PAKISTAN is the only faux-democracy that holds general elections yet learns nothing from each experience.

Many remember the general elections of December 1970 — the first (and some say only) free and fair elections in our history. The electoral mood then bordered on the euphoric. President Ayub Khan’s ham-fisted experiments with Basic Democracy had been relegated to oblivion. His renegade ex-foreign minister, Z.A. Bhutto, had launched his PPP. He crisscrossed the country, mustering support for his home brand of social democracy.

At the time, I happened to be in Gambat, in the interior of Sindh, managing our family textile mill. Political loyalty in that area was sharply divided between the feudal Pir Pagaro and the progressive Mr Bhutto.

Both sought to call on me to raise election contributions. My family was divided: the eldest brother followed Pagaro, another Bhutto. I was told to receive Pir sahib. During our discussions, Pir sahib predicted victory for his group.

‘They are all the same in the fact that they will never be the same.’

After the results came in, I called on Pir sahib at Pir jo Goth to congratulate him on the victory of his candidate (his brother Sain Nadir Shah) over his PPP........

© Dawn