The headlines in all English news channels in India are saturated with the skirmish between Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. Zardari is no Bhutto. In any case Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became a larger than life figure because he was able to whip up animosity in the then West Pakistan against the Bengali Mujibur Rahman. The Awami League of East Pakistan was the sworn enemy of all that the West Pakistan stood for. West Pakistan had been and will always be FEUDALISTIC, in its political structure.
In India why are we so much bothered about who rules Pakistan? Does it really matter? Going by the past, the ARMY had stepped in continually on one ground or the other and is the only INSTITUTION that Pakistan could boast of. To have a fair idea of how big Pakistan is, let us look at its population- it is marginally more than the population of UTTAR PRADESH (approx. less than 17 crores).
The demography of Pakistan is as follows as per Wikipedia:–
The Punjabi population is estimated to comprise 44.15% of the national total. The Pakhtuns are the second-largest group at roughly 15.42% but this percentage is expected to increase due to their higher birth rate and immigration to Pakistan’s urban centres and the general stabilization of birth rates amongst other ethnic groups. Next, the Pashtuns are followed by Sindhis at 14.1%.
The President is a SINDHI ruling a predominantly Punjabi speaking population. Moreover , as already mentioned, like Zulfikar, he does not have a common enemy like the Bangla speaking East Pakistanis. In 1972 the population of Pakistan was 6.5 crores and more or less equivalent to the population of East Pakistan. Therefore there was a need for the Punjabis and Sindhis to unite. Mujib returned with 160 of the 162 seats to the Parliament. But now ZARDARI IS SEEN AS A SINDHI, WHO HAS STEPPED INTO THE SHOES OF HIS DEAD WIFE BY DEFAULT CUM FRAUD. But, he wants his share of IMMUNITIES that go with POWER in PAKISTAN.
With all these in the backdrop, he is showing reluctance to bend with the PUNJABI POLITICAL CLASS represented by Nawaz Sharif and his gang. He neither has an issue that could unite Pakistan, nor does he seem to have the TACT to realize that he is there by a stroke of good fortune. BUT FORTUNE IS FICKLE, AND IN PAKISTAN IT IS BOTH FRAGILE & FICKLE.
But why are we Indians getting involved in this FEUDAL POLITICS? Besides the politicians, there is the ARMY that keeps an eye on the POLITICS of PAKISTAN and like a fly-swatter comes heavily periodically and ensures that the true process of a democratic integration does not take place.
I have a sneaking suspicion that we as Indians love to be voyeuristic and see how the DIVORCED WIFE CONDUCTS HERSELF IN THE HOME OF THE NEW HUSBAND!!!
Pakistan is a double truncated chip of the big block of India and does not deserve the coverage that the TV channels are happy to dish out. I wish and hope that the channels would give as much coverage to the politics of the major states of India like, UP, Maharashtra, AP, West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu instead. If the TV channels educate the Indians on the realities of India, they would be doing some service.
What surprises me is, why are the TRP ratings high for such news? Maybe, we drum up the importance of Pakistan as a traditional enemy and what they did to the Hindus during partition and in Kashmir. But that belittles a GREAT COUNTRY LIKE INDIA.
A COUNTRY THAT HAS INSTITUTIONS AND PRIDES ITSELF IN MULTI CUTURALISM AND GUARANTEES TO THE MINOROTIES, SHOULD NOT BE WASTING ITS TIME FOLLOWING THE LOW FEUDALISM OF PAKISTAN. NOT EVEN FOR DIPLOMATIC REASONS!
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