- The government should condemn the attack on Dr Adnan Khan
Political discourse in Pakistan has gone through a worrying amount of degradation over the last few years. This can be seen within Parliament where important issues that need to be debated are overshadowed by crosstalk from both sides of the aisle that eventually results in shouting matches, hurling of abuses and even coming to blows. Even if elected representatives aren’t fighting amongst themselves directly, their many followers are at it on the social media where there is no limit to what can be said or done as things tend to get very personal very fast. Apart from followers, there are paid trolls running fake pages whose only purpose is to perpetually instigate fights across all social media platforms.
The most extreme form of this behaviour is ‘political vigilantism’, where groups of people will attempt to humiliate opposition politicians by standing outside their homes screaming obscenities. This is much easier when the politician in question is not on his home turf as is the case with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family, who have faced this sort of abuse the most since their addresses in London were revealed. A physical altercation between one such group and Mariyam Nawaz’s son outside his London apartment last year is one example of how quickly such situations can escalate. On Monday Sharif’s personal physician Dr Adnan Khan was attacked and beaten up badly by two masked men in London while he was taking a walk in the evening. That Dr Khan had been receiving threatening phone calls for days prior to the incident shows that the assault was premeditated and organized. Although street crime in London is quite rampant, until the investigation is complete, nothing should be ruled out.
There is a deeper malaise at play here that has been allowed to spread and grow. This intolerance towards the opposition’s view on anything has taken its roots from the sort of politics the PTI practiced during its five years in the opposition, something that it has continued with, now in power. When federal ministers are not reprimanded for publically slapping journalists, those watching intently are dangerously empowered. When the criteria for a good ‘government spokesperson’ is his or hers effectiveness and readiness to call any opposition member that criticizes the Prime Minister a lying thief using new ways and metaphors, then those looking up to the PM also take the same cue. Any change in this policy would have to start from the very top, which is a tall order, considering how that is where it originates from. But a condemnation of the attack on Dr Khan would be a good start and would not be asking too much either.
