It has been rather painful to see the sudden rise of Bilawal Zardari (sorry I refuse to call him Bhutto) from relative political obscurity to the liberal press' poster child for the anti Taliban movement.
Whilst his anti-Taliban rhetoric is well grounded those who think this man or his family can bring change in Pakistan could do well to tell me what the Bhuttos have done for Pakistan in previous terms in office (including the most recent one where the Taliban menace was at its peak and the government powerless to control it) or why tax payers should trust a family with their votes on whom their are tons of corruption charges.
I hope too that others can see the great irony in this entire situation where a man who has barely spent a fraction of his total lifetime in Pakistan (let alone Sindh in particular) coming and proclaiming his attachments to its cultural values, or the fact that even the logo for this Sindh Festival event was copied (if he isn't even honest about something as small as this logo and doesn't even care about copyright, why would he care about putting the public money where it deserves to be put?).
There is also a legitimate question here about whether such an event was necessary at all at this point in time at tax payers expense (who ever believes Bilawal's claim that they will return the money they borrowed from Sindh government for this fanfare is obviously deluded) when so many in Sindhi in particular and Pakistan over all have far more serious things to worry about than projection of a better cultural image of Pakistan!
Bilawal boy has been rightly critical of the education system in his various recent speeches but I don't understand why he didn't consider it more pertinent to invest this money in education ...to build schools in Larkana, Badin, Thatta, Ghari Khuda Bukhs, to find teachers for all ghost schools, to carry out a full fledged province wise enrollment drive. I'm sure that if an education drive was carried out at the same scale as this pointless Sindh festival, Pakistan's image and indeed Bilawal's image and his reputation amongst non-Sindhis would have fared much better. But than again if the people of Sindh get education, would they still blindly vote for the Bhuttos? Perhaps not, that's why next year you will again have a grandiose good for nothing cultural festival but no additional spending on education. Because if the masses remain illiterate and deluded this is good for the Bhuttos.
He's also got to learn to get his history right. Sindh may have been the gateway for Islam in the sub-continent but the first translation of the Quran was not in Sindhi but in Persian in the 8th century. "Don’t teach us Islam, don’t teach us sharia, we are well aware of Islam” he is reported to have said in much publicized Sindh Festival closing ceremony. I do agree that we have no need to take our understanding of religion from the Taliban, but if we start taking our understanding of religion from the Bhuttos or the PPP, or indeed ANY of the political parties in Pakistan, than Allah save us in the hereafter truly!
Bilawal is hoping that through the Sindh Festival he is able to show Pakistan's real face to the world, but all I am hoping and praying for is that some day Sindhis, Pakistanis as a whole and indeed the world can see the real face of this Bhutto dynasty and their fractured legacy. May Allah save us from being put in charge of this man and if this is our fate, than may Allah give him right guidance before he is put in authority over us.
Whilst his anti-Taliban rhetoric is well grounded those who think this man or his family can bring change in Pakistan could do well to tell me what the Bhuttos have done for Pakistan in previous terms in office (including the most recent one where the Taliban menace was at its peak and the government powerless to control it) or why tax payers should trust a family with their votes on whom their are tons of corruption charges.
I hope too that others can see the great irony in this entire situation where a man who has barely spent a fraction of his total lifetime in Pakistan (let alone Sindh in particular) coming and proclaiming his attachments to its cultural values, or the fact that even the logo for this Sindh Festival event was copied (if he isn't even honest about something as small as this logo and doesn't even care about copyright, why would he care about putting the public money where it deserves to be put?).
There is also a legitimate question here about whether such an event was necessary at all at this point in time at tax payers expense (who ever believes Bilawal's claim that they will return the money they borrowed from Sindh government for this fanfare is obviously deluded) when so many in Sindhi in particular and Pakistan over all have far more serious things to worry about than projection of a better cultural image of Pakistan!
Bilawal boy has been rightly critical of the education system in his various recent speeches but I don't understand why he didn't consider it more pertinent to invest this money in education ...to build schools in Larkana, Badin, Thatta, Ghari Khuda Bukhs, to find teachers for all ghost schools, to carry out a full fledged province wise enrollment drive. I'm sure that if an education drive was carried out at the same scale as this pointless Sindh festival, Pakistan's image and indeed Bilawal's image and his reputation amongst non-Sindhis would have fared much better. But than again if the people of Sindh get education, would they still blindly vote for the Bhuttos? Perhaps not, that's why next year you will again have a grandiose good for nothing cultural festival but no additional spending on education. Because if the masses remain illiterate and deluded this is good for the Bhuttos.
He's also got to learn to get his history right. Sindh may have been the gateway for Islam in the sub-continent but the first translation of the Quran was not in Sindhi but in Persian in the 8th century. "Don’t teach us Islam, don’t teach us sharia, we are well aware of Islam” he is reported to have said in much publicized Sindh Festival closing ceremony. I do agree that we have no need to take our understanding of religion from the Taliban, but if we start taking our understanding of religion from the Bhuttos or the PPP, or indeed ANY of the political parties in Pakistan, than Allah save us in the hereafter truly!
Bilawal is hoping that through the Sindh Festival he is able to show Pakistan's real face to the world, but all I am hoping and praying for is that some day Sindhis, Pakistanis as a whole and indeed the world can see the real face of this Bhutto dynasty and their fractured legacy. May Allah save us from being put in charge of this man and if this is our fate, than may Allah give him right guidance before he is put in authority over us.
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