THE temptation is far too great this week. For me. To bore the readers by continuing with the theme of a recent piece where the eye spied some kaalakaala in the khichri of our politics. Little ol’ me thinks the problem continues. But it’s not the same dark shadow spotted in the past; there is a new one in another corner of the dish called Punjab.
Punjab is not just the biggest province in the country but also the most prized. The battle for Islamabad is always waged here and chances are for Lahore to be awarded to those who are the favoured ones for the centre. And it was no different this time around where N bagged the centre and Takht-i-Lahore (while PTI won both in 2018). And as the regime consolidated its hold, it was clear the government in Punjab was the most cherished.
The kind of coverage provided to Maryam Nawaz, chief minister Punjab, on mainstream media was unmatched, in comparison to her counterparts elsewhere. In fact, at times it seemed Punjab got more coverage than the prime minister himself. And the general opinion being expressed on these platforms was that she and her team were doing an excellent job of all things governance. Perhaps, there was space to say the ‘work’ might not be winning over voters but it was rare if not impossible to say that the governance was anything but superb. That was the general tone of the reporting and the commentary and the live coverage was lengthy too.
By the time Basant rolled around, the reporting and commentary became even more ‘gushing’.
Much of the Basant goodwill has been squandered by news of an unnecessary expense.
And then came the twist. The government of Punjab bought a plane — ostensibly for the use of the chief executive, for it is said to be one of those small aircraft used by corporates around the world for travel. When exactly this purchase happened is unclear for the knowledge of this became public via social media. An account on X tweeted the news recently. Not much is known about this account but people let their imagination run wild because the name/ handle can easily be associated or assumed to be associated with a certain actor in our political sphere.
Interestingly, the tweet was far from critical; in fact, it was rather positive, commending the government for its acquisition. But the impact, predictably, was the opposite. It unleashed a storm of criticism — but this time around it wasn’t just on social media, where anonymous and troll accounts can have a go at anyone, with safety. This time around, the usually generous mainstream media took umbrage at the lavish spending by the Punjab government, criticising its decision to buy an expensive executive plane at a time when the economy is not doing well, the people are suffering hardship and there is ample evidence of malnutrition and poverty.
Since then, there have been some efforts to stop the criticism and commentary but it still continues here and there. And even more intriguing is the identity of some of the ‘critics’ — the ones who are said to be close to the ‘powerful’ ones in this country and claim to not just know what they are thinking but also communicate it to the rest of us commoners. So the assumption is that their commentary, at the moment, also reflects more than just their own views.
Second, their analysis runs along very similar lines; Maryam had earned considerable goodwill from her decision to revive Basant, and now much of that has been squandered by the news of this unnecessary expense. It is a line of argument being heard again and again. Some commentary went further to communicate that there is concern in powerful quarters about the lavish events she holds to launch projects and how this expense might attract scrutiny at some vague moment in the future. Others still linked the reported purchase of the plane to the NFC and excessive spending by the provinces in these difficult times. Some of these could be personal flourishes but the consensus is that Basant has been undone by the purchase of the plane.
A further twist is the reaction of the Punjab government. Usually, it pounces on criticism with hawk-like precision. The journalist who was picked up for tweeting a clip of Maryam Nawaz’s slip of the tongue during a speech is a case in point. Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari rarely ignores any criticism, not even in tweets; this time around she made an early appearance to explain the plane was part of the new airline that the province was going to launch. But once questions were raised about this assertion, she has gone quiet as have the rest of her colleagues. This silence, too, is hard to understand. Has the assault quietened them or is it because there is realisation that this criticism is not organic? In the latter case, governments do tend to get paralysed.
And in our conspiracy-addled brains, all of this is adding up; or shall I say our brains are feverishly trying to put together jigsaw pieces?
Indeed, this is a long-winded way of saying that, some of us who are familiar with past events wonder if this newfound ‘story’ of bad decision-making by a government and the storm of criticism is yet another sign of change in the air. This is not to say the change is dramatic enough to signal the end of this set-up or that it is clear enough as to where it is headed. But something is up; some of us think we can smell it in the air.
We have been at this crossroads far too many times in the past to not recognise the signs.
The writer is a journalist.
Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2026
