Written By: Omair Alavi

The Pakistani government and its officials seem to have no pastime at all – they don’t do anything constructive for the people nor are they interested in anything else other than winning the elections. We all know that the officials have all the time in the world for doing nothing, and that might be one of the reasons why they banned Twitter for a day last week – just to check the reaction of the public. But why such an act by the government was termed as a step to stop the Tsumani, is still unclear?

The problem with the emerging political parties of the country is exactly the same as the Pakistan cricket team – they both look good on paper. The real battle field is a different ball game altogether, where the fittest survives and the one that doesn’t have it, doesn’t usually win it! We all know that Pakistan Teheek-e-Insaaf is one of the emerging parties in the country and they love blaming the government and the system for steering the country into the wrong direction. But hey, aren’t the rest of the parties doing the same thing as well – the ones in the opposition that is. Jamaat-e-Islaami, Tehreek-e-Istaqlaal and others who have never ruled the country are also criticizing the government for everything from rise in prices to load shedding and energy crisis. Therefore, it is safe to assume that Tehreek-e-Insaaf in fact joined their cause rather than doing something different!

And mind you, having supporters who use Twitter and Facebook to spread the message around is not something ‘different’. That’s what only a handful of people in the country can understand as most of the population can’t read Urdu, let alone converse in English (or Roman English!). I know people would love to hate for saying this but Twitter and Facebook are social websites for interaction, not political playground for those who look good on paper only. Out there is where the battle will be won.

Comparing Imran Khan to Mohammad Ali Jinnah is not how the voters will be convinced. If that would have been the case, Fatima Jinnah would have been the Governor General / Prime Minister of Pakistan after her brother’s death since she was the closest to him and understood his ideology. But she didn’t and that’s how things work in the real world. We all know that Imran Khan is one of the most loved person in the country right now. He has done so much for the poor population of the country and if he is given the chance, he can make things right. But whatever he has done, he did before he had die-hard supporters, before he entered mainstream politics (he became a mainstream politician a handful of years back) and before he had followers with blackberries and social website accounts!

Mind you, had Twitter and Facebook been there in 1947, I am sure no person would have died, and no country would have been created because then only the elites would have had access to it, and they would have used it to show off, rather than go for a country for the Muslims of the United India. Therefore, my advice to those who believe that banning Twitter is like banning their political party: Get a life! Change might be there in the air, but one has to go for it, rather than post tweets and status updates for change. The easiest route to criticism is blaming those responsible; fixing the problem is the best way to succeed!