Panaflex politics

When we go to the market or any other place we come across one thing, panaflex painted with huge portraits of political persons.

Few years back, airs were not opened for satellite channels and there were heydays for films. When a new film was released big posters carrying portraits of actors in action were painted to draw the attention and attraction of the passers-by. The cinema owners and producers used to hire a team of painters and drawing experts. They took a long piece of fabric and spread mud on it and make movie character on it and paste it in every next street. Later with invention of color printing and other facility film advertisement was made by using posters.

With advent of information technology and laser printing advertising through panaflex became contemptible. It became cheap, so political parties also jumped into this new kind of advertisement. Now we see not only portraits of party heads, but also of local leaders and workers, who use this technique to introduce and publicize themselves. Instead of connecting with public, they prefer this tool for their publicity. In fact most of them are only known to people through panaflex holdings. Hence they are not public leaders but panaflex leaders. It is amazing we find portraits of political leaders hanged along with commercial holdings.

The fashion of panaflex comes with more fervor around the elections. The obsession of politicians of having their face looks down upon public at almost every corner of the city.

A panflex is a big banner that is used for advertising or popularity.

A signal signboard panaflex maker formed that, a larger panaflex signal portrait cost around 12,000 in addition to this, the most interesting thing is that politicians would not pay from their own pockets for these huge pictures but were extorting it from officials and private contractors.

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML N) introduced the panaflex in Punjab, MQM and PPP in Sindh. This new trend got into the race to promote their party leaders for the sake of collecting votes, like an advertisement of a commodity brand. It is also interesting that the rates of preparing panaflex display have reduced since last elections. They are not just extent publicity their leader, but also make party panaflex where whole the party member were portrayed standing like a family photo, and the panaflex leader having ones portrait made with pictures of Benazir Bhutto in the background could show loyal because elected representatives instead of resolving the genuine problems of the people seemed more interested in projected their face, also said some “castle in the sky” type dialogue which wrote on the panaflex for catches the public mind.

Panaflex leaders have just remained in panaflex because they don’t do anything except advertising themselves and the party.

An Student said that Panaflex business have a creepy thing that when fine Arts girls go for preparing panaflex, the printers use to get high rate as compare to boys.

Another student said that panaflex is really threat, because in foreign countries a hole is made before hanging it so that air can easily pass, but in Pakistan they forget to make holes in between due to this panaflex fall under air pressure and many humans have lost their life!