KARACHI: At least in theory, manifestos sum up the roadmap for a better future. Gone are the days of small, drab black-and-white booklets containing loads and loads of grey text.

These days, they happen to be just the opposite and are available in downloadable soft copies that have the potential to reach out to a wider audience. It is another thing that the ‘audience’ generally skips past the offering during the surfing sessions. But there are those who did have a look at the manifestos and found them to be “nothing more than booklets of grand hopes and false promises”.

Ikram, a young marketing professional who will be voting for the first time in the upcoming elections, said: “Going through the manifestos, I wasn’t surprised to see that it is the same rhetoric being repeated. Had it not been for the websites, I would have not read the manifestos.

“While the PPP and PML-N have played it safe with some hefty documents and PTI has come up with some visually impressive layouts, the bottom line is that these are just messages. For instance, the PPP says it will ‘revive a globally-impacted economy and invest in Equitable and Inclusive Growth by launching our own stimulus packages through a mix of job-creating programmes and launching our youth employment initiative’. On paper it sounds great, but not so when it comes to implementing it,” he said.

When asked why he finds the idea of the youth employment initiative unfeasible, he said: “It would most likely be another BISP where a bare minimum amount is paid. And, once the scheme is wrapped up for whatever reason, what is plan B?” No different are the views of Saqib, another youngster from Rawalpindi. A graduate, he says that going by the manifestos and social media feeds, “change has come in Pakistan”. However, what has not changed is “the condition of the masses”.

When asked if he had ever seen the manifestos before, he replied in the negative. Quick to chip in is Saqib’s uncle Mohammad Rashid. A small farmer from Bahawalpur district and a former PPP supporter, he says he has never seen the manifesto of any political party but has surely seen a lot of “false promises”. He then goes on to enumerate a long list of unfulfilled promises that ran across the political spectrum.

Obaid Khan, a businessman from Swat, and Ali Muhammad, a tour operator from Hunza, have their own disillusionments to share.

However, for some the glass is still half full. “I don’t know much about the manifestos, but PTI’s promise of ending corruption in 90 days interests me,” says Sadia Mirza, 33. A house wife and mother of two, she has not read any manifesto, but does keep a tab on Twitter feeds. “I am all for a corruption-free, extremism-free Pakistan and PTI’s zero tolerance approach on these issues is important,” she says.

Another Imran Khan fan is Mazhar, a eunuch, but he is disappointed by the lack of attention given to the estimated 800,000 transgenders in the country. “All leaders are talking about women’s rights and human rights, but no one has spoken about our rights. It seems only the Supreme Court thinks of us humans,” s/he laments.

Religious minorities too remain subdued on the matter of manifestos. “There is a token statement here and there about protecting minority rights, but nothing more,” says one as another chips in. “The PPP has a nicely detailed chapter on minorities and what it intends to do for us. However, I refuse to believe a single word as the level of hatred against the minorities peaked during its five-year rule. They should have had the courtesy to at least accept this and say that minorities would be protected the way Constitution grants protection to all citizens.”