STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan
Punjabi is a flavorful language, extremely expressive. I am sure many feel the same about their own lingo, but myexample maybe difficult to contest. Term “Meesnaa” s synonyms can range from “sneaky” to “hypocrite” and a few more. Its female version “meesnee” conjures up idioms too crass to repeat here. “Meesnaa” represents double standards; having a façade of being all pious and “holier than thou.” In reality being a fraud, deceitful, cruel and a liar. Who comes to mind? Answer is simple; our rulers for last 30 months.
Those of us who are unchained from the iron clutches of fire breathing dragons in Pakistan must continue toexpose this duplicity. That is why we are berated byGenerals as “digital terrorists”. Their strong-arm toughies have muscled their way to subjugate the main-stream media. Kept on a tight leash, they sing and dance as per Generals’ dictates. It is heavily populated by “guns for hire”; the dishonest intellectuals who prefer to serve their bank accounts more than the public. When called out, like the speech of CM Gandapur, these journalistic“Meesnaas” pretend to be outraged. What bull; the fraudsters deserve to be exposed much more!
The saving grace for the truth is social media. It has become the “Achilles Heel” of the Generals. GHQ hasbeen holding war games on how to silence this forum instead of focusing on security issues confronting Pakistan. It is not tragic for a nation teetering on bankruptcy to spend billions on creating firewalls? For a short-term gain these mentally challenged uniforms are killing Pakistan’s IT industry by interfering with internet speed. Estimated losses range from 300 to 500 million dollars. Not only that, thousands of IT companies are re-locating to Dubai and other jurisdictions.
No one seems to give a crap about the present or future of Pakistan. All the honchos in army, judiciary, ECP, parliament and other pillars of State are driven by three motivations; “Ana, Zid and Zatiyat”, translates false egos, vicious revengefulness and personal gains. Opinion building by social media has penetrated deep into the public, raising their levels of consciousness. 8th September jalsa has broken the barriers of fear. Kudos to the millions who turned up, despite all barriers and obstacles.
February 8th 2024 was a silent revolution in Pakistan; September 8th 2024 has turned out to be a “vocal revolution”. It was the first genuine response of masses to the unrelenting suppression unleashed since May 9th2023. This vocal revolution is gaining momentum; it has developed legs of its own starting with KP Assembly. Hence the title “crisp north winds bring freshness”. This undeclared Martial Law regime has been inflicting pain and torture for last thirty months; yet like true Meesnaas,they keep repeating their mantra “army is not involved in politics”. This myth was busted by brave parliamentarianslike Sheikh Waqas Akram.
Despite all choke points on September 8th , millions attended leading to the Rulers developing severe cramps. Even before the event ended, they attacked a section of the crowd by lobbing tear gas. Masses were in no mood to be bullied; their fierce reaction forced the police to retreat. However, they used the event to cook up false cases against PTI MNAs and its leaders. That was not enough to extinguish their anguish. The next day CM Ali Amin Gandapur was summoned to Islamabad on the pretext of a meeting and detained for hours.
PTI’s frustration with events on 8th September and the disappearance of CM on 9th September triggered a massive reaction in KP Assembly. A session was called to mobilize a massive march towards Islamabad. The CM was let go. But before he showed up, KP MPA’s had developed a tempo. In their speeches on the floor of the Assembly a much-awaited welcome process began. One by one, each speaker shared their experience of torture and brutality they had suffered at the hands of this Meesnaa regime. The mask of piety and “non-interference” worn by these hypocrites was ripped off,layer by layer. The truth about cruel treatment of PTI members for the first time came gushing out; totally exposing intelligence operatives and smearing them black.
Since September 9th till now, every day five MPA’s are exposing their torturous journey while the Generals in Pindi are passing bricks. No amount of media news can have the same impact as the first-hand narration suffered by a victim. It has given courage to others to come out with their own stories. It was done by MNAs recently kidnapped from within the Parliament. It is vital that the true faces of these culprits are exposed while still in power.
The entire pyramid of lies is protected by outgoing CJ SCQazi. Humungous efforts are afoot to give him an extension, as he is the lifeline of Sharifs and his ilk. Amendment of Constitution was in final stages relying on support of Maulana Fazal; he has backed off. He prevented his own political suicide but it will lead to hara-kiri of present regime. Hamid Khan’s bold pronouncement condemning Qazi’s conduct on the largest forum of lawyers and subsequent plans to mobilize them is yet another nail in the coffin of this Form 47 illegitimate regime. IK’s call for massive mobilization of street
protests shall lead to a crescendo of this much awaited finale. The joke of the day is that Nawaz Sharif is getting ready for yet another launch! According to Imran Raiz Khan the launching pad is busted due to overuse!!
