SO the prime minister finally made his appearance before the vaunted joint investigation team, and, unsurprisingly, many of the usual suspects had something to say about it.

Maryam Nawaz triumphantly tweeted her pride at “the day that creates history” as her father “set a precedent” by demonstrating his unflinching commitment to the rule of law. On the other side of the political fence, leaders of the PTI and other opposition parties along with talk-show hosts and armchair intellectuals slammed the prime minister for refusing to resign and continuing to unashamedly defend himself and his family against corruption charges.

The show will go on until the Eid holidays rescue us, the million-dollar question of ‘will Nawaz Sharif survive till next year’s general election’ predictably remaining unanswered. And then more episodes of this drama serial will be ready for screening after the Eid festivities.

It’s easier to focus on politics than everyday bigotry.

The fact of the matter is that the PML-N is little concerned with the question of its moral (or political) legitimacy to govern. In this country, elections are won by doling out as much patronage (read: material benefits) to captive constituencies as possible. The PML-N has spent most of its time in government securing the Punjabi heartland and, hand-in-glove with a docile civil administration, is more or less ready for the next election cycle.

Meanwhile, the PTI (and others) continue to beat the dead horse of corruption (and moral legitimacy). It is the only card they have got, but it is debatable whether this strategy can get in the way of electoral arithmetic. When push comes to shove, there will likely be only one force that can turn the tables on the incumbent government — the proverbial ‘neutral’ umpire to which Imran pleaded for an intervention during the dharna three years ago.

We can speculate all we want, but the truth is that no one has any clue what Pakistani politics will throw up next. We can, however, be sure that society will not be transformed overnight; we will continue to blast the government for being inefficient; injustice and oppression will still reign; and we will continue to flap around haplessly to make sense of it all.

Perhaps it is the sheer difficulty of coming to terms with the myriad contradictions that exist in Pakistan that explains our strange fascination with relatively meaningless intrigue in the corridors of power. It is, after all, easier to focus on the trials and tribulations of an Asif Zardari or Nawaz Sharif — and contrast them to the infallibility of a Raheel Sharif — than it is to face up to the everyday realities of bigotry and abuse of power to which all of us contribute.

Zeenat Hisam wrote recently about the plight of sanitation workers, and rightly pointed out that they are amongst the most exploited and discriminated against segments of this society. We can add that the stigma to which they are subjected has much to do with caste, widespread in society but irreconcilable with our perception that ‘Muslims don’t do caste’.

The article made brief mention of a worker who died in Umerkot earlier this month after being refused treatment at a local hospital. The worker in question, Irfan Masih, suffered an accident while on duty and was taken to the Civil Hospital for emergency treatment where, according to reports, the doctor was unwilling to attend to him because the unconscious Irfan was covered in filth and the doctor was fasting in the holy month of Ramazan.

Since when does touching a dying man constitute an unholy act? Wouldn’t saving him from death instead be considered the pious thing to do? Obviously not in a society wracked by caste divisions, including the curse that is untouchability. For all of our claims about egalitarianism in religion, the truth is that we discriminate on the basis of caste all the time.

Many of the ‘honour killings’ that take place in Pakistan are explained by the ‘shame’ of a ‘higher-caste’ family that cannot live with the ignominy of their son or daughter marrying ‘below’ their caste. Women from Hindu or Christian backgrounds who earn a living by working as cleaners in affluent bungalows are not allowed to share the employers’ utensils or even eat their food.

And, as we know from the example of Umerkot, ‘respectable’ doctors refuse to treat sanitation workers hailing from ‘untouchable’ caste backgrounds. The shocking thing is that such discriminatory attitudes are not even frowned upon in most of this country. They are taken as ‘normal’, even while we rhetorically distance ourselves from the ‘Hindu’ practices of caste discrimination.

It is no wonder we lambast politicians for being untouchable and laud generals despite their being untouchable. It is much easier to immerse ourselves in such contradictory chatter and not acknowledge the criminal untouchability which we reproduce every day.

The writer teaches at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2017