Halloweenistan: How Our Favorite Ministers Dressed Up
Halloween arrived with Karachi under a literal flood and the rest of the country under the azaadi flood. One can’t complain, however, as we got a free day out of the whole ordeal. While the situation in the country may be sketchy politically, it hasn’t put a dampener on the festivities of our long-celebrated and culturally inherent festive occasion, Halloween. I am not being sarcastic or jocular about this at all, in all honesty.
The present fervor with which our elite celebrates Halloween nowadays is reminiscent of how the rich used to wear masks of propriety, law, jurisprudence, and trickle-down to trick the poor in the olden days. Our political and social elite have stepped outside their regular bodies and have embraced bold new costumes to emulate the celebrations by our political and financial Mecca, the White West. Let’s review a few costumes of our honorable cabinet.
Just as the University of Emerging Sciences was dressed and draped as the PM House, the residents themselves embraced the challenge. Our beloved PM dressed up like an onion, as Bushra Bibi very kindly provided the layers required. A passing ghost heard the PM exclaim to nobody in particular “Mein inko rulaon ga!”. Umm, Mr. PM! You do know an onion has to be cut to make people cry, right? Or are you referring to rising prices of onions, tomatoes and other groceries that the baseline poor people can’t afford anymore? If the latter’s the case, they’re definitely crying!
Our brave Federal Minister for Defence dressed up as a lion, which makes sense if you have read The Wizard of Oz. Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi dressed up as an uncle who condescendingly tells you your chosen field of study has zero scope because he knows everything about everything. Or maybe he didn’t dress up at all? Unclear. Azam Khan Swati dressed up as Error 404: Relevance not found which set the tone for the rest of the costumes. They were as Meh as the year 2019. The high point of the evening was Shehryar Afridi’s red-eyed Ultron costume, although he may have forgotten the rest of the costume. Awkwardness ensued as Fawad Chaudhry and Zartaj Gul both dressed up as “change oil” lights of a car. Neither of them could think of a more appropriate costume.
Displaying a stunning lack of imagination, the opposition dressed as zebras and absentees.