NEWS OF SUBSTANCE
KP's Band Master
By: Nasser Yousaf
In our peculiar milieu, it is no startling news to be told that a chief minister had attended the assembly session only eleven out of a total of sixty times that the house was in session.
Similarly, it is no news worth telling that the chief minister under review had rarely, if ever, been seen or heard speaking in the house except on one odd occasion on a point of order. The gentleman in question might be taciturn which, with politicians outdoing each other in plain balderdash, is a virtue indeed in our own weird state of political affairs.
What in fact is a news worth sharing is that the chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan in addition to his responsibility as the provincial chief executive was also looking after the affairs of eighteen other departments. Such less fortunate departments include planning and development as well as the all important department of education. But the misfortune underlying this situation could have been more comprehensible only if we knew what it meant to be serious-minded.
Mahmood Khan comes from one of those areas of Swat that were hard hit by a wave of violent uprising less than a decade ago. He was the minister for sports, culture, youth affairs etc in the PTI's last government that completed its tenure in 2018. His election or selection as the chief minister must undoubtedly have come as shock not only to the gentleman himself but also to his kith and kin and all those living in at least fifty different time zones who might at some stage have come into contact with him.
Apparently his performance in his former capacity was so impressive (sic) that the party, or its leader, decided to bestow on him the most challenging task of heading the provincial government.
There is substantial evidence that would belie any claim of the gentleman being possessed of even ordinary faculties of wisdom.
A video recently circulated on the social media showed Mahmood Khan inaugurating a project of sorts. At the end of the brief ceremony, the gentleman was seen raising his hands in supplication and beseeching the Almighty to grant him and his subjects the power to beat India ruthlessly. In fact he besought such Divine favours in the shape of an Urdu idiom (ya Allah hamey thaqat dey k hum India ka baja bajja dain) wherein he capriciously replaced band with harmonium before he was corrected by one of his many attendants by intoning the right word in his ear.
One is quite sure that Mahmood Khan is least aware of his multifarious duties and responsibilities especially the functions related to planning, development, finance and the challenging task of reforming the education sector. In the absence of any credit worthy proof of some qualities of intellect, it is quite possible that it were his good looks that endeared this gentleman to the powers that be.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a godforsaken area which was hit by a sanguinary conflict at the turn of the millennium. The conflict is still far from over.
During a lull of sorts in the conflict, the boundaries of the province have been stretched to include within its administrative sphere of influence the former tribal agencies straddling the Durand Line with Afghanistan. This means increased responsibilities and pressure. The choice of Mahmood Khan as the chief minister at this crucial point in time is, therefore, all that bewildering, if not utterly outlandish.
By: Nasser Yousaf
In our peculiar milieu, it is no startling news to be told that a chief minister had attended the assembly session only eleven out of a total of sixty times that the house was in session.
Similarly, it is no news worth telling that the chief minister under review had rarely, if ever, been seen or heard speaking in the house except on one odd occasion on a point of order. The gentleman in question might be taciturn which, with politicians outdoing each other in plain balderdash, is a virtue indeed in our own weird state of political affairs.
What in fact is a news worth sharing is that the chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan in addition to his responsibility as the provincial chief executive was also looking after the affairs of eighteen other departments. Such less fortunate departments include planning and development as well as the all important department of education. But the misfortune underlying this situation could have been more comprehensible only if we knew what it meant to be serious-minded.
Mahmood Khan comes from one of those areas of Swat that were hard hit by a wave of violent uprising less than a decade ago. He was the minister for sports, culture, youth affairs etc in the PTI's last government that completed its tenure in 2018. His election or selection as the chief minister must undoubtedly have come as shock not only to the gentleman himself but also to his kith and kin and all those living in at least fifty different time zones who might at some stage have come into contact with him.
Apparently his performance in his former capacity was so impressive (sic) that the party, or its leader, decided to bestow on him the most challenging task of heading the provincial government.
There is substantial evidence that would belie any claim of the gentleman being possessed of even ordinary faculties of wisdom.
A video recently circulated on the social media showed Mahmood Khan inaugurating a project of sorts. At the end of the brief ceremony, the gentleman was seen raising his hands in supplication and beseeching the Almighty to grant him and his subjects the power to beat India ruthlessly. In fact he besought such Divine favours in the shape of an Urdu idiom (ya Allah hamey thaqat dey k hum India ka baja bajja dain) wherein he capriciously replaced band with harmonium before he was corrected by one of his many attendants by intoning the right word in his ear.
One is quite sure that Mahmood Khan is least aware of his multifarious duties and responsibilities especially the functions related to planning, development, finance and the challenging task of reforming the education sector. In the absence of any credit worthy proof of some qualities of intellect, it is quite possible that it were his good looks that endeared this gentleman to the powers that be.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a godforsaken area which was hit by a sanguinary conflict at the turn of the millennium. The conflict is still far from over.
During a lull of sorts in the conflict, the boundaries of the province have been stretched to include within its administrative sphere of influence the former tribal agencies straddling the Durand Line with Afghanistan. This means increased responsibilities and pressure. The choice of Mahmood Khan as the chief minister at this crucial point in time is, therefore, all that bewildering, if not utterly outlandish.
posted by Nasser Yousaf @ 04:43
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