Dasti and the PM

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Monday, April 12, 2010
The prime minister, who we all saw a few days ago basking in the glory that is the 18th Amendment, has chosen to be advised on livestock by a man known for talents that may be the envy of all those who want to make it big in this land of wonders by sheer force of character. Mr Jamshed Dasti, a former member of the National Assembly, possesses character in abundance, as is evident in some sterling qualities he recently displayed to the amazement of us lesser mortals. His immense talent for forgery and lying through his teeth came into the limelight when the Supreme Court discovered to its, no doubt anti-democratic, dismay that Mr Dasti, at some point during his illustrious rise to fame and shame, had managed to get an MA Islamiat degree forged with flying colours. The court, during the proceedings of the case, was first held spellbound and then was enthralled by the fabulous failure of Mr Dasti to answer questions regarding Islam and the Holy Quran that would not take school-going kids a minute to answer. But the court being conservative and right-wing, and blinded by its hatred for men in parliament, simply failed to appreciate this unorthodox novelty of a politician and forced him to resign from his seat in parliament. Dasti’s endeavours to acquire a fake degree in Islamiat had endowed him with an acute Islamic sense. His contribution to the debate on religion and gender had been grand in his scholarly and eloquent comments that the passing of the Women’s Rights Bill by parliament amounted to insulting Islam. He had sought to defend our moral sensibilities against that feminist onslaught by proclaiming the “Rights of Men”. The court brought disgrace upon itself by prosecuting and persecuting this genius and exposing him as a charlatan.

But how can such immensity of talent remain un-rewarded, particularly under the present political setup? Prime Minister Gilani of the Parliament-is-Supreme fame was destined for the honour of redeeming the sins committed against this noble son of democracy. One of his very first, and supreme, deeds after he became a ‘prime minister with powers’ following the passage of the 18th Amendment, has been to reward Dasti for the laurels he has won for democracy, by appointing him adviser on livestock, making him richer in perks, privilege and power than he previously was. The word is that a brother of Mr Gilani’s may now be fielded from the constituency where Dasti was supposed to contest the coming by-elections. This may not be liked by certain myopic creatures of the media who would gladly have Mr Dasti sent to prison, who see sick symbolism in the rise of this man suggesting how PM Gilani of the supreme parliament might deal with matters in the future, who would like to remind the PM that his government, from the ‘very top’ to the bottom, appears so mired in corruption and nepotism as to render the ‘Revenge of Democracy’ phrase excruciatingly painful; that his government has gained more-than-enough notoriety as one that values thieves and crooks and protects criminals from justice — criminals of the sort whose presence is an affront to democracy and decency anywhere; that all this is linked in the consciousness of the people with their life becoming more and more miserable; that criminality being so openly and obscenely rewarded for loyalty sends out a dark and evil message, that men like Dasti advising on livestock only reveal the reality of the piling up of the ‘morally dead-stock’ in our political sphere; that this is what has always led to the sword of the false saviour being hailed by the very people our political parties have always claimed to represent and have always betrayed.

All this and much more nonsense may be uttered by these fools. But they are devoid of the vision and intuition that Mr Gilani, being of an order of the Sufi mystics, is blessed with. His indepth understanding of the Sufi attitude towards those who trample decency and morality for worldly gains and Mr Dasti’s deep insight into what Islam has to say about the corrupt and the uncouth, coupled with the democratic aspirations of both, must have helped this feat of wisdom and foresight to come about. Those human rights and civil society activists who have been greatly disturbed by the ‘targeting of politicians by the judiciary’ have every reason to celebrate the comeback of one equipped with all the right credentials and representing the best that the democratic tradition has to offer in terms of commitment to political ideals and rights- and gender-consciousness. He deserves their respect all the more because, in the days of the supreme parliament and with the help of its supreme leader, a democrat has managed to not only survive the judicial attack on his unblemished character but will now be grazing in greener pastures.