Wherever two Pakistanis are together for a while, they cannot resist politics. It seems politics is in the blood of every Pakistani, regardless of their age, income group, domicile, and residential status.
If two people are discussing inflation, petrol price, and non-availability of the subsidized flour, believe me, it is all a political discussion.
But politics, most of the time, crosses the limits of decency, especially in the Avenfield district of London, where former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is living on bail for his medical treatment. Every other day, we see a flood of videos showing public protest against the ‘non-availability’ of the money trail. Creating a scene in front of your political opponent is not politics. It’s thuggish.
Demonstrating the same vein of thuggery, PML-N Vice President Abid Sher Ali recently tweeted, calling for a protest outside former prime minister Imran Khan’s ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith’s house. The move was made after PTI supporters staged a protest outside former premier Nawaz Sharif’s residence.
Many people, political and apolitical both, believe that PML-N’s protest call is unnecessary and disrespectful to a person who no longer has any connection to Imran Khan or the PTI. The only connection both Imran Khan and Jemima share is their two sons, who live in London and have nothing to do with Pakistani politics. In my view, well, this is blatant harassment and the PML-N must stop such actions.
Jemima Goldsmith tweeted that this call for protest and anti-Semitic sentiment displayed against her, reminded her of her time in Lahore in the 1990s when she had to endure this nonsense when she was married to Imran Khan.
After Abid Sher Ali, journalist Hamid Mir stepped in.
In an exchange of tweets between Jemima Goldsmith and journalist Hamid Mir, it was seen that the protest outside her house was justified because there was a protest outside Sharif’s Avenfield apartments. Nawaz Sharif’s son and other PML-N supporters and workers approved of the protest as they claimed that such harassment has been faced by the Sharif family as well therefore, it is acceptable to protest outside Goldsmith’s house. However, there are many reasons for which this protest can be termed as harassment. To understand those reasons one has to have a certain level of intellect.
Firstly, Jemima Goldsmith is Imran Khan’s former wife who has nothing to do with Pakistani politics. Her relation with Khan is that of his children’s mother and that is it. Whatever, Imran Khan does or does not do has no relation to Goldsmiths. On the other hand, the Sharif family is entrenched in politics as a whole and Nawaz Sharif himself resides in the UK and is the owner of the Avenfield apartments. Therefore, protest outside his property cannot be compared to protest outside Jemima Goldsmith’s house as both are completely different entities. One is a former prime minister (who is on bail) and the other is the former wife of the former prime minister. Secondly, her children do not reside in Pakistan and they also have nothing to do with Pakistan or Pakistani politics. Lastly, Abid Sher Ali and Hussain Nawaz denied that the protest is anti-Semitic but when the chants are heard and tweets are read there is a lot of talk of a ‘Yahoodi Saazish’ and being a Jewish agent.
Although, there has been an exchange of profanities between Imran Khan and the Sharif clan, it is wrong to involve the former wife of a former prime minister, that too in another country. The PML-N must not stoop so low that it loses the respect of those who are in support of their government. This was a disgraceful attempt to malign an adversary and it will not be remembered as a valiant effort to defend the PML-N leader.
It will go down in history as the worst politics on the part of the PML-N.
The same is about the PTI when it demonstrates outside their opponents’ houses.
The best place for a demo in London is Hyde Park and Mochi Gate in Lahore.
