The title is borrowed from Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poem, a poem that the older generation perhaps nostalgically recognises from its school days. The actual charge, which the poem is based upon, occurred in the 19th century and was carried out by the British Light Cavalry against the Russians, and yes they were fighting back then even. The charge was a catastrophic disaster in the face of Russian artillery and the Light Brigade suffered heavy casualties. As Wikipedia eloquently puts it, the futility of the action and its reckless bravery prompted the French Marshal Pierre Bosquet to state, “It is magnificent, but it is not war — it is madness.”The question is: but is it politics?Having previously, on many occasions, confessed ignorance on all things political, the current state of affairs, to put it lightly, is beyond any stretch of rational thought. Why and how a seemingly innocuous political tête-à-tête took the form of a perfect storm has the potential of being included as a case study in the doctorate of political sciences curriculum at the best global universities: the lesson on how not to do politics. Case studies from Egypt and Thailand will be close contenders for the top spot in this particular category.Even more worryingly, sitting in front of the idiot box, there is this eerily creepy feeling that the media is having a party. The quantum and frequency of advertisements on all news channels is perhaps at a record peak and all anchors seem to be getting a fair share of the limelight. Obviously, there can be no talk shows without senior analysts who seem to be competing for the most prescient analysis. And whether or not the politicians want to be on television, they hardly have a choice; after all, each party has to defend their respective positions. In fact, the uneasiness of a few dedicated stalwarts even evokes sincere empathy. Frankly, politicians aside, even anchors and their usual team of analysts, as evident from their body language and demeanour, seem to have chosen sides. Is an independent press really a myth?Perhaps the media should heed an earlier warning and practice restraint. As things stand, whatever the turn of events, there is a growing awareness in certain quarters that so much freedom of speech is not such a good thing after all. Those in governments, current and previous, the primary recipients of an unbridled critique, must sometimes brood over the good old days when a singular state-owned television channel reigned supreme. Minus the camera eye and extensive overboard coverage, most political conflicts surely would never see the light of day. Of course there are those naive enough to believe that this hard earned freedom is now a fact of life, and irreversible. People just do not learn from history: nothing is outside the grasp of the mighty.As far as predictions go, everyone seems to be getting into the act, and why not? When, in living memory, have political predictions ever come back to haunt their primogenitors? Currently, politicians from both sides and their more than enthusiastic supporters are quite loud in predicting an outcome favourable, quite obviously, for their side. Pretty soon, one or the other is going to be proved misguided, but so what? Tomorrow will be another day to make a fresh prediction, and next time the law of averages might just be merciful to the losers. Politicians, because of their obvious conflicts, can be forgiven for offering farfetched fantastic predictions but why should independent analysts get off scot-free? There should be some repercussions for wasting the audience’s time and fuelling contrariety. Based on a brilliant suggestion read somewhere a while ago, as a service to the viewers, the electronic media should henceforth maintain a notice board of sorts where all predictions are documented in detail and subsequently matched with subsequent events, and the good and the bad finally exposed. Such an exercise will eventually reduce the general propensity to make predictions and, with that, the habit of confidently uttering sheer bunk. Fundamentally, the view that the media is a key catalyst in cultivating a polarised view across the populace, obviously the other being the politicians themselves, might itself be pigeonholed as a conspiracy against freedom of speech but hope can sometimes work miracles. Maybe it is time for sense to prevail. Getting back to the title of today’s article, and to venture a guess, a few readers might by now have associated the Light Brigade with one or the other political contestants. No, dear reader, at least here, the Light Brigade is not synonymous with those marching towards the capital, nor is it synonymous with those for whom marching itself is an occupation and finally nor is it synonymous with the ruling contingent. Simply, here, the Light Brigade, dear reader, is all of those holding this newspaper now, and their fellow common Pakistani countrymen: “Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.” Irrespective of the eventual outcome, Pakistanis lose. In fact, they are already paying a huge cost.Unfortunately, the biggest issue is that all sides blame the other guys and stand alone. Everyone’s point of view, over the last few weeks, has been firmed up to almost flawless perfection. Worse, democracy as a system relies upon political enlightenment to digest opposing views, or governments for that matter, and education, that too, a lot of education remains the only known methodology for achieving political enlightenment. Finally, political enlightenment is not Pakistan’s problem only. In modern times the epidemic has spread across the globe, especially where education lags behind the required level. And worse, considering that the nation lacks a mechanism to address political brinkmanship, this might not be the final storm.Having always held a view that the economy comes first and that too from a common man’s perspective, the current political shenanigans and hostilities will continue to bewilder. When will the ruling class get time to focus on the dwindling wealth of Pakistan, remains an unanswered question. Even now, typing in front of the television, the relish with which an anchor continues to grill a politician is rather deflating and even more inexplicable. So, at this point, what can one do? No predictions here; I am not competent to make any. No views on right or wrong because firstly that requires superlative political acumen and secondly it does not matter, for in any accident, especially of this nature, everyone loses. There is no advice for any side since, in any case, no one seems to be listening. There is simply a heartfelt and sincere prayer that the nation is able to live through this recent episode of uncertainty, without any fatality. The writer is a chartered accountant based in Islamabad. He can be reached at syed.bakhtiyarkazmi@gmail.com and on twitter @leaccountant