Just take the example of Kim Jon-un. He is almost Bilawal’s age and much younger than Rahul. Today, he is the undisputed King Kong in North Korea because his dad allowed him an on-time political launch (though the rocket couldn’t). And he doesn’t even have to bother with a screwy Barkha Dutt or Meher Bokhari
About a fortnight back, Bilawal Zardari and Rahul Gandhi re-discovered each other, though not much to the world’s surprise. There are old family links, a political dynasty with a bloody past and political careers (that are not taking off) in common. The boys are also very young, spent their time studying abroad, and lost a parent to murder.
The parties they come from are also very similar. Both the PPP and the Congress are socialist, like to give popular statements about the poor (without doing much), like to sound secular and pro-minorities because they want their votes (though can’t do much for them either) and ruin everything economic.
During this tenure, the Congress has encountered huge corruption scandals (2g Cell phone Spectrum Auction, Delhi Commonwealth Games, Coal India Allocation) and so does the PPP (Rental Power, Steel Mills, Railways, PIA) and the list goes on. In fact a few days back when the Indian military marched towards Delhi, the Indian National Congress got the scare PPP is familiar with, for many decades now.
All this new bonding reminded everyone of the dynastic streak in the politics of South Asia. There is very little that matters other than one’s family name. Of course the Harvard-Oxford links impress everyone, help build connections, and polish an English accent. But the real power is in the name.
Bilawal, must have discussed how Maryam Nawaz re-vamped her public image. But the biggest inspiration to both must have been Ali Moosa Gillani - who is around Bilawal’s age or younger - and has a personal asset of billions in Ephedrine case and is so far not scared of the Supreme Court (a real man, you see!) Hopefully, Bilawal didn’t seek much “girl” advice from Rahul because, from what I heard, the latter isn’t much interested in them.
The two heirs to the Thrones are actually not doing very well. Firstly many Indo-Pak kids now speak good English, are qualified and ambitious. Public opinion is like the wind. No one will be shocked if a commoner takes over the reins in an Obama-like fashion. Secondly, mommy-papa’s political baggage weighs the boys down. Frankly speaking, the elders have not been half as “responsible” as they pretend to be at the dinner table. Or at least they couldn’t manage the party and ministry like they controlled the household.
The boys need to escape from this faulty and over-shadowing parentage. They need a political and social make-over, spend more time on their own lands than abroad, and cash upon their biggest asset: their youth. However, no matter how deep this friendship gets, the Congress has never taken any big steps for peace with Pakistan, in fact in both 1965 and 1971 wars, Babri Mosque and Siachen happened when Congress was in power.
Perhaps the new friends should go on a political picnic to France, in the same chateau Bilawal visited last summer when the floods broke out. Maybe they can take Bakhtawar and Asifa too, though Priyanka Didi might be too busy with her kids to join them. No harm in asking her anyways.
The best would be to send the parents away to Hawaii and get into the front seat of the party. A genuinely loving political parent would have already made the sacrifice. Just take the example of Kim Jon-un from North Korea. He is almost Bilawal’s age and much younger than Rahul. Today, he is the undisputed King Kong in North Korea because his dad allowed him an on-time political launch (though the rocket couldn’t). And he doesn’t even have to bother with a screwy Barkha Dutt or Meher Bokhari, BJP or N-League. The national TV goes on for six hours and airs national anthems and military parades. You see, Kim likes it clean.
He isn’t some petty premier who needs to kick out the judges or appear in front of them in a court case. He is the “Supreme Leader” of North Korea and wastes no time on political pretzels.
Maryam Nawaz learnt from you guys and dived knee-deep in politics with a new make-over and PR team. The make-up might be too girly for you but her twitter manager is quite astute and has good English skills.
For the moment Bilawal’s tweets like:
“Would much rather invest in business so we can trade with each other. Not on weapons 4 us to fight each other” and “Nuclear weapons that we could use to destroy each other multiple times over. Surely just once would b 1 time too many” are acceptable but in office, he will have to revise his IR book’s chapters on nuclear deterrence and budget allocation. And of course get a briefing from Mubashar Luqman on why the bombs are important. But once he becomes the PM, Bilawal will need a twitter advisor in his cabinet, too. He could have taken Fatima Bhutto’s advice on it, who is 73k followers strong on twitter, but apparently she isn’t in the guidance mood.
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Ammara Ahmad is one of the editors of Viewpoint, she tweets at @AmmaraTiger |
