Perception versus reality

Published on: January 19, 2026 6:37 AM

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. This is a quote from the British philosopher and novelist Aldous Huxley.

The PPP since its inception has faced hostile media propaganda, spread not only by its political rivals but also the powerful elite of the country. This has continued to influence the public at large. The propaganda machinery work overtime to create a perception which entirely contradicts reality.

During Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government in the 1970s, religious bigots who portrayed him as a dictator and a ruler responsible for curbing the press, consistently tried to tarnish his image. It was with the focused spirit of a leader and an ideology-driven politician that he did not let the continuous criticism become a hindrance in his work, and continued to pay heed to the issues confronting the nation and its people. The majority of people refused to be victims of the propaganda and kept gauging their leader on the basis of his achievements. His daughter and political heir, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto carried on with the same determination to counter the negative perception of her father who was a democrat to the core and a savior of the nation. Shaheed Bhutto’s contribution towards enabling the common man to dream beyond what was ever thought possible seeped through the social fabric, as his footprints act as irrefutable evidence of the heights at which Pakistan soared during his time. That love of the great leader for this nation and its people made the leader himself invincible.

Similarly, a perception about Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was created, dictated by misogyny and led by various prejudices. These included her being portrayed as a “western educated young girl”, ignorant about eastern traditions and unfit to run the country because of her gender. The political opponents propagated that she is doing politics on her father’s name and has no vision of her own. Rendering the malicious intents futile, the public saw her as a symbol of democracy and a valiant adversary to the military dictator General Zia ul Haq. She continued to walk the footsteps of her father and bolstered Pakistan’s invincibility by giving the country missile technology. Her two tenures as prime minister are a testament to her awareness pertaining to the condition of the poor brethren of her country, as she knew she had to strive for their emancipation. She also took several measures to bring women at par with men. She got the support of democracy-loving people of Pakistan and proved herself capable of doing justice with the portfolio of a successful prime minister. Doubts were created for Shaheed Bhutto’s daughter, but Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s capabilities to lead the country and its public shone through. While some criticized her age, and others chose to hold her identity as a woman against her, she soldiered through like the true visionary that she was. For a woman in the Islamic world to become the head of the government was unprecedented, but she rose against all odds and defeated those that created the perception of her being weak and inexperienced to run the country.

Both, the father and daughter were martyred by dictatorial and terrorizing forces that had survived on feeding off of the woes of the people.

President Asif Ali Zardari was the next victim, painted as a corrupt individual by the same lobby that had attempted to create a negative perception about Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. The critics came up with a new strategy, to name-call and use terms like Mr. Ten percent as a means to undermine the legitimacy of the PPP. The opponents (political and some quarters of the establishment of the time) concocted stories which had nothing to do with the truth, or logic. The state-controlled media, which housed the maximum numbers of staunch right-wing supporters further propagated this narrative. The rumor mills ground falsehood overtime but the Pakistani Mandella proved everyone wrong by remaining steadfast with the Philosophy of the Bhuttos. Observing the resolve of President Zardari, even his opponents were compelled to admit his capabilities as an excellent politician, as he became the first civilian to occupy the presidency twice and that too with the support of people.

When the opponents failed to tarnish the image of individuals of the party, they started to tarnish the image of an entire province. Sindh became their new target. Even a small incident was magnified and exaggerated. The reality is, that the PPP is ruling Sindh for the last 17 years. This is the fourth election they have won in Sindh. Each successive election increased not only the number of votes that the PPP attained, but also the number of seats in the provincial and national assemblies. The opponents with the help of right-wing media again, kept making a mountain out of a molehill. A mad dog biting people became the hero of the media which kept churning such incidents for days. A child born to a malnourished poor mother became a tool to malign the entire Sindh region. A pothole created by torrential rain in Karachi due to climate change became the darling of the media and a way to undermine the performance of the Sindh government.

The PPP tread on, undeterred, and kept working for the people in health, education, energy, agriculture and other sectors. It was fairly recent that attempts were made to introduce another damaging narrative in the media. It revolved around the 18th Constitutional Amendment, and how the devolution of several ministries as well as the allocation of shares for provinces in the National Financial Commission award, have left the federal government with insufficient funds to run the federal government. The intention was clear, which was to reduce the provincial governments’ share in the divisible kitty. It became essential for the Sindh government to highlight its achievements since the 18th Amendment and devolution of powers to the provinces from the federal government. For this, Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari came to Islamabad and briefed the diplomatic fraternity, business community and senior journalists about the achievements of his party’s government in Sindh during the last 17 years. Through this, he conquered the false perceptions by proving that “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored”.