IN these stressful times, all distractions are welcome. According to a recent report, carried by this paper, the Pakistan National Heart Association — curiously abbreviated as ‘Panah’ — has asked the country’s electronic media regulator to ban all coverage of the honourable Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. Apparently, the former federal minister is an overlooked risk to the general well-being and good health of our youth. Strangely, Panah’s problem isn’t with Mr Rashid’s usually heartburn-inducing worldviews; it is the seductive imagery of the ex-minister “waving his cigar” on our TV screens that the association wants Pemra to shelter impressionable young minds from. “Due to his action of waving the cigar, our young generation may think that Sheikh Rashid Ahmed became the federal minister just because of the use of cigar and also suppose that it is the symbol of personality and they should also start smoking,” Panah general secretary Sanaullah Ghumman warns in his letter to the regulator. A sobering concern indeed.

Panah is not the first to be so gravely annoyed with Mr Rashid’s cigar-smoking habit. In 2017, Chaudhry Tanveer Ilyas of the PML-N had reportedly snapped at the Awami Muslim League chief during a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee for the very same reason. The self-professed ‘Pindi boy’ reportedly wouldn’t stop puffing on his cigar while the committee was still in session, greatly irking the other lawmakers present. Mr Ilyas had sought a ban on Mr Rashid’s smoking, “for the sake of his own health”. He appears to have been unsuccessful in his efforts. Be that as it may, Mr Rashid should take the fresh warning seriously. Smoking-related diseases are no trivial matter, and his habit does set a bad example for others. He may wish to continue partaking in the pleasure of hand-rolled havanas, but he ought to do so away from the public eye. All that smoke appears to be clouding our youth’s ability to think straight and productively.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2023