In his address to the sixth convocation of Namal College he founded single-handedly, Prime Minister Imran Khan touched on a wide range of his pet subjects, devoting a considerable part of it to his party's ongoing campaign against corruption. His government, he averred, was laying the foundation of a true democratic system in which every ruler would be held accountable, and no one would have the opportunity to fritter away public money. Obviously irked by PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif for referring to him -like the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari before - as 'selected' prime minister, he took potshots at them talking about their leaders' past connections with military dictators. He went on to mock the former for alleged misuse of authority to enhance personal wealth, and hurled a taunt at the latter saying "a father and his son are carrying papers" to claim that they had inherited the party.
There is nothing new or surprising about insult politics in this country. But it only causes unnecessary controversies, taking attention away from myriad issues of governance that call for urgent attention. All sides need to show respect to democratic norms, though, those in government bear the main responsibility for not taking things to a level where they can be politically dangerous. The ruling party ought to listen to those who disagree with it, and take criticism, especially from the media, in its stride. In fact, while in opposition, Imran Khan always came out in defence of media freedom. Having spent much of his adult life in Britain, he often described - still does - the virtues of its democratic system, of which media freedom is a core value. In his Namal speech, too, he said the West had progressed due to continuity of its democratic system. In most Western countries politicians are routinely criticized and lampooned without any fear of retaliatory measures. Yet now that he is in power, Imran seems to have little patience for the same. His government is trying to control the media by bringing in a new law even after all the media representative bodies roundly rejected it.
It is sad, indeed, that a democratically-elected government should want to put restrictions on freedoms that journalists in this country have struggled long and hard to win. The news media are an integral part of any democratic system, framing issues and holding rulers to account for their acts of omission and commission. A smooth running of the system, amid the din and noise of critics, is in this government's own interest. It needs to foster tolerance for adverse opinion whether it comes from the opposition or the media.