Did Pakistanis Vote for a Tiger or a Lion?

By Jehangir Khattak
This story was originally published in the voicesofny.org

Supporters of the PML-N party in New York celebrate the victory of Nawaz Sharif
at its Brooklyn office on Coney Island Avenue with a stuffed lion, although
the official party’s symbol is a tiger. The local supporters of Sharif aren’t
 the only ones mixing up felines. (Photo by Mohsin Zaheer)

When the average American sees a picture of a donkey, the Democratic Party may not spring immediately to mind. But if the donkey morphed into a zebra, and images of both animals, or even live donkeys and live zebras, started appearing at Democratic Party rallies, people might take notice and be just a little bit puzzled.

In Pakistan today, where symbols of political parties are printed on ballots to allow the 45 percent of the population that is illiterate to stamp their vote with ease, there seems to be some confusion as to whether a tiger or a lion is the symbol of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the party whose leader, Nawaz Sharif, and parliamentary candidates swept the May 11 elections. 

The ‘Lion of Pakistan’ is displayed in a party poster along 

with the party’s longtime symbol, the tiger. 

(Photo via PML-N USA website)

PML-N’s party flags are decorated with a drawing of what clearly looks like a tiger, and for years voters have associated Sharif and his party with that majestic feline prowler of the Asian jungles – never mind that the Bengal tiger hasn’t been seen outside of zoos or private “big cat” farms in Pakistan for decades. The tiger image was approved as the symbol of the party by the Election Commission of Pakistan, one of more than 170 symbols the Commission approved.

But during the recent elections, the lion suddenly roared into view as a symbol of PML-N.

The Facebook page of the party calls Sharif a “lion” – but the words run alongside the image of a tiger. The website of the party’s U.S. chapter, meanwhile, displays two different images of Sharif, one with a lion and one with a tiger. Prides of lions, it should be noted, never roamed the wilds of Pakistan.

The PML-N party managed to fan the confusion by using real tigers at some rallies and lions at other events. A rare white tiger that appeared at some PML-N rallies during the 2013 election campaign died because of prolonged heat exposure. On Friday, the Lahore High Court, the highest court in the Punjab province, issued notices to the PML-N and officials of the wildlife and environment department for public display of endangered white tigers.

Language may contribute further to the confusion. In Urdu the word for tiger is “sher” (transliterated) while the word for lion is “bubber sher. ” It’s possible that in translation, or even sometimes in common usage, the distinction may be lost. Google translate, for one, calls both tiger and lion by the same name – “sher.”

In the run-up to the May 11 vote, PML-N leader Sharif was often referred to as “the lion of the Punjab” and at times as “the lion of Pakistan.” Yet at rallies he would leap onto the stage amid chants of “Dekho dekho kon aaya, sher aaya sher aaya,” which means: “Look who is coming, the tiger is coming.”

Meanwhile, supporters of cricket star Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party – who wielded the unmistakable cricket bat as their party’s image – would chant at PTI rallies: “Dekho dekho kon aaya, sher ka shikari aaya” meaning “Look who is coming, the hunter of tiger is coming.”

Is it any wonder that The New York Times, in a May 14 story about Pakistan elections, identified the lion as PML-N’s election symbol? Or that U.S.-based supporters of PML-N held high a stuffed lion during their election victory celebration at the party’s Brooklyn office on Coney Island Avenue?

A lion watches the PML-N victory celebrations in New York. (Photo by Mohsin Zaheer)

So which big cat is it – tiger or lion? Voices of NY (VNY) decided to seek clarity from members of the Pakistani diaspora in New York.

VNY: What is the PML-N’s election symbol?

An editor of a New York Urdu language weekly:Tiger.

VNY: Can you tell the difference between a tiger and a lion?

Editor: I am not sure… Oh, I think lions have longer tails.

Aaliya Syed, a health industry professional based in Hicksville, Long Island, has another explanation for the confusion. “In Urdu a tiger is called a ‘cheetah’ and a lion a ‘sher.’”

Asked about his party’s election symbol, here is what Rohail Dar, president of the U.S. chapter of the PML-N, had to say:

VNY: What is your party symbol?

RD: It’s a lion.

