A day before opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif was to speak on the budget, federal ministers said their dear leader Imran Khan had told them to give a tough time to him, meaning that his speech should be disrupted and he should be forced to stop speaking. So his men went overboard and threw copies of the budget in the direction of the opposition benches. Of course there was retaliation, with members from both sides abusing each other in choice Punjabi. The whole world must have watched in amusement.
Of course, we shouldn't be surprised that matters have come to such a pass. Imran Khan has openly expressed his distaste and scorn for parliament, once cursing it loudly, saying that he sends "laanat" (curse) on it. So it's only natural for him to advise his cronies to behave in this manner. The responsibility was on members of the government to cool their colleagues, instead they encouraged them to behave like hooligans. One reason may have been the fraudulent budget they have presented. After openly proclaiming that it's a tax-free and people-friendly budget, the very next day they raised prices of petroleum products. Also, they announced that wheat would be imported, soon after announcing that there has been a bumper wheat crop this year. How can one believe whatever Imran Khan or his ministers say?
I'm surprised at the silence of our religious leaders on the issue. The budget copies had the names of Allah and His Prophet printed on them and throwing the copies is akin to blasphemy. But since it's the lawmakers themselves who did it, no one dare say anything. If it had been someone from the minorities, he would have been lynched immediately.
Post a Comment