Pakistan today is facing one of the worst flood situations in recent years. Villages along the riverbanks are drowning, fertile fields are being destroyed, and the lifelong toil of farmers is washed away within moments. As always, nature’s wrath falls first and hardest on the poor,those who have neither secure shelter nor means to protect their belongings. In such moments of despair, the eyes of the people turn towards their elected representatives, the very leaders they entrusted with their votes. And it is here that the true test of leadership begins,when the people find their representatives standing among them.
Over the past three days, Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, has been seen in his constituency shoulder to shoulder with the flood-affected communities. At times, he was present in flood relief camps at Talwar Post, consoling the victims, while at other times, he was seen trudging through mud along the banks of River Sutlej, listening to the grievances of displaced families. These scenes prove that politics is not merely about seats and protocol,it is about sharing the pain of the people.
For the farmers, laborers, and women in the flood-hit villages, the sight of their representative walking into their broken homes, listening to their hardships, and arranging immediate relief, ignites a spark of hope in their hearts. Hungry children, mothers under the open sky, and elders shedding tears of helplessness,what they truly yearn for is not empty promises, but the presence of their leader standing beside them.
The example set by Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan reminds us that public service is not written in speeches but in actions. It is the kind of service that does not remain in books, but lives forever in the hearts of the people.
At a time when several parts of Punjab are engulfed by floods, the Speaker has chosen to be among the people of Kasur walking through submerged villages and muddy paths to ensure that help reaches those in need. His conduct is living proof that if such a spirit were to awaken in every politician, no poor man would remain helpless, and no farmer would stand abandoned.
This is the essence of leadership that wins the hearts of people. This is the politics that history remembers.
By: Asif Iqbal
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