Pakistan: Revolution on a whim

Malik Muhammad Ashraf

The sit-ins staged by the participants of Azadi and Revolution marches in the red zone for the last more than 25 days have done incalculable harm to the economy, made the entire country hostage to the stubbornness of the two leaders and disrupted the lives of the citizens of Islamabad besides tarnishing the image of the country in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Both the revolutionary leaders have been relentlessly giving their audiences the impression that there could be a possible intervention by the third umpire sooner than later. The metaphor of the third umpire repeatedly used by them and the aplomb with which they tried to rub in this notion rightly or wrongly led some people to believe that they probably were acting on behalf of the traditional praetorian powers to destabilise the government. The revelations of some politicians also contributed to the reinforcement of this impression. However, the run of the events and the circumstantial evidence that has emerged tend to present a completely different picture.

It is really regrettable that a conscious effort has been made by Imran Khan, Qadri and those who have been playing supporting roles to them to malign the establishment unnecessarily to achieve their political objectives at the cost of the national prestige through their unconstitutional adventurism. It is now crystal clear that their marches are a sequel to a conspiracy whose cob-webs were woven in the first week of June when Imran Khan, Qadri and the Chaudhry brothers met in London and a dubious character named Dr Ijaz Hussain played a key role in writing the much maligned script of the drama.

I have previously as well dismissed the possibility of the involvement of the present army leadership in any conspiracy against the government. I think now that it is almost evident that a deliberate effort has been made to malign the army, a thorough probe into the matter is warranted to unmask the real story.

Imran and Qadri now stand fully exposed and isolated. All the political forces, judiciary, lawyers, media and civil society as well as the army support democracy and constitutional rule in the country. Imran and Qadri are fighting for an already lost cause due to the somersaults that they have taken and the lies that they have unabashedly told their audience and the nation.

Imran built his campaign on the premise of unsubstantiated charges of rigging in elections and has spared no institution of the state and individuals associated with the exercise of being part of the conspiracy to deprive him of the mandate of the people. Almost all the institutions including the ECP and individuals blamed by him have already given lie to his claims.

But Khan does not feel embarrassed and continues with his impulsive steak to hurl whimsical allegations against the government and whomsoever he perceives as his enemy or dreams about of having played any role in obstructing his meteoric rise to power. He has been persistently blaming a media group of having played a role in the rigging and came up with a contrived revelation that the government had distributed Rs2.5 billion among journalists and lawyers through the Intelligence Bureau to thwart his campaign and malign him.

The finance ministry has vehemently rejected the notion saying that the money has been approved by the government for IB’s counter-terrorism activities and for purchasing relevant equipment on the basis of a summary submitted by the agency. The funds are auditable and not a secret grant. It is quite evident from this rebuttal that Khan has yet again acted in an irresponsible manner without checking all the relevant facts. Since that was not enough he came up with another bizarre explanation about the cancellation of the visit of the Chinese president to Pakistan and the investments that China is likely to make in Pakistan under the Pak-China Economic Corridor.

Khan tried to get back at the government by claiming that the visit was a lie and was not at all scheduled to take place during August. This claim has been strongly refuted by the spokesman of the Foreign Office saying that the governments of China and Pakistan had mutually agreed to postpone the visit of the Chinese president to Pakistan which was scheduled to take place during this month due to the obtaining political situation in the country.

The captain also had the audacity to say that the much trumpeted $34 billion investment by China was in fact a loan that China was extending to Pakistan at a seven percent interest rate. That probably is the biggest lie of all. It is undoubtedly a direct Chinese investment in Pakistan as per the understanding reached between the two countries during Nawaz’s visit to China in July 2013, a development confirmed by international agencies and observers and probably the cause of resentment of some powers against Pakistan.

It is almost mind-boggling to note that Imran does not even understand the sensitivities involved in handling bilateral relations with a friend like China. By spewing lies he is in fact challenging the credibility of the governments of China and Pakistan. Such antics have surely reduced his stature from a political leader to that of a political jester.

These marches were ill-timed and ill-conceived. Our armed forces are fighting a war of existence against terrorists and in the words of the COAS General Raheel Sharif “the elimination of terrorism was a national undertaking and only with sustained focus of the entire nation the objective of [a] terror free Pakistan could be accomplished”. One can hardly take issue with what he has said. The country is also in the grip of severe floods and the victims need unruffled attention of the entire nation.

The government has shown remarkable sangfroid and spirit of accommodation despite their provocative acts by continuing its efforts to resolve the impasse through dialogue. It has already conceded to a number of their demands; now they also need to show some flexibility in ending the stalemate.

The protest leaders must understand that the government cannot allow their dharnas to continue indefinitely and will ultimately have to establish the writ of the state by all means at its command. Revolutions do not happen through captive and hired participants. They must avail this face-saving opportunity before it is too late.