Chowrangi

Is BB fit to be prime minister again? Last night’s events prove she isn’t.

First of all, you don’t need a degree from Harvard to know that arranging a procession of a million people on Karachi’s main artery can bring life to a standstill. If she had any love for Pakistan, she’d have simply told her followers to collect outside the tomb of the Founder of the Nation. That way, at least, it wouldn’t have exposed her to sniper’s bullets, the way she chose to stand in an open truck, ignoring the advice of security officials. Anyone with an IQ of the kind of people who were out there last night could see that she was a sitting duck. And then to expect that she wouldn’t be attacked proves she’s entirely ignorant of the situation in the country. And while her procession was going at a snail’s pace, proving that she and her team cannot manage a simple thing like a rally, let alone run the country, people were stranded in their homes, unable go out in case of emergencies.

If she really cared for the people, she’d have asked her party workers to occupy only half the road and leave the other half for traffic to operate. Or she’d have cancelled the procession and gone to the place where she had to make a speech. What did the procession prove, anyway? That she’s very popular among the masses? Even if there were a million out there, filling up Shara-e-Faisal with their excreta, she should not forget that the population of Pakistan is one hundred and sixty million, so those people out there were not even one percent of the country’s strength, and of course, not all of them were those who’d vote for her, as the bomb blasts proved.

I fervently pray that she doesn’t get any more bright ideas like leading another procession in Karachi. If she’s so keen to project herself, let her do it in Larkana and let the people of Karachi live in peace. Two days of absolute economic paralysis has left the nation much poorer. But I doubt if she’ll learn.

Other posts by Shakir Lakhani

• Killing of Christians in Secular India - October 1st, 2008
• Pakistan Muslims: so-called guardians of Islam - September 30th, 2008
• Mr. Zardari's offer to "hug" Ms Palin - September 26th, 2008
• Corruption decreases slightly in Pakistan - September 24th, 2008
• Rehman Malik should think before he talks - September 23rd, 2008
• Saudi cleric's fatwa to kill satellite TV station owners - September 19th, 2008
• How they treat cheaters in Egypt! - September 10th, 2008
• Is Zardari mentally fit to be President? - August 27th, 2008
• Why is Zardari against re-instatement of the Chief Justice? - August 21st, 2008
• New book on Obama claims he's a secret Muslim - August 15th, 2008