A Chaudhry never retires

A Chaudhry never retires. But who says so. Not me, but many admirers of former (caretaker) PM Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and former Punjab CM Ch. Pervaiz Elahi, say so. And quite strangely the number of admirers is increasing day by day.
This is the consensus opinion of many field journalists who move places and gather pieces of information while drawing analogies and comparisons. I’ve, however, been unable to find out ‘democratically’ genuine reasons for this rise in Chaudhrys’ popularity graph in our democratic society which is supposed to have gone much more democratic than ever before.
Perhaps the reason for this so-called enhancement of Chaudhrys’ popularity is that it has come about by default resulting out of people’s restlessness to see relief and justice coming in their lives without further delay of even a minute. The fact remains that the people, on the whole, have waited for long for getting protection including protection against exploitation, injustice, excruciating price hike and hubris demonstrated quite often by the people equipped with the powers to decide the fate of Awam-e-Pakistan (the masses of Pakistan).
In this stormy, deep ocean of haplessness, sometimes they are driven to think, though not always logically, that maybe the ruling lot of the past was better. And sometimes the tensions of the current times rise to such a degree that the lapses of the past are deemed somewhat pardonable.
Add to this the re-emergence of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the former Punjab chief minister, in both the print and electronic media. If he hasn’t appeared tall, he has at least managed to appear confident. With a touch of considerable confidence that he might have learned to display during his chief ministerial slot but not yet forgotten despite his electoral isolation, Elahi has launched an anti-government tirade in quite a sustained manner.
Not only that, on one hand he has criticised the government for failing to address the farmers’ issues, he has, on the other hand, started giving ‘data of success’ of his times. The former CM says it was his government that brought relief and sense of participation in the lives of 70 percent of the national populace meaning thereby the farming community.
And he still takes pride in his 1122 rescue scheme, the way Pakistan’s cricket lovers still take pride in the 1992 World Cup victory.
But the Elahi supporters claim that this pride is not based on mere gimmickry or empty rhetoric since the Chaudhry government brought about a revolution in the lives of farmers by providing them electricity, fertilizers and seeds at quite affordable rates. All these facilities in addition to easy loans on soft terms and tax exemptions added up to an agricultural revolution, asserts this
lobby.
In my opinion, this revolution business (or revolution mantra) has become somewhat of a fad in our polity as Mian brothers too, I mean Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif are also crying out loud making the public realise that whatever they (Sharif brothers) are doing is nothing short of revolution.
But revolution or no revolution, the farming community is very unhappy and has reasons to be so. The figures that they are presenting speak for themselves, as majority of them are unable to sell their yield on time and even get the prices according to the government list. And then, to add insult to injury, Elahi says that most of the facilities given in the past especially during his times to the ‘backbone of national economy and 70% of the population- the farmers- have been withdrawn by PML-N government.
These utterances, if they have any substance in them, must not be brushed aside merely on the plea that they have come from a politician of the rival camp who is saying this all just for the sake of opposition.
Both the sanity and sincerity demand that serious consideration should be given to the criticism by way of which many points have been raised that are very pertinent to our economic survival and revival. The most important of all these issues is the brewing wheat crisis. Wheat is not only the staple food of vast majority of Pakistanis but is also one of the major determinants of our economy somewhat like petrol that determines the rise and fall of prices of various commodities. So, if wheat crisis escalates soon after the wheat harvest that is now a matter of few days or weeks from now, that would mean yet another troublesome situation- and another challenge- for the economic managers and above all, for the top leadership.
...mianrehman1@gmail.com