A revolution in manners... By Hashim
22 February, 2013
"Politics has no relation to morals," said Niccolo Machiavelli. Whatever pandemonium, indecency and iniquity was heard and witnessed yesterday in the provincial Assembly of Sindh, and the same that was televised around the globe, is, in fact, an accurate interpretation of the above-cited old platitude and our contemporary politics in the province. It is a monstrous thing. It is not healthy for our province and country. Such things and language are not expected from our politicians because, when there is a lack of honour, respect, etiquette and manners among politicians and executives, the morals of the entire nation are poisoned/spoiled. The treasury benches are expected to be more moral than the opposition benches. Look at the menace of corruption in my home province of Sindh where a majority of the ruling party politicians have become notorious for their fiscal and administrative corruption but they still have immunity in the present setup and, hence, every young officer tries to follow in their footprints. The youth of today's Sindh has become utterly disappointed and demoralized, so much so that parents and other fundamental institutions of society such as mosques, social circles, primary schools, etc, have given up on instilling moral education among young people. That is why we have no people with clean tongues, clean manners, clean morals and clean character in politics nowadays. Being a student of law and political science, I know that there were politicians who used to have respect for each other and that they also used to have the manners needed to debate and discuss any issue in the assembly. It is on record that this high and historic Sindh Assembly building used to have men of higher morals. There was no seat for men of lower morals in the past. Let us stand up and elect men of values and morals in the upcoming polls in the country. Above all, it has become essential and necessary to impart training to our politicians, in particular the ruling elite, when it comes to ethics, etiquette and manners, values and morals, the art of speaking in public and in the august house, legislation and drafting, human rights, the environment and gender sensitization, and also in other relevant subjects at the newly established Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS), Islamabad. It is time to start a revolution in manners in our politics and other segments of Pakistani society. HASHIM ABRO
Islamabad
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