Governance through service

I am sure that Chaudhry Pervez Elahi will go to the extent of worshiping in politics of divine service and very soon the people of Punjab will get all the facilities at their doorsteps that Kejriwal has successfully given.

Picture source - Council of Europe

By Mohsin Goraya 

Determination, strong will, and persistence turn all impossible things into possible, given that you have good intentions. Worship, politics, and service are good things, but if hypocrisy is included in worship, interest in politics, and the desire for fame in service, then the three major tasks become irrelevant. Politics is service and service are called worship, in these interrelated functions, if worldliness gets a touch, then all three remain a useless exercise. In third-world countries, these three major tasks have been and are still being made fun of. In Pakistan, when Imran Khan entered into politics from the platform of Tehreek-e-Insaaf after the successful donation campaign of Shaukat Khanum Hospital, no one had any illusions that this cricketer would one day be successful in the political field and will become the prime minister of the country. Shaukat Khanum, the one who started politics through service, focused all his attention on the factors that were obstacle to the country’s development, thus Imran Khan started politics through service to the country and the nation. Irrespective of the ratio of success or failure in his struggle against corruption, Imran breathed the spirit of life into a sleeping nation and made them right from wrong. Encouraged to say, In the 2008 election, Imran Khan was the only candidate of Tehreek-e-Insaaf who achieved success. In 2013, he defeated the big feudal lords in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and succeeded in forming a government in the province. He remained eligible to form a government in Pakistan, but it was the bad luck of the nation that he did not meet the expectations required, and in 2022, he was thrown out of power after the loyalty of his colleagues changed.

In the same period, a wave of change arose in India in the name of Arvinder Kejriwal, who tried his luck in the election by founding a political party named Aam Aadmi Party, and unexpectedly won a small majority in the municipal elections of Delhi. In the state elections of 2013, he defeated the BJP and the Congress party and won the mandate to rule in the federal capital. He resigned from the government after 45 days when the anti-corruption bill was not passed, but the people did not leave his side. In 2022 he became the Chief Minister for the third time in the state elections. Surprisingly, he won 97 out of 117 seats in the Punjab state election in the same year, defeating Congress, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Akali Party, which has been in power in the state for many years. Behind this success were the steps he took as the Chief Minister of Delhi, Kejriwal considered politics as worship and made it a means of service, fixed stipends for the poor and destitute women, and provided free travel facilities to the working women, and disabled people. Gave employment, participated in street cleaning work by holding a broom himself, provided facilities to children in schools, paid attention to quality education, solved the problems of teachers, and improved treatment facilities for the public in government hospitals. He ensured the free supply of medicines, especially to old women and children. People who used to say that Kejriwal is a seasonal fever and it will go down soon are seeing that Kejriwal has been putting the ruling parties at bay for a long time and in the next election he will get a clear victory in Haryana or Uttar Pradesh. People think he will get extraordinary reception in Rajasthan too.

Apart from health, education and municipal services, Kejriwal has achieved to make Government officials true public servants. In a government department, a citizen does not have to pay a bribe for his work, nor does he have to go around for days, every work is automatically done by privilege. According to this, Kejriwal has taken a revolutionary step, due to which the citizens will not have to go to the government departments for their work, but the staff of the government department will go to the citizen’s doorsteps and solve the problem. The publicity campaign has been started, the move is being termed as a game changer by analysts, who believe that if it becomes possible, it will not be possible to stop Kejriwal from advancing further in the political arena.

Kejriwal can be compared to Imran Khan in terms of getting a foothold in politics, but in terms of service, it will not be wrong if he is compared to Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, who has not long since assumed the post of Chief Minister for the second time. But in this short period, he has accomplished the remarkable things that the Tehreek-e-Insaaf government could not do in three and a half years. If he had not faced the destruction of the flood and the rehabilitation of the victims, perhaps the speed of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi would have defeated those who are proud of their speed. In this short period, he has accomplished lifting the ban on government jobs, providing jobs to disabled people according to quota, restoration of special allowance, facility of free education, and vacant posts in government hospitals and educational institutions. Immediate recruitment, free supply of medicine and surgery, and announcement of providing facilities to farmers are things that should have been done long ago. Khouri Hai, Thana culture and police atrocities are also urgent problems, even if some progress is made in this regard. Fatah has happened, but it is not possible to achieve the desired results, police brutality and police station culture have become so common and firm that more strict measures are needed to end it. To bring them on the right path, permanent measures are needed. I am sure that Chaudhry Pervez Elahi will go to the extent of worshipping in politics of divine service and very soon the people of Punjab will get all the facilities at their doorsteps that Kejriwal has successfully given. Not only in Pakistan and India, but the nature of public problems and difficulties in poor countries is also the same, so if Kejriwal’s governance system is studied and adopted according to our conditions and society, then it will not be too late to open the way for development.