HOW much should we know about Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s health? As a public official, should her health be up for the media’s scrutiny? The media dictates so; the understanding is that politicians all over the world lose their right to privacy once they step into public office. Their health becomes an important story, especially if it threatens to impact their job.
But the Sharif family’s health has received more scrutiny than others; from the brother’s cosmetic surgeries to the most despicable manner in which Kulsoom Nawaz’s illness was mocked as ‘drama’ on TV. So-called journalists said she was at a London clinic getting Botox when she was being treated for cancer in 2017. Someone also tried to break into her hospital room. Maryam Nawaz is routinely mocked for plastic surgery in the rudest of manners by the rudest of them all, Ali Amin Gandapur. Misogyny may as well be declared a national pastime. Notice how they use ‘naani’ as a pejorative for her. Women are wishing for Maryam to disappear, proving the feminist writer bell hooks (who uses lowercase letters to write her name) was right when she said “patriarchy has no gender”.
People in power have a duty to be transparent about their health, and the media has to report to the public if leaders are not being truthful.
A part of the reason there was so much media attention on Joe Biden’s visible cognitive decline was because it impacted his performance. I think people will look back at this time and ask why he was allowed to continue. There are plenty of leaders who hid their illnesses and I understand that they did so because they did not want to be seen as weak. History shows how leaders’ poor health led to poor decision-making. And when they told the truth, like Norway’s prime minister Kjell Bondevik did when he admitted to having depression and taking a month off work, it was greatly respected. And helped fight stigma about depression.
Maryam Nawaz is under scrutiny for a few reasons, some of which are due to misogyny, her unpopularity and, I’m sorry to say, her high-end designer wear. Initially I thought it was petty, but when I saw her draped in fur in London, I imitated the slap-on-forehead emoji we all use. To be clear, I am not policing her clothing choices. I’m questioning the messaging it sends at a time when thousands are sick in Punjab due to the smog.
She has every right to seek medical treatment wherever she likes, especially when her mother was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017. Much like Imran Khan wants to be examined by his doctors, she too wants treatment from her doctors. This system is so flawed that people across the political divide do not trust hospitals because everyone fears being poisoned. The irony is that every party has played a role in creating this poisonous environment.
The Sharif family’s health has received more scrutiny than others.
But I digress. Ms Nawaz’s health does not explain why senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb travelled with her at this critical juncture. Or why the chief minister flew on a special air force plane, as reported in the media. This fuels the perception that the party doesn’t take its responsibilities seriously. While she was in Geneva, Punjab’s Minister of Information Azma Bukhari posted pictures from her umrah trip on Instagram. There are news reports the provincial chief secretary is away too.
Who is running Punjab?
This is a valid question. Instead, a lot of the media and YouTube-verse has focused on inane issues like Marriyum Aurangzeb carrying Maryam Nawaz’s purse in Geneva or calculating the cost of the fur the chief minister wore. Then there was the reporting on the father and daughter meeting abusive attacks in London. As a side note, abusing opponents should be declared a national sport. We know which team will always win.
Surely, we can do better journalism. That means asking tough questions about Maryam’s plans to tackle the smog crisis, beyond the sloganeering we’ve seen so far. We should be spared the breakdown of the elder Sharif’s platelet count that dominated the airwaves a few years ago. If her health is an impediment to doing her job, someone else must be deputed to do it. Report, do not speculate, do not sensationalise.
At the time of writing, Ms Aurangzeb had returned and announced that the smog in Punjab had “now” turned into a health crisis. The media should “now” go into overdrive and report on the actions being taken to fix this problem. This includes reporting on what is causing the toxic pollutants and what the responsible parties are doing to mitigate the crisis.
In this age of connectivity, you can’t fool people for political gain. There is a serious trust deficit between political leaders and the public and only transparency can mend it.
The writer is a journalism instructor.
X: @LedeingLady
Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2024
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.