Dharna: A fly-on-the-wall history
It all started in 1857 …
Then entered the 20th century …
Things settled down a bit after Pakistan’s creation in 1947 – even though local media was a bit late to realise Pakistan’s creation because it was still busy discussing the dharnas …
Then in 1958, umpire (Ayub Khan) nein ungli utha di …
But after some time, many folks became angry with the umpire …
… And dharna was back!
Then another umpire (Yahya Khan) nein ungli utha di …
But soon he himself was shown the ungli …
Society was polarised …
Dharna returned …
Then another umpire (Zia-ul-Haq) nein ungli utha di …
The nature of social and political discourse changed …
But there was no dharna …
Because life was groovy …
After the umpire’s tenure ended, his legacy of milk and honey remained …
But some people did not appreciate this great legacy …
Perturbed by some terrible batting, new umpire (Parvez Musharraf) nein ungli utha di …
Society, however, continued to polarise and divide …
So much so, that the umpire gave himself out …
But at least keepers of the legacy of milk and honey were still around …
In the midst of despair, a new hero arose …
The corrupt were shaken …
And then …
Dharna!
But this time the umpire was of a different kind. No ungli was raised.
Thanksgiving rally!
Disclaimer: This article is categorised as satire.
Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com. He is also the author of two books on the social history of Pakistan, End of the Past and The Pakistan Anti-Hero.
He tweets @NadeemfParacha