Not patient enough

Published June 3, 2016
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

IT is obvious that behaving in the presence of a patient at home does not come naturally to us. There is artificiality to what everyone has been doing ever since it became clear that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif required medical treatment.

There was an ostensible outpouring of good wishes from the politicians. Imran Khan prayed for the prime minister’s recovery, as did Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. Others came up with their own messages of solidarity — a few outshining the rest on the strength of the sacrificial goats they were able to rally round the cause

These were all loud expressions, gestures rich on rituals when the situation did demand some ceremony. But more often than not, these acts had the appearance of having been feigned, and the worst reactions came from those who were looking to train their humour on the prime minister at this opportune moment. They led the band of doubters who were moved by the most ingenious bouts of imagination.


For a country that thrives on unknown sources for its news business it was not surprising that the Sharifs thought it unnecessary to have a spokesman giving updates on the PM’s health.


The most laughable amongst them was, of course, the revelation that there was no heart patient to talk about in this case. And since there was no patient, there was no need for a hospital and no bypass to be performed but a photo-op to gain sympathy to thwart the Panama leaks.

It was left to the truly witty in the long line of commentators to save the day for humour in Pakistan. It is remarkable how some in this country manage to keep their poise and senses in the most trying and most slippery of terrains and continue to come up with gems that are free from the malice which frequently passes for a joke here.

Born out of artificiality were also some of the most sombre talk shows. These went on for ages, and even though some of us resorted to extreme measures such as re-enacting an open heart surgery inside a supposedly elaborate theatre the fare failed to add to the information of a most unaware audience. Clearly, those who had surrounded the actual theatre to deny any inkling of the proceedings were to be largely blamed for much of the confusion.

For a country that thrives on unknown sources for its news business it was not surprising that the Sharif family thought it was unnecessary to have a spokesman issuing regular updates on the prime minister’s health. Everything, the wise in the official camp thought, had to be wrapped in secrecy.

All that was offered by way of response to the clamouring calls for information was a reprimand here or a request there asking for respect for Mr Nawaz Sharif and his family. Even the place where the prime minister was to be operated upon was not identified fuelling speculation where none was actually called for.

Given matters as they were, it was actually a bit of a relief that things did not turn out more painfully than they did.

The message was clear: you could not ask the people — on either side — to start suddenly behaving against the pattern they had been cast in for long.

The problem is not difficult to understand. You are coached to forever create pandemonium and suddenly you are ordered to act and pay your respects to the very people you had been targeting so far. The abrupt switch is impossible for many.

Imagine how long it has taken an Asif Zardari and a Khursheed Shah to build the friendly exterior that is ready to meet all kinds of requirements with a smiling face. In the case of people at large an even longer and most difficult scheme is to be undertaken to ensure that those who willing to learn to respond aptly to various situations are allowed forums and opportunities to do so.

It would have been tempting to suggest that the process must begin at the party level — but then, talk of party discipline, party resolutions and opinion making within a party has been limited to the veterans reminiscing about how it once used to be. In the present times, there’s no room for opinion-making and debate for a Pakistani.

As decisions are imposed from above, the workers never get to participate in any discussion and are totally untrained — until the day they are asked to pose beside the goats about to be sacrificed to bring good health to someone.

Alternatively, the workers may be found insisting that no operation has taken place and the picture flashed on Twitter was actually of a gentleman emerging from an appointment with his dentist.

The education of the party — at the ground level — to meet all kinds of challenges is out of the question. The next available option for a prime minister who needs to shed some of the weight on his shoulders is to streamline issues of command and responsibilities at the top tiers.

There is total confusion about who is in charge when Mr Nawaz Sharif is away. Some say it is Maryam Nawaz who is overseeing everything, whereas others come up with the names of various people some of whom are not even on talking terms with each other. Not just that, they are very capable of issuing contradictory statements on a development.

So much so that there can be a prize for the minister who is closest to the truth in his or her remarks about an event.

In this case, the award should go to Khawaja Asif who had predicted that Mr Sharif would have to spend many weeks in London when he had gone there in April. Khawaja Sahib and others must have known it then, which makes it even clearer that the officials had the time to think over it and manage it better.

The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2016

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