Wednesday morning, the charged workers of Imran Khan's political party stormed their way into the court of Chief Justice of Lahore High Court forcing him to retire to his chamber. It was a forced entry, pushing aside the security personnel they broke open the door of the courtroom and shattered windowpanes. And all this happened right in the presence of the party chief, who never tires of espousing the cause of a just, law-abiding polity in Pakistan. His attendance was not required by the court in the scheduled hearing of a petition filed by Sardar Ayaz Sadiq against an order of the Election Commission about inspection of ballots in NA-122, Lahore. But he showed up there, in the company of a strong contingent of party, storm-troopers who all wanted to be with him wherever he was. But the courtroom couldn't accommodate all, apparently firing up those left behind to force their entry into the courtroom. The Chief Justice withdrew to his chamber while the great Khan kept sitting - proverbially, this is called 'my way or highway' - till he was ordered to leave the courtroom. This is not the Imran Khan he was when he entered electoral politics. Then he was wildly greeted both by the common man who was fed up with traditional politicians and the intelligentsia who saw in him the nation's much-awaited option for clean politics. And that really happened, as people voted his Tehreek-e-Insaf to emerge third most popular political party in the country. Now the party leadership had to prove by action what was only a promise so far - and that triggered its denouement. It brokered political deals, embraced corruption-tainted turncoats and turned its back on pledge to obtain right conditions for pressure-free democratic politics.
Today, the PTI stands for bulldozer politics and rowdy rallies. We don't know if Imran is reenacting Asghar Khan of 1977. But what we do hear him humming the Punjabi adage "Nah khydaan gey nah khaydan dian gey" (Neither will we play nor let others play). Rightly then the ugly scene created by the PTI workers at the Lahore High Court premises serves a notice on the Islamabad administration as it prepares to host Imran Khan's May 11 'I am coming' rally - accompanied by Tahirul Qadri. Remember how for three nights and four days Qadri Sahib - himself camped in an air-heated makeshift room and his thousands of men, women and children followers exposed to subzero December temperatures - paralysed the capital city, only to decamp shouting 'Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry Zindabad'. This time it is going to be just the opposite of that December saga. For the Imran-Qadri rally now it would be the mid-summer with temperatures rising to 40s, and the former chief justice of Pakistan is to be blamed for all that has gone wrong with their dreamy whims and wishes. But the PTI rally is likely to conclude in no way different from Qadri's. Imran Khan would be sadly mistaken if he thinks his rally would force Nawaz Sharif government to run away, or the judiciary will come under his pressure. He needs to rethink his plan. Instead of calling thousands of workers to Islamabad he may like to go to Murree and do some hard thinking. All he wants is inspection of votes cast in four constituencies, and for that there is a legal procedure. As a political leader his best option would be to prove his worth by showing performance in the KPK province where his party is in power. Time for one-up showmanship is gone. Pakistan today is beset with enormous challenges, and they defy shortcuts and quick fixes. That the guilty of rigging elections should be tried under Article 6 is a demand that shows Imran Khan is ignorant of laws of the land.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Pakistan: Tehreek-e-Insaf : It's just not acceptable
Wednesday morning, the charged workers of Imran Khan's political party stormed their way into the court of Chief Justice of Lahore High Court forcing him to retire to his chamber. It was a forced entry, pushing aside the security personnel they broke open the door of the courtroom and shattered windowpanes. And all this happened right in the presence of the party chief, who never tires of espousing the cause of a just, law-abiding polity in Pakistan. His attendance was not required by the court in the scheduled hearing of a petition filed by Sardar Ayaz Sadiq against an order of the Election Commission about inspection of ballots in NA-122, Lahore. But he showed up there, in the company of a strong contingent of party, storm-troopers who all wanted to be with him wherever he was. But the courtroom couldn't accommodate all, apparently firing up those left behind to force their entry into the courtroom. The Chief Justice withdrew to his chamber while the great Khan kept sitting - proverbially, this is called 'my way or highway' - till he was ordered to leave the courtroom. This is not the Imran Khan he was when he entered electoral politics. Then he was wildly greeted both by the common man who was fed up with traditional politicians and the intelligentsia who saw in him the nation's much-awaited option for clean politics. And that really happened, as people voted his Tehreek-e-Insaf to emerge third most popular political party in the country. Now the party leadership had to prove by action what was only a promise so far - and that triggered its denouement. It brokered political deals, embraced corruption-tainted turncoats and turned its back on pledge to obtain right conditions for pressure-free democratic politics.
Today, the PTI stands for bulldozer politics and rowdy rallies. We don't know if Imran is reenacting Asghar Khan of 1977. But what we do hear him humming the Punjabi adage "Nah khydaan gey nah khaydan dian gey" (Neither will we play nor let others play). Rightly then the ugly scene created by the PTI workers at the Lahore High Court premises serves a notice on the Islamabad administration as it prepares to host Imran Khan's May 11 'I am coming' rally - accompanied by Tahirul Qadri. Remember how for three nights and four days Qadri Sahib - himself camped in an air-heated makeshift room and his thousands of men, women and children followers exposed to subzero December temperatures - paralysed the capital city, only to decamp shouting 'Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry Zindabad'. This time it is going to be just the opposite of that December saga. For the Imran-Qadri rally now it would be the mid-summer with temperatures rising to 40s, and the former chief justice of Pakistan is to be blamed for all that has gone wrong with their dreamy whims and wishes. But the PTI rally is likely to conclude in no way different from Qadri's. Imran Khan would be sadly mistaken if he thinks his rally would force Nawaz Sharif government to run away, or the judiciary will come under his pressure. He needs to rethink his plan. Instead of calling thousands of workers to Islamabad he may like to go to Murree and do some hard thinking. All he wants is inspection of votes cast in four constituencies, and for that there is a legal procedure. As a political leader his best option would be to prove his worth by showing performance in the KPK province where his party is in power. Time for one-up showmanship is gone. Pakistan today is beset with enormous challenges, and they defy shortcuts and quick fixes. That the guilty of rigging elections should be tried under Article 6 is a demand that shows Imran Khan is ignorant of laws of the land.
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