Grapevine

February 2024

Elections at Last!

At the time of writing this, the holding of the General Elections in Pakistan looks certain, which is, of course, a good omen for the transition of democracy in the country. Although the outcome of the all-important electoral exercise is still anybody’s guess, even the rise of a hung parliament would not be a mean feat, considering the chequered government record Pakistan holds today. The need of the hour is to see the vested interests aside and serve the country as it is meant to be served. The people of the country have almost lost any hope in ongoing politics. However, the same old faces can turn the table this time in the nation’s favour if they all are ready to work together with the rest of the stakeholders for the betterment and prosperity of the country. After all, it›s never too late to mend!

Trying Times

In January last week, the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla’s temple at the site of the erstwhile Babri Masjid in Ayodhya opened up another bleak chapter in the history of India, a Hindu-majority land housing over 205 million Muslims. Since the rise of Narendra Modi, a staunch RSS activist, India has been going through a slew of appalling transformations in its entire sociocultural fabric. The spectre of majoritarianism is further raising its abominable head in terms of enforcing its faulty stance across the land that too at the cost of pushing down the Muslim interest as well as driving them up the wall with no end in sight. The recent era can frankly be referred to as the trying times for the Muslims of India, vying for a rational Muslim leadership that could save India’s largest minority from the wrath of Hindutva hooligans and scoundrels now occupying the country’s political scene.

Hat-trick of Defeats

Like the rest of the poorly performing areas of national significance, the national sports scene in Pakistan has been left with nothing to celebrate. For instance, the Pakistan men›s hockey team has recently crashed out of the Olympic race for the third time in a row. However, the hat-trick of defeats that too in national sports has not grabbed much media attention since the cricket-crazy nation is mostly obsessed these days over the second marriage of former Test cricketer Shoaib Malik with actress Sana Javed. Much to the chagrin, despite yet another debacle of Pakistan hockey, the likes of Sania Mirza, Shoaib Malik, Sana Javed, Shah Rukh Khan, and the rest still eat up the news airtime. Doesn›t it sound strange?