IN the June 6 issue of your paper I was intrigued to see a women's group carrying inverted lotas on top of sticks. Probably they were demonstrating against women 'lotis' in the Q-League rebel group.
So far I had not heard about 'lotis' (feminine of 'lota') being a part of the abhorrable 'lota' culture in our politics. The 'lota culture' continues to grow among our politicians. It may be worth informing the present generation of 'lotas' and 'lotis' as to who was their first ancestor.
It was in the mid-1930s that my father was taking me, a Class VI student, on his bicycle to Anarkali Bazaar for buying me a pair of shoes.
As we passed by the Cricket Stadium on Lake Road, I saw rows of 'lotas' in front of the entrance of a big bungalow near the Jain Temple.
Many were also standing in front of the other entrance to the bungalow on Temple Road. My father told me that it was the residence of Dr Alam, a well-known Muslim lawyer of Lahore.
He had deserted the Muslim League and joined the Unionist Party, which was in power. It did not sit well with the Muslims of Lahore. So they called him 'bependa lota', a utensil which could be turned around in any direction.
He became a notorious 'celebrity' overnight. Wherever he went, shouts of 'Lota! Lota!' greeted him. He avoided appearing in public and social functions like weddings. It is said he became such a nerve-wreck that he begged to be taken back into the fold of the Muslim League.
Dr Alam still had a conscience that pricked him. But not his present-day disciples! They seem to have absolutely no qualms or any sense of shame or propriety.
By and large, all politicians — with a few rare exceptions — that I have observed in the last half a century are potential 'lotas' if the price is right, like offering of a ministry or advisership or a plot of land.
The top brass of the Q-League were 'lotas' in the eyes of the Muslim League(N), and they in turn were 'lotas' for the Junejo League, and so on and so forth. And the irony is that they always claim — albeit falsely — to do their about-turn in the 'national interest' — the last resort for a scoundrel.
B.A. MALIK
Lahore
