Gone are the days when couples quarrelled over biryani ingredients or cricket teams. Today, the ultimate relationship dealbreaker is political allegiance. In Pakistan’s highly polarized landscape, love across party lines is a dangerous gamble.
Take a young Lahore couple as an example. She’s a die-hard PTI supporter, fluent in the language of Tabdeeli, while he remains a steadfast PML(N) voter, convinced of his leader’s infallibility. What started as lighthearted banter soon turned into full-blown battles. She accuses him of supporting ‘dynastic politics,’ and he fires back with ‘your leader is disqualified!’ Before they knew it, the dinner table had turned into a debate stage, and love had become collateral damage.
In Karachi, a newlywed couple from different MQM factions faced an equally dramatic struggle. He rooted for one MQM faction, while she pledged loyalty to another. What began as passionate political discussions turned into heated arguments over which faction truly represented the city. Soon, family dinners became battlegrounds, and their only neutral ground was a food stall where politics took a backseat to bun kababs.
Meanwhile, in interior Sindh, a PPP-voting landlord found himself smitten by a PTI-supporting Karachiite. His ‘Roti, Kapra, Makaan’ slogans clashed with her cries of ‘corruption must end!’ The families tried to broker peace, but when he invited her to a PPP rally and she showed up in a Kaptaan T-shirt, it became evident that their political chasm was too wide to bridge.
Religious parties bring their own complexities to this equation. Imagine a Jamaat-e-Islami activist tying the knot with a JUI-F loyalist. Disagreements over whether to prioritize a protest march or plan their honeymoon could spell disaster. The first major fight might be over whose leader's words should dictate their home decisions.
Political polarization isn’t unique to Pakistan. Studies show that in the U.S., Democrats and Republicans struggle to maintain relationships across party lines. Brexit divided families and friend circles in the UK. Globally, political mismatches have become a significant cause of conflict, with people preferring ideological compatibility over traditional romantic values.
So, can love survive political differences? Theoretically, yes—if couples master the fine art of avoiding certain discussions. However, if a PTI supporter is expected to endure a ‘Vote Ko Izzat Do’ speech over breakfast or a PPP voter is dragged to a PTI rally, the only journey they’ll embark on is towards a breakup.
At the end of the day, successful relationships require patience, compromise, and a firm commitment to steering clear of heated political debates. Otherwise, the next big protest might just be happening in your living room, with the slogan: ‘Divorce, Divorce, Divorce!’