No-Fly List

In a rather circuitry change of title, the widely notorious Exit Control List (ECL) is now called No-fly list probably ignoring the hidden pun in the word fly. On the face of it this term surely limits the possibility of people getting off the hook as it implies running away by air giving wide berth to people doing the same through sea or land routes. However, in anyway the term is interpreted the new no-fly list reminds people of the reversal of fortunes in the country. The current list is reported to contain names of more than 80 PTI members, the most prominent being Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi. Other leaders of the PTI include Asad Umar, Maleeka Bokhari, Qasim Suri, Asad Qaiser, Murad Saeed, Hammad Azhar, Yasmin Rashid and Aslam Iqbal. These personages were the mainstay of the civilian democratic governance structure that held power for more than three years and now are ditching their party and its leader in droves. However, despite abandoning the so-called sinking ship they are still not out of the woods as this no-fly list demonstrates. No wonder that the country finds itself in the eye of the storm ever so often. The Weekender