Ali Saleem to marry in reality show

Nawaz Sharif is back in Pakistan (along with Shahbaz and Kulsoom). His plane has landed at Lahore airport, and his supporters are eagerly waiting for him to emerge from inside. His return, brokered by the Saudis and the Americans, doesn't have the same frenzy that Benazir's return did, but many people are excited. Meanwhile, the sham of the election - an election to be held during martial law - continues. The period for filing nomination papers has begun, and the parties are agonizing over whether to boycott the election or not. Actually, they're not agonizing as much as tripping over each other to file papers. Yes, the boycott has failed. The sham of the election will gain legitimacy because of the greedy and selfish politicians, and Nawaz's return only furthers this legitimacy.

But today, this is not what troubles me most. I am upset about something else altogether: a new reality show entitled Kon Teri Dulhaniya. The premise of the show is to find a bride for none other than Ali Saleem aka Begum Nawazish. The ads for the show say: "Intelligent, Educated, Famous and Rich - Any girl will choose him, who will he pick?" The show would make more sense if he was the bride. This desperate and cheap attempt at publicity on Ali Saleem's part is very sad, but it speaks volumes about how Pakistani society is so anxious to get him married off. After all, what better way to kill Begum Nawazish than to condemn her to marriage??!