The Marvi Memon I once knew....

By Zarlasht Altaf:

The Marvi Memon I once knew

I was inspired by Marvi Memon as she roamed hundreds of villages fighting for the rights of the people and never spared an opportunity to protest on the streets about various issues. I began communicating with her on twitter and became part of her ‘shadow cabinet’ which was her initiative of getting volunteers to post solutions to problems. I started writing a 5000 word report on defence and terrorism for her and discussed issues over the phone. I did all of this because I saw her as a genuine hope that could help bring change in desperate times when Pakistanis are suffering

in almost every way.

However all of this has now changed since Marvi Memon has now joined the PMLN. People often put political differences aside and continue engaging with each other to achieve their objectives. But how can I? Marvi Memon lied to me that she would not be joining PMLN and also many times to other people on twitter.

The Marvi Memon that I once knew spoke about new politics and was totally against the ‘tried, tested and failed’ political mafias that have brought the country to the brink of destruction. Her idea of new politics appealed to me as it envisaged honest, clean and capable leadership that Pakistan severely lacks. She adamantly spoke about the need of people with integrity from all parties to get together under one platform and specifically endorsed the likes of Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Javed Hashmi. By joining PMLN she has deviated from her stance by becoming a part of an old dynastic party that hasn’t shown any signs of ‘new politics’.

Almost everybody in the country is not happy with the current status and wants to see change; I admired Marvi Memon as she was a symbol of change. Recently she began talking about ‘real change’ dismissing PTI’s promise of change as false hope. ‘Real change’ according to her meant no old politicians should be allowed to join and should work its way up through grass-root politics. Marvi Memons ‘karavan-e-haq’ was a grass-root movement for real change which I whole heartedly supported. Unfortunately Marvi gave up with her movement as stated by her tweet which said that she had tried for eight months but saw no result and needed a bigger platform. Now she has joined the PMLN which is taking in opportunist politicians which Marvi criticised the PTI for. Where did the ‘real change’ go Marvi? Also aren’t you an old politician that shouldn’t be allowed to join any other party?

On a TV show Marvi Memon was debating with PTI’s Imran Ismael and he revealed that Marvi had asked for the 2nd highest position within PTI as a condition to join. Marvi remained silent when this was said which showed it was true. The old Marvi was against power politics but now it seems that too has changed. Marvi says she has since joined PMLN as an ordinary ‘karkun’(worker) which I find hard to believe.

Marvi Memon was about policies and solutions. She was finding solutions to the countless problems and was getting the youth involved in researching and presenting policy papers which I (now regretfully) took part in. I fail to understand what she found so great about PMLN’s policies. This Punjab government run by PMLN has failure to deliver. Marvi criticised PTI for apparently having no real plan but what does she see from the visionary PMLN? Does she admire the yellow taxi scheme for graduates? The 12 billion rupees spent on dishing out dell laptops? Sorry Marvi you fail here again, Nawaz Sharif hasn’t been the solution with five terms in provincial and two terms in federal government and I don’t expect anything in the future.

Marvi left the rich, corrupt and powerful PMLQ and struggled for her maroora (people) through her movement karavan-e-haq which was about giving the rights and justice to the poor villagers who are oppressed by the rich and powerful. Marvi how are you going to return to these poor villagers you promised to free from the feudal only to join the more rich and powerfuller PMLN. What was the point of leaving PMLQ then? Did you think of jumping off a sinking ship and wrongfully thought PMLN will come to power?

By Joining PMLN Marvi Memon has compromised all her values that she once stood for which made her a great person. She has poured water over all her struggles and protests. She has broken the hearts and lost the credibility and respect from the youth like myself that saw her as a symbol of change.

The Marvi Memon I once knew was my inspiration and hope for a better tomorrow, now she is a part of the status-quo that she once valiantly fought.

Follow the writer on twitter @PTIrevolution