PTI started a problematic culture of name-calling and bad mouthing which is now getting to a point where people are harassing the opponents wherever they see them. You can disagree with a politician or his polices and there are proper platforms and forums to express your concerns as well, but harassing them in a public space is not it.
A few years back, a bizarre practice was started where people were chanting ‘Go Nawaz Go’ in every event where a PML-N leader was invited. PTI chairman Imran Khan lauded his supporters for it and this became widespread. Later on, he provoked his supporters to harass the disgruntled members of his party and his followers followed his instructions without any question. His party allegedly organized a campaign to harass the PML-N members in the holy cities as well which was gross. Jumping on the bandwagon, another “cool” family harassed Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal. The pathetic thing is, it was an adult woman that initiated the chanting, and her daughters then followed.
PTI leaders are already (in)famous for using abusive language and even getting physical during live shows. PTI media cells are already spiting venom in the social media space on a daily basis. They have polluted the social media sites, creating a spiral of silence all across. Whoever tends to disagree with the school of thought of PTI or the thought process of its members, is immediately labelled as a patwari and is targeted through organized harassment. Why? Because the party chairman is going to laud them for this. They think they are doing a community service to Pakistan by harassing the representatives of the government.
I don’t expect PTI Chairman Imran khan to educate his supporters or forbid them from doing such stunts. However, I do expect the new government to make strict laws against the harassment in public places. If there can be laws to protect citizens from harassment and invasion of private space, then there should be laws to protect lawmakers as well. The coalition government is amending NAB laws to protect itself from the “revenge trails”. They want to protect themselves from the harassment of law enforcement agencies but it is awkward that any citizen can easily harass them and get away with it.
Ahsan Iqbal has forgiven the family that harassed him but forgiveness will not stop these people. It will encourage many more to do the same as the people who did it earlier got away with it without facing any consequences.
Government officials are not a joke. They are representatives both inside and outside the country. If they are being harassed by the people of their own country, how will the officials outside the country take them seriously? The other thing that we must keep in mind is that controversies like this are highlighted by countries that loathe us. They use these mishaps and portray us as a country full of clowns.
Earlier, Indian media ridiculed Pakistan when Shehbaz Sharif and his key aides were harassed in the holy cities. The sitting prime minister of Pakistan was being ridiculed in a brotherly country by his own people which was a worldwide embarrassment for us. Also, we were portrayed as intolerant goons who could not even respect their own holy places. This was a shame for us, but we learned nothing from it, nor did the PML-N government. PTI, as usual, lauded its people for doing this and the people who actually caused this scene were given a clean chit by the courts.
If a citizen disagrees with a politician, they shouldn’t vote for them. They can also protest outside their house or parliament, but chanting slogans just to look cool should be strictly banned. If anyone does that in future, they should be arrested quickly. Otherwise, it will become a norm and no politician will be able to go out in public.
