Chowrangi

Yet another election is in the offing. There isn’t much hubbub regarding the elections around and the tempo is missing from the usual frenzy of the elections due to emergency, operations in the country, lack of any defined opposition, and the immense social problems, common people are suffering from.

Is the fact that Pakistan is not a land accustomed to free and fair elections holds a wind behind it? Or it is some forgone pretext which our politicians are trying to imbue in our minds? There are no false hopes about the upcoming elections in the minds of anyone. Even the United States has admitted that there isn’t much chance of having the upcoming elections in Pakistan in clear air. Opposition is already blaming the King’s Party for starting mass efforts to rig the polls.

I reckon that thing regarding the election should by crystal clear to the nation. It is either both free and fair or it simply isn’t. There is no value or legitimacy of election under the emergency and Provincial Constitution Order (PCO). In the absence of free judiciary and free media, there is no meaning of any election. If there is no emergency and the judiciary and media are free, only then there is a strong possibility of something like free and fair elections in Pakistan. That should be the question people should be asking themselves before deciding to cast their vote.

The future is bright for the nation, no matter whatever the hell happens. I am fully hopeful and have got full faith in the future of Pakistan and it reminds me of the medieval past. In the Heian period, a warrior class descended from rural peasants diminished the power of rich ruling families. History shows many examples that the privileged and protected can’t evade changing times forever.

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