Disclaimer*: The articles shared under 'Your Voice' section are sent to us by contributors and we neither confirm nor deny the authenticity of any facts stated below. Parhlo News will not be liable for any false, inaccurate, inappropriate or incomplete information presented on the website. Read our disclaimer.
This post is also available in: العربية (Arabic) اردو (Urdu)
Is politics an old man game? The question is itself older than Pakistan. Pakistan, a country with a population of roughly 220 million, according to 2017 census. 37.54% of this 220 million consists of people aging between 25-54 years according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics; which makes average life expectancy about 68 years in total.
On the other hand, most of our politicians are older than 65 years. Talking about ruling party of Pakistan; Pakistan Muslim League N has a history of relying on old politicians; such as President of Pakistan Muslim League N Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (68 years), Chairman Raja Zafar Ul Haq (82 years), Secretary General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra (70 years) are few to be named. This situation is not only to be seen in PMLN but every other major political party. Such as:
1) Imran Khan (PTI) aged 65 years
2) Asif Ali Zardari (PPP) aged 62 years
3) Altaf Hussain (MQM London) aged 64 years
4) Shahbaz Sharif (PMLN) aged 66 years
5) Shujaat Hussain (PML-Q) aged 72 years
But have things always been this way? In the past, Justice (R) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso served as Interim Prime minister of Pakistan at a whopping age of 84 years. Talking about the present, things haven’t changed much. Maryam Nawaz Sharif comes to every other mind when talking about “young politicians” but she is already 44 years old and yet to hold a public office; not so young after all.
So why do we always see youth “off the stage”. They can be seen raising slogans or in motorbike rallies but they are nowhere to be seen as competing for general elections. One of the much possible reason is “lack of trust”. Many of us will choose old and experienced leadership when it comes to running a country; labeling youth as too unprofessional or warm-blooded in terms of handling a public office.
So does the Pakistani youth take interest in politics? The answer is yes it does. Student union/student organizations have taken local politics by storm in last 20 years. Some of the student unions being older than the partition of Pakistan. Muslim Student Federation formed in 1937 and Jamiat e Tulaba (1947) is the oldest. Many other include Baloch Student Federation (Student wing of Baloch National Party), Insaf Student Federation (Student wing of Pakistan Tehkreek e Insaf) and Peoples Student Federation (Student Wing of Pakistan Peoples Party).
Many famous politicians came into power by the help of student politics like Javed Hashmi and Liaqat Baloch who both served as President of Punjab Universty Student’s Union, Altaf Hussain who was the founder of All Pakistan Muttahida Student’s Organization and Ahsan Iqbal who served as President of Engineering University Student’s Union.
This being said, Pakistani youth clearly has potential and capability to take Pakistani politics in their hand but are in dire need of guidance.
