THE Constitution is said to be a sacred document of any state and it has a great significance in the formation of the political system in a country. The Constitution of 1973 asserts that all citizens of Pakistan are equal. It elaborates that legislatures are not superior to the common man of the country.

The constitution and all its articles, which bound rulers to serve the nation, seemed meaningless two days back when opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah came to Daara Wahan village somewhere in the suburbs of Khairpur Mir’s.

The royal event for such an elite guest was managed by local activists of the Pakistan People’s Party, which believes in democracy. The strange rituals of democracy and serving the nation were witnessed when this programme was managed. On his arrival, the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) suspended power of more than 100 villages around the area for 22 hours. When the people contacted the Sepco administration to know about the reasons of power outage, it was very astonishing to learn from the Sepco crew that the power was suspended to facilitate Mr Shah’s gathering.

Being Pakistani, may I ask Mr Shah what sort of democracy he practises? According to his party’s top brass, they are struggling for the rights of the poor.

I request Water and Power Minister Abid Sher Ali and other authorities concerned to look into the matter.

Salar Lateef

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2015

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