Politics must answer politics

Summary

• But there is one lesson that every government should remember: a political march should never be treated as a joke.
• Whether one agrees with every policy or not, political governments must be judged by how actively they respond to people’s problems.
• The government should take every political movement seriously, even when it believes that movement is losing public support.

AI Generated Summary

We have seen many political marches, protests and sit-ins. Some have succeeded, some have failed, and some have created serious problems for the country. But there is one lesson that every government should remember: a political march should never be treated as a joke.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has started its march towards Islamabad after talks with the government failed to produce an agreement. The march has begun from Lakki Marwat, with workers and lawmakers from several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa joining the convoy.

This is not the time for political leaders to count people in tents and make jokes about them.

Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s sarcastic remarks about the number of PTI workers at a camp in Karak may have pleased some supporters of the government. But such statements do little to solve a political problem. A minister should know better. A long march, whether large or small at the beginning, carries a political message. It should be understood, discussed and answered with politics.

I believe this is where our political leadership often makes a mistake. We look at the crowd instead of listening to the reason behind the crowd. We count the people instead of asking why they have come out.