political legacy in which he has ZERO contribution except being to “The Manor Born”, a reasonably nice face, a reasonably decent education, but nothing outstanding, and absolutely no decent school or college achievements, worthy of any mention, even in a private social setting!

He’s a just a regular, pampered, privileged, overly well fed, rich kid with acquired, affected, cultured social graces, a fluent English accent which only the affected and pretentious South Asians put on.

But more importantly, he has access to his father’s seemingly unlimited looted and plundered wealth, the best speech tutors and speech writers money can buy, hundreds of brown nosing, butt kissing hangers on surrounding him day and night, many who would put to shame their past credentials!

And then, like a schoolboy, prepped and propped up to deliver his speech!

In summary, he symbolises the hypocritical and pretentious social privileges and ambivalence that plagues South Asian politics!

And the speech?

There are tens of millions of kids like him, privileged and underprivileged, who can deliver a similar speech or better if given the same opportunity and wealth! Watch any Hollywood movie of highly effective and moving High School speeches by any Valedictorian and you know what I’m talking about.

And that is our tragedy, as we forget the real things that matter but go all warm and fuzzy and mushy over his speech!

But for the record. This is nothing personal about or against Bilawal, before the Jiyalas atrack me! I’m sure personally he’s a most charming, personable and nice person. But so are hundreds of millions of others. But that doesn’t make him or them potential leaders for Pakistan.

Would have been nice if somebody like Bilawal would have earned his spurs working his way up the party ranks. But this will never happen now, as he rides on the coattails of the political legacies of his grandfather and mother and the looted wealth of his corrupt father. He’s now unfortunately doomed to live the life of a political puppet, with nothing to show of his own!

However his personal pettiness and shallowness came through when he called Imran the “PM Select”. A behaviour worthy of the pettiness of his grandfather and parents! And of those petty souls who tutoured him to say this phrase!

While he has no option but to play act his role, the tragedy is to see the likes of Sherry Rehman, Aitizaz Ahsan, Raza Rabbani, Khurshid Shah etc, stand behind Bilawal, hands folded, in a display of shameless and abject slavery and servility.

To display such a level of slavish servility in today’s day and age is much worse than those our ancestors showed to the conquerors who swept through this wretched land centuries ago.

Shame on these pygmies who sell their souls for petty crumbs of power, money and influence!

But the great news for Pakistan is this.

Imran’s day has come. And I have no doubt he will deliver what he’s promised. Insha Allah.

As I’ve said ad nauseum, this is not about partisan politcs or about Imran.

It’s about the future and well-being of Pakistan and its people, especially our poor, our exploited, our socially and economically disadvantaged and underprivileged!

Insha Allah! Ilahi Aameen!

Salaams and Prayers
Haider Mehdi