My late mother was a woman of few words and would often say that silence was the best option if one did not have anything sensible to say. I was reminded of this a couple of days ago during a popular talk show on a private channel featuring our Minister in charge of power. The talk show host referred to the case of a senior bureaucrat, who received a super inflated electricity bill in spite of the fact that his home had been locked for ten days. In response, the Minister said this bureaucrat must be having an Uninterrupted Power Supply or UPS installed in his house. The honorable minister then went on to expound a theory designed to revolutionize all existing technical notions. According to him, the UPS drew a large volume of electricity to operate and since it must have been left running by the house owner, hence the bill. What the good minister from Sialkot failed to remember was the fact that UPSs ran on batteries, which consumed an infinitesimal amount of electrical units only to charge themselves to the required level.
The media is running wild on Imran Khan’s statement during his speech in Rahim Yar Khan, wherein he suggested that the two intelligence agencies serving the Armed Forces be incorporated in the Judicial Commission. The PTI was quick to clarify that the Government spin masters were hard at work to gain political leverage out of Khan Sahib’s utterance and that the subject statement merely suggested that since the judiciary had no integral investigative assets, a Joint Investigation Team composed of civilian and military agencies should assist the Commission to ascertain if large scale rigging had indeed occurred during the 2013 Elections. PTI also claimed that formation and composition of the Investigation Team was agreed upon during the several rounds of negotiations between the Government and PTI Teams. As a common citizen of Pakistan, who wants nothing more than to reap the fruits of good governance, this new controversy appears unnecessary and almost childish. If the Government is serious about extricating the country out of this political crisis, then it should do what is expected of them by accepting the PTI explanation, especially when the latter’s stand on the Prime Minister’s resignation has radically softened.
And now to Sindh, where the PPP Government appears to be engaged in a standup comic act featuring the Chief Minister and his band of ‘merry men’. With death stalking the residents of Thar, the concerned provincial ministers and administrative officials appear to be running around in circles without any cogent remedial measures to alleviate the situation. The ‘blissfully happy’ Head of Government in Karachi has once again reiterated that deaths in Thar are not due to famine, but poverty. Even if one ignores the absurdity of this notion and accepts what the worthy CM has said, every Pakistani deserves to know if alleviation of poverty (such as the one that plagues the people of Thar) is or isn’t the sworn responsibility of the Sindh Government. If the answer to this is in the affirmative, then it is the right of every patriotic citizen to know why, in spite of all its rhetoric, no action has been taken against everyone responsible to mitigate the situation.
This week’s column has a tragic ending with two innocent young lives snuffed out amidst flames. I am referring to the murder of the young Christian couple who were thrown into a brick kiln without ascertaining if their alleged crime was true. Amidst the condemnation that resulted after this despicable act, I can only remind my fellow citizens of what our Founding Father said:
“Minorities, to whichever community they may belong will be safeguarded. Their religion or faith or belief will be secure. There will be no interference of any kind with their freedom of worship. They will have their protection with regards to their religion, faith, their life, their culture. They will be, in all respects, the citizens of Pakistan without any distinction of caste or creed.”

The writer is a freelance columnist.