Death of a mantra?

Aesop was a slave who lived in ancient Greece. He possessed an almost supernatural earthy wisdom which made him come out with musings that became famed as Aesop's fables. Although the word, fable, commonly implies a deceiving tale, or story, Aesop's fables are beyond such inference.
Pakistan is blessed with not one but an army of latter day 'Aesops' -- its politicians. What they say, however, contains none of Aesop's pithy truths, and the promises they make are no more than fables, in their truest sense. However, the mantras and chants they concoct can set millions of deprived and exploited peoples' feet dancing like no Aesop's fable did.
The mother of all such mantras is undoubtedly 'roti kapra aur makan' (food, clothing and shelter). It is unlikely, though, the concoctors of the mantra can get a copyright on it. The mantra - 'roti kapra aur makan'- was first devised and used in late 1960s by Indira Gandhi ahead of the 1967 general elections in India, which she won. The mantra caught the fancy of Bollywood, and work started on the movie 'Roti Kapra aur Makan' which was released in 1974, starring Manoj Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Zeenat Amaan. The movie was a blockbuster and a giant leap for Amitabh Bachchan in his career in films.
Enter Z. A. Bhutto in 1970, with PPP's 'roti kapra aur makan' mantra. Sure enough, the mantra worked as it had for Indira Gandhi, for the movie, and for Amitabh Bachchan. All three, Indira, Bachchan, Bhutto, reached the pinnacles of their respective callings riding on the mantra. So did indeed their progenies, until tragedy struck Indira and ZAB households. While the Indira, or the Nehru, mantle fell on Indira's 'bahu' or daughter-in-law, ZAB's son-in-law, after his wife's assassination, wielded the mantra with precision to catapult himself to uncharted heights. He first got a toehold on the Bhutto name, followed by a foothold, then a handhold and, finally, the great heave that perched him where he sought to be.
The Pakistan 'khappay' (endure) mantra immediately following the murder of Benazir Bhutto, was beautifully timed. It was like adrenalin going straight to the nation's heart exactly when the need for it was critical. However, revelation began to dawn why would anyone, who has extracted so much from Pakistan, with unlimited potential to extract more, and irrefutable immunity to go with it, want anything but Pakistan to 'khappay'?
For the millions who have not stopped dancing to the chant for over forty years, the 'roti, kapra aur makan' mantra has remained just that, a mantra. To the leaders, however, it began delivering from its first incantation, and never more abundantly than in the five years of 'damaad's' rule. 'Roti', which was never an issue for leaders, turned into an indulgence for them. 'Roti' received an unprecedented upgrade when a few crores were spent on re-equipping the Presidential kitchen, to turn out even more succulent rotis to gratify the well indulged guests of 'damaad'.
The millions dancing for last forty years to the mantra of 'roti, kapra aur makan' are barely able to cover their bodies. However, such is the turnout of party leaders that a photograph of any group of them at a meeting, or at a party, would easily make the pages of any fashion magazine anywhere. The penchant for 'kapra' and turnout caused one undistinguished, but nattily togged prime minster, to fly in make-up girls from Harrods in London, to do the make-up of his daughter at her wedding. If the leaders had spent half the money, and time, on cultivating their minds as they did in cultivating their 'kapra,' or dress sense, the party, and the country, would not be in as big a mess.
For the dancing millions 'makan' is no nearer than when the mantra set their feet dancing more than four decades ago. For the leaders, it's a 'makan' here, a 'makan' there, a 'makan' everywhere. It would be a rare politician, bureaucrat or general, who does not have a fully functional residence overseas all ready to move in, in event of hasty, unscheduled departure from country. From a Pounds140 million residence at No 1 Knightsbridge in London to less extravagant residences, they are all primed and ready to receive their owners at shortest notice.
The property market in London in certain areas remained buoyant, even when there was an overall slump in London property market largely due to the demand from Pakistan. One such particularly pronounced buoyancy occurred immediately following the agreements for rental power during a former prime minister's tenure as minister for power. While reportedly the minister procured a residence for over four million pounds, there were several houses and flats sold by estate agents to clients from Pakistan, under well disguised indentures, in proximate areas within a short period.
If the mindless dancing is to stop and people made immune to the snake oil massage by politicians, the mantras and chants have to be taken with as much salt as they are devoid of substance. Zardari's party which the PPP has become, got the first taste of it in the last elections, when from the one and only national party, it was reduced to a crumbly rural, regional party. Not bad going by the 'damaad,' and his henchmen, to reduce the once grand edifice to its present wasted state.
Another fable created around the time the religious parties were desperately striving to gain political relevance in 1977 was 'Pakistan ka matlab kia........'. Muslims in Pakistan are devoted to Islam, not to extremism in its name. The fable failed to serve its originators' purpose, far from gaining political relevance the originators' of the fable were marginalized as never before in the May, 2013 elections.
Education has received short shrift in the mantras concocted by political parties. The reason is not hard to perceive if one, now and then, watches Pakistani politicians mouthing inanities on TV. Try as one would, it is hard to identify a face in any group of politicians, which appears like belonging to someone who may have read a book.