The violent disregard for the court shown by PTI supporters in pursuit of the party chief at the Lahore High Court, once again revealed the incoherency behind the compulsions of Imran Khan. There is little concept it seems, of thinking things carefully through. For example, a protest is being staged on Sunday, so we hear, against the same mandate that brought the party into power. All the while Javed Hashmi claims he stands firmly by his leader, Nawaz Sharif. The protest later this week is set to throw the capital into logistical turmoil and until a few days ago, there was nothing but ambiguity on what the protesters were really meant to protest.
Speculation was rife on whether it was load shedding, rigging, a means to express displeasure against Geo, or a combination of all of them. Turns out, the winner is rigging, which is comical considering that it has taken a year for Khan and his supporters to get angry enough to hold a protest. But wait, there’s more. Turns out that asking for a re-election is not the plan either. What then, is the PTI trying to achieve?
Imran Khan is of course, at the helm of the charge against all evil in society. Seen as the visionary leader, none of his supporters seem to question the practicality of all that he says. His cult of personality is centered on ‘doing’ instead of coming up with well-thought out initiatives to counter whichever problem he highlights when he sees fit. It was drones last year, and this year it is rigging. Next year, he will find something else to get the public going, a general issue, one that does not require much more to oppose than paltry slogans. Because no matter what happens, the fervor of PTI stems from Imran Khan and his heroic charge against the government, his glorified image in front of his own eyes and those of his incensed followers. There has to be a real agenda here; so far we haven’t seen it.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Pakistan: PTI Protest Politics
The violent disregard for the court shown by PTI supporters in pursuit of the party chief at the Lahore High Court, once again revealed the incoherency behind the compulsions of Imran Khan. There is little concept it seems, of thinking things carefully through. For example, a protest is being staged on Sunday, so we hear, against the same mandate that brought the party into power. All the while Javed Hashmi claims he stands firmly by his leader, Nawaz Sharif. The protest later this week is set to throw the capital into logistical turmoil and until a few days ago, there was nothing but ambiguity on what the protesters were really meant to protest.
Speculation was rife on whether it was load shedding, rigging, a means to express displeasure against Geo, or a combination of all of them. Turns out, the winner is rigging, which is comical considering that it has taken a year for Khan and his supporters to get angry enough to hold a protest. But wait, there’s more. Turns out that asking for a re-election is not the plan either. What then, is the PTI trying to achieve?
Imran Khan is of course, at the helm of the charge against all evil in society. Seen as the visionary leader, none of his supporters seem to question the practicality of all that he says. His cult of personality is centered on ‘doing’ instead of coming up with well-thought out initiatives to counter whichever problem he highlights when he sees fit. It was drones last year, and this year it is rigging. Next year, he will find something else to get the public going, a general issue, one that does not require much more to oppose than paltry slogans. Because no matter what happens, the fervor of PTI stems from Imran Khan and his heroic charge against the government, his glorified image in front of his own eyes and those of his incensed followers. There has to be a real agenda here; so far we haven’t seen it.
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