VNY: Oh really? But the Election Commission of Pakistan gave your party the tiger as its symbol.

RD: Yes but there was a confusion… Our symbol may be a tiger, but in reality it’s a lion, as our leader is the strongest of all, like a lion.

Syed thinks Sharif’s looks may be the issue. “Is it because he is a courageous man or because he has a lion’s face?” she is asked. “I think that’s the way he looks.”

To the New York-based poet Khalid Irfan, considered an authority on Urdu, there’s no question that a tiger’s a tiger and a lion a lion. “PML-N supporters are yet to find their lion in a tiger,” he quips.

For Sharif and his supporters, of course, the main thing is that the big cat won – whichever one it may be. Irfan doesn’t see the confusion over the party’s symbol returning till 2018, when Pakistan is expected to elect a new parliament, and the PML-N brings growling lions and snarling tigers back to election rallies to impress voters.

Perhaps PLM-N’s rival parties, to gain some traction and add to the confusion, could adopt the leopard or the cheetah as their symbols.

Pakistan’s Historic Elections ‘Not Perfect,’ but a Start

Holding a “tiger,” their party election symbol, supporters of Pakistan’s 

prime minister-elect Nawaz Sharif celebrate PML-N’s victory at the party’s 

Brooklyn office on Coney Island Avenue. (Photo by Mohsin Zaheer)

By Jehangir Khattak
This article first appeared in Voices of NY

As Pakistan makes a historic transition to its second democratically elected government in a row, the Pakistani community in New York, mirroring the political divisions back home, is having mixed reactions to the results of the landmark May 11 parliamentary elections.

While supporters of prime minister-elect Mian Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) party celebrated their victory in Pakistani community enclaves in Queens and Brooklyn, supporters of parties that garnered fewer parliamentary seats expressed disappointment. In the wake of the elections there have been widespread allegations of vote-rigging, and voting was suspended for a week in one electoral district, or constituency, in the southern port city of Karachi.

Sharif, an industrial tycoon who was twice prime minister in the 1990s, has promised to control lawlessness, end the crippling electricity crisis and revive the sinking economy of the South Asian country.

“It’s a big relief for the people of Pakistan after historic misgovernance,” says Rohail Dar, president of U.S. chapter of the PML-N. Dar, a long-time supporter of Sharif, is hopeful that his party will restore people’s confidence in the government.

“Pakistani people have been through a lot of turmoil. God has given our party the opportunity to clean the rot,” Dar, an engineer by profession, told Voices of NY.

So far results for 267 of the 272 directly elected National Assembly seats, the lower house of Pakistan’s parliament, have been announced. The PML-N leads the tally with 126 seats. It needs 137 seats to win a simple majority. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of President Asif Ali Zardari has emerged as the second largest group with 31 seats followed by former cricket hero Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with 29 seats. Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) retained its 18 parliamentary seats.

New York-based PTI supporters who allege election fraud in the central Punjab province – home to most of the parliamentary constituencies – question Dar’s optimism. “People have multiple proofs of massive rigging in the Punjab province and urban centers of Sindh such as Karachi,” said Yasir Ali, a PTI supporter since 2009.

Pakistani social media has gone viral with amateur cellphone videos showing supporters of competing candidates stuffing ballot boxes with bogus votes in many constituencies in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

European Commission observers who monitored the polls have reported electoral fraud at 10 percent of the 69,801 polling stations across the nation. Free and Fair Election Network, an Islamabad-based non-profit that monitored over 8,119 polling stations, reported more than 100% voter turnout in 49 polling stations. In some instances, according to Pakistani media, the turnout was more than 300% of the registered votes in an electoral district.

The PTI has identified 25 National Assembly districts where it alleges rigging and is demanding a recount of votes. Many analysts call the electoral fraud reports a bad omen for Pakistani democracy.

“I think we are moving too quickly on interpreting the election results. The vote rigging scandal is just emerging and is looking dangerous,” says Arif Ansar, the founding CEO and chief analyst at Washington DC-based think tank PoliTact.  He foresees a “scary situation” if these allegations are proved.

