By Hina Haroon
We are familiar with the term peer pressure and its impact on adolescents and youth. Youngsters are influenced by their peers to do things and opt for ways that they, in their individualist mind, would never think to do, such as engaging in substance abuse or petty crime.
PTI is a hybrid group of makeshift politicians for a specific purpose, which they of course fail to fulfill and are then discarded. PTI has no vision, game plan, or long-term goals
Ironically, I am experiencing a different kind of peer pressure, a pressurized withdrawal from my basic right to political association and affiliation. It has been extensively researched on the PTI’s mechanism of public shaming and defaming all those who do not agree with their cult ideology. If defamation does not work, PTI trollers directly attack the intellect and mental capacity of an individual to choose the right thing. This all happens on a massive scale around us, if an individual is reasonable enough to avoid the trap of the PTI cult, then PTI slanderers directly question the integrity of that individual with non-sensical arguments, forgetting that the PTI is a hybrid group of makeshift politicians for a specific purpose, which they of course fail to fulfill and are then discarded. PTI has no vision, game plan, or long-term goals. They chat about who is a culprit, who needs to be gone, who is a thief, and in exercising this, they have practically become anti-Pakistan. Therefore, they expect everyone else to become anti-state and pressurize to abuse state institutions, key state figures, and all other politicians.
They go to great lengths to coin slurs about them and do not use proper nouns. PTI has a virtual presence, and especially in virtual space if someone talks about a democratically elected government, they put psychological and emotional pressure, also known as peer pressure, while doing so they forget the fact that the 2018 election when their beloved cult leader was selected was the most rigged election in the history of Pakistan and in the aftermath, PTI formed a government with the help of opportunists available at that time and yet miserably failed to deliver.
As a matter of fact when you ask PTI followers about the performance of their party, instead of answering directly they through their famous question, are you Patwari? Do you like thieves? Meaning that they are brainwashed only if a logical discussion is practically impossible for them, now general elections are approaching and the peer pressure of not voting for the PPP and PMLN is mounting.
As the general election of 2024 is around the corner, the discussion among Pakistanis is getting hyped every single day- the questions like which party do we support? Which party are you going to vote for? Who do you think is better? Who do we want to see as the next PM of Pakistan? are becoming a tea talk in our lives as elections are near.
People have their own opinions on who is right and who is wrong. Who did what for Pakistan? who should have been better and many other arguments and statements that you may find people arguing about on different social media platforms.
However, things have changed in the past few years in Pakistan, especially after the 2013 general election, when PML-N won the general election and people who supported PTI were unhappy. According to PTI leader Imran Khan, the entire election was rigged and he demanded a re-count as he wanted fair and square results.
As PML-N supporters were celebrating the victory, the people who supported PTI were not happy and formed their opinions in support of their leader Imran Khan, which is a fair thing to do. One problematic thing was that they were not ready to listen to anyone who did not support PTI from 2013 to 2017, and till now, if you are not supporting PTI, you will be labeled as “Patwari” “Jahil” uneducated
Here, I raise the following question to everyone: Do I have the right to vote for anyone I want? Should I listen to those who label me Patwari if I disagree with them?
According to the Constitution of Pakistan, every person who is 18+ has the right to vote for any political party they want to.
I have my own political opinion. We all have our own political opinions, so if someone wants to vote for PTI, let them, and if someone wants to vote for PLM-N, let them. We all are Pakistanis. Regardless of our differences in political opinion, our shared love for our motherland unties us to desire nothing but the best for Pakistan.
Please vote for this election because you have the right and no one can take it away from you. Vote because it is important for our country and your future. Vote for whoever party you think is best for Pakistan.
Note: Having a degree in Mass Communication, Hina Haroon is a promising young journalist who focuses on the socio-political landscape of Pakistan.
