Elections and Pakhtun's Democratic approach

THE noteworthy aspect of the recent election goes to the credit of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who lived up to their reputation of practising their right to vote.

The overall turnout, especially of women and youngsters, show their understanding of the spirit of democracy. However, elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were not duly covered by the international and national media.

Also, the Pukhtuns’ democratic and progressive approach was neither projected in the media.

It was crucial to use this occasion to project the tarnished image of the Pukhtun, but sadly the entire coverage of polls focused more on the PML-N victory in Punjab, as well as on rigging in a number Karachi’s constituencies.

These news reports were significant but so was the fact that the youngest emerging political party in Pakistan will be forming a government in a terror-stricken province like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

For almost 10 years the people of KP had been labelled pro-Taliban, though they remained deprived of social and civic rights at the hands of militants.

The recent elections were an eye-opener. It showed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa people have a deeper understanding of democracy than others in the country.

The media should have highlighted the positive aspects of Pukhtun society and its impact on mainstream politics. They elected progressive representatives to lead them, voting out fundamentalism and self-proclaimed liberals.

The media should have also projected these optimistic traits of our people.

Also, the social media seems to be buzzing with sarcastic comments over the mandate of the people of KP, stating that they are clueless and experimenting with their future by electing new parties in every election.

To tell the truth, the KP people elect leaders who promise to deliver. If they are unable to do so, there is no reason why they should be re-elected.

Here is an evidence from the political record of the past two decades in KP: they voted for the PPP in 1993, then in 1997 they voted for the PML-N, in 2002 they chose the MMA, in 2007 the ANP and now in 2013 they chose the PTI.

Pukhtuns do not believe in blindly following the conventional politics, nor do they believe in feudal-infused political system. They believe in the true essence of democracy.