Ali argues that leading experts on Pakistan’s politics had predicted before the elections that a high voter turnout would help Khan’s PTI. “The disappointing results despite high turnout is one more reason to believe that results were doctored,” says the 41-year-old Bronx-based businessman. Pakistan’s election commission says that despite violence, turnout was 60 percent, the highest the country has seen since the 1970 elections.

PTI’s New York-based supporters are planning a protest against election rigging in front of the Consulate General of Pakistan on May 16. Its angry supporters have been protesting in the port city of Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city and capital of the Punjab province, ever since the results were announced.

Agha Saleh, a Jackson Heights, Queens-based PPP supporter blamed vote fraud, PPP’s own poor governance record and its failure to mobilize its voter base as the reasons for its defeat. “There was a clear disconnect between PPP supporters and the current leadership,” he said. Saleh, who ran for the National Assembly in 1990 elections, believes that the party has deviated from its ideals of political and economic empowerment of Pakistanis. “It pains me to see the PPP evaporating on Pakistan’s political scene.”

ANP's Rahimullah. (Photo by Mohsin Zaheer)

Brooklyn-based supporters of secular Awami National Party (ANP), which draws its support from ethnic Pashtun population in northwestern Pakistan, blame Taliban-driven violence against their party candidates as the main reason for its trounce.  The party won only one National Assembly seat compared to the 13 it captured in the 2008 elections.  The anti-Taliban party has lost 700 of its leaders and supporters in extremist attacks in the last few years.

“We are not surprised by the election results because we were never allowed to reach out to our voter base,” says Rahimullah, the information secretary of  the U.S. chapter of the ANP who goes only by one name. The party’s supporters in New York staged a noisy protest in front of the UN headquarters on April 26 against Taliban-instigated attacks on its leaders.

Optimism About The Future

Despite all their reservations and disappointments, critics of the May 11 elections agree that it is a step toward a more transparent democracy. “Eventually the results will be positive,” agrees Ali who hopes PTI’s candidate Khan, a charismatic advocate for political change and dialogue with the Taliban to end violence, will make a comeback in 2018 elections.

Whether the new government can reach a peace deal with the Taliban or not, the Pakistani community in New York is looking forward to a more determined and unified approach from their newly elected leaders to tackle the country’s complex security and economic challenges.

In Pakistani enclaves across the city, supporters of political parties that emerged victorious in the election celebrated in traditional style.

Supporters of Muttahida Qaumi Movement celebrate their party’s victory at a restaurant 
in Jackson Heights, Queens. (Photo by Mohsin Zaheer)

A show of optimism was on display when Dar and his fellow supporters of the PML-N danced to the drumbeats of Boota Dholi, Brooklyn’s famous Pakistani drummer, at their party office on Coney Island Avenue. Same was the sentiment at a restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens, where supporters of MQM celebrated.

The Pakistani elections may or may not mitigate the challenges in the lives of its 180 million citizens, but it did bring some business to the six bakeries selling Pakistani sweets on Brooklyn’s Coney Island Avenue. Traditionally Pakistanis distribute sweets to celebrate an occasion.

Rana Kashif, manager of Gourmet Sweet on Coney Island Avenue, displays the 
extra ladoos he prepared for the elections. (Photo by Mohsin Zaheer)

“The sweet shops had made extra ladoos [a ball-shaped sweet made of flour, sugar and other ingredients] in advance to cater to the expected higher demand after the election results were announced,” said Mohsin Zaheer, editor of Brooklyn-based Urdu weekly Sada-e-Pakistan. “Coney Island Avenue’s sweet shop owners were the biggest winners of Pakistani elections in the U.S.,” quipped the veteran Pakistani journalist.

A New York-based attorney of Pakistan origin best summed up the results.

“A day to celebrate the progress of democratic process in Pakistan: The current electoral transition is certainly not perfect but at least it moved forward on its own strength and dynamics despite horrendous odds,” wrote Saleem Rizvi on his Facebook message.

“Regardless of our party affiliations, commitments, connections and activism, we must not lose our hopes to build a progressive, prosperous and pluralistic Pakistan,” Rizvi wrote and added that Pakistanis must not allow the Taliban and their partners in crime to hijack the country for their hateful ideology.