After the disqualification of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and the announcement of by-elections in NA-120, the matter has caught a lot of attention of all; the Pakistanis and people across the border. Everyone has a little or a great feeling of excitement or the word is 'curiosity' that who is going to win this time.
The elections of NA-120 have always been very interesting to observe as this particular constituency of Pakistan's National Assembly is the most popular and the strongest one among all the other constituencies. The answer of 'Why' is; we all know that Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan. It also happens to be the most industrialised province, contributing almost 60% to the country's GDP. Besides from being known as the heart of Pakistan, Punjab is also known for it's relative prosperity. It has the lowest rate of poverty among all the other sates of the country because of its industry and agricultural production.
Lahore, the provincial capital and the stronghold of PML-N, is also a major center for the country's heaviest industries including the steel industry, agricultural industry, publishing industry, sugar mills, flour mills and what not. Summing it up, Punjab is the heart of Pakistan and Lahore is the heart of Punjab and the area which NA-120 covers is the soul of Lahore, That is why NA-120 is said to be the strongest constituency. Whoever wins this seat, wins Lahore and automatically wins Punjab and then Pakistan. That is how the Sharif family gained majority and formed their government for the third time in 2013. NA-120 if often referred to as the powerbase of PML-N. It is said to be very hard for the other parties to win this seat and for this reason very strong candidates are nominated to contest the elections from this constituency.
Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of ousted premier Nawaz Sharif, is the PML-N's candidate for NA-120. Dr Yasmin Rashid, a former lecturer at King Edward Medical University, is representing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) whereas Faisal Mir, a brother of journalist Hamid Mir is representing Pakistan People's Party(PPP). PML-N, PTI, PPP, these are the three main parties that give some sort of competition to each other every 5th year during the elections. These parties are politically and ideologically very strong and have very deep roots in politics. The candidates other than these are Sheikh Yaqoob, known for his affiliation with Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai blasts. And at same time people are observing the candidate of a new party this year which has emerged as ''Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool Allah''(TLY). The founder of this party is Maulvi Khadim Hussain Rizvi, an Islamic scholar and the name of the candidate chosen to contest in the elections is Shekh Azher Rizvi. From the name it is quite clear that this person is one of the followers of Maulvi Khadim but other than that this person has no identity. We know nothing about him. Maulvi Khadim was in limelight previous year for his support to Mumtaz Qadri. He is also notorious for his rhetoric as his speeches are full of hatred and intolerant statements.
Whether these Mullahs know or not, politics is not about how good of a Maulvi you are but what kind of policies you make to attract the voters. Maulvi Khadim and Maulvi Azher do not have anything which should be named as a policy but instead they have derogatory remarks against the minorities living in Pakistan. Maulvi Khadim says'' Huzoor Ka Deen Aage Lao'' (Support TLY because it talks about Islamic Law enforcement). I don't think that ''Huzoor Ka Deen'' allows Maulvi Khadim to preach hatred. To make it clear once again, this article does not have any political agenda or any other agenda besides the condemnation of the ideology of Maulvi Khadim because this typical Mullah ideology doesn't represent the true face of Islam. He is spoiling the peaceful image of Islam. Islam is filled with messages of tolerance and brotherhood not hate, Maulvi Sahib!
Molvi Khadim knows me very closely and I know him very closely too. He truly deserves respect for his knowledge of Hadith but he is not using it in a right manner. There are more truths to be revealed about the Mullah. Regarding this matter, a V-blog or a short documentary from the blogger can be expected by the elections of 2018 because these Mullahs seriously need to be exposed otherwise they will damage the peaceful image of Islam.
By the end, the question remains that who is this Azher Rizvi? Anyhow time of results is not so far. Let us see who wins the seat of NA-120 and it's you 'The Voter' who is going to decide this. Choose wisely!