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.