Fun-n-food rallies

The very people of Pakistan that the political parties never tire of describing as 'ultimate sovereigns' are being increasingly projected as an impatient, uncontrollable mob - much of it courtesy the food handouts at public rallies. Not that it is an entirely new development; there have been media images of people lunging at the food stalls or indulging in fist-fighting over food packets dropped over the marooned in flood-affected areas or when food arrives by road at flood-relief camps. That is understandable given the fact that the affected had gone without food for days having lost their homes and hearths to flash floods or some other natural calamity. But the kind of bedlam at public meetings over the food handouts - like the one witnessed at a Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally near Lahore the other day - is absolutely disgusting and very disturbing.
After the party stalwarts had left the venue after unfolding a golden future for the people of Pakistan a truckload of food appeared on the scene, only to be viciously attacked by a mob. With organisers fighting back the surging crowd with hard sticks and food packets being torn apart by the contending humans, the scene had perfect resemblance of contending vultures over a carcass. Of course, the PTI has had more of such fun and food frolics and the other political parties too have been hosting such festivals and loot-handouts. One may fail to recall what high-sounding promises are made at these rallies but the images that linger on in minds are invariably of life-and-death contention among contestants for the food handouts. This is not what we the Pakistanis deserve in general but these unsavoury depictions retake a permanent residence in mind.
The question is why food is distributed at the public rallies, which was never a practice in the past. Till quite recently the political parties would hold much bigger public meetings where people would come to hear what the leaders have to say. Dinners and tea-parties were never the bait; the people would be drawn to the rallies by magnetism or charisma of speakers. That, perhaps, is no more the case, or at least it doesn't seem to be the case, for the good food promised in return for attendance appears to be the main attraction. Does it mean the parties haven't much to offer in terms of their approaches and solutions to myriad problems that have made life of the common man so unlivable? May well be so. But consider the huge damage to the image of an average Pakistani as a consequence of his negative portrayal. And if he is being correctly depicted then it is a very serious development. Accepted, hunger stalks many a back street or slum and near-starvation conditions obtain in the backyard and arid pockets of Pakistan. There's also no denying the fact that dignity disappears when your children are starving. Then there is this curse of unchecked price hikes and high inflation - hordes of beggars swarming busy crossroads in cities may just be an incriminating evidence of growing incidence of poverty in the country.
But the kind of disorder witnessed at the 'food festivals' hosted by political leaders is certainly of a different genre. Here the looters are not the famine-stricken decimated men and women with bellies stuck to the backs; most of them conduct themselves as rowdy, unruly pleasure-seekers who come to the party for fun and food. Even if the country's politics is awash with unearned wealth and the parties can afford to throw huge dinners to win the hearts and minds of the potential voters the practice is patently obscene and vulgar and must be discouraged by all means. They tend to cast the leadership in the role of agents for corruption bereft of ethical and moral values expected of them. They seem to be using hard cash to win favours. Even more frustrating is that these fun and food parties earn an average Pakistani a negative image - which is already quite bruised given rampant violence, sectarian strife and ethnic tensions.