“So misinformation will be punishable…” “Just one question: what constitutes misinformation?” “Misinformation is fake news, I guess.”
“OK so if I say that there is…oh I don’t know…that the economy is not in good shape is that misinformation?”
“Well if the Finance Minister says that it is in poor shape then it’s not misinformation, but if he says it is in good shape, and you say differently, then my advice to you would be shut up and don’t spread hopelessness…”
“But what if my objective is to bring it home to the government that the policies need a revision and…”
“Which is precisely why there is a need for a charter of the economy.”
“That would mean one party rule, wouldn’t it! I mean in a democracy, different parties present a different set of economic policies to their constituents to select…”
“Welcome to Pakistan – the Land of the Pure, where administrations may come and go, but the stakeholders ensure that…”
“Oh shut up. Anyway, one more question: is misinformation applicable only to news reports or does it extend to opinions which may be backed by empirical studies and…”
“Well let me refer to what I said earlier – if the opinion is at variance with the opinion of a sitting federal minister then…”
“Oh right, one observation. I would request Notification Maryam Nawaz (NMN) to take note of M&M.”
“M&M in America is a chocolate brand and I recall an advertisement which goes like this, M&M melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”
“Well, what I am about to tell you means M&M is melting in the hands. I heard on a private channel a Sindh Minister expressing extreme reservations at a decision to extract six canals from the Indus River, while a federal minister whose initials are M&M said he represents the federal government not Punjab and the topic under discussion was ….”
“But…”
“Wait, I haven’t reached the relevant portion yet. The Sindh minister displayed the photographs of Zardari sahib and Bilawal on the wall behind him, while M&M had a bare wall behind him….”
“Oh mercy!”
“Precisely, and I would urge NMN to take him to task.”
“Remember Miftah Ismail’s ji on X (formerly known as Twitter) to her rather economically uninformed suggestion…..”
“Hamm those were the days.”
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