As Pakistan enters its 75th year of independence, maybe it is time the country stopped banning people, ideas, books, films, organizations, etc. That may help us move forward, instead of being in a perpetual cycle of political and social instability bordering on an economic default or a military coup.
As former editor of Dawn, Abbas Nasir, recently wrote, there is a need to curb the rising judicial institutional overreach from banning politicians to television channels. Nasir notes, maybe it is time for the judiciary to reverse “the historical wrong delivered under its own hand to disqualify an elected prime minister.”
As Nasir notes, “you can block popular politicians from running for office but can you also prise their popularity from their support base? The answer has to be a resounding no. The following Nawaz Sharif continues to command despite his ‘technical knockout’ is a case in point.”
At the end of the day, the option to choose a political leader or to change a television channel should rest with the voter or the viewer, not with the judiciary of the country.
