Pakistan - Rana Sanaullah - Status Quo

Rana Sanaullah took oath as Punjab law minister yesterday. He had previously lost this ministry after being accused of ordering a brutal police raid on the residence of the Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) leader in Model Town, where eleven PAT workers were killed. Last week, a joint investigation team (JIT) formed by the government of Punjab to investigate the Model Town incident exonerated Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and former provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah from charges of ordering and abetting the police action.

The reinstatement of Rana Sanaullah after his acquittal by the JIT communicates the message in clear terms that the report of the judicial commission constituted earlier for the same  purpose  will never see the light of the day. This report of the one member commission as per the grapevine, has fixed the responsibility on certain individuals.  The facts would only be known if the report is ever made public. The comeback of the Law Minister reflects the message that the PML-N leadership does not have any respect for the judiciary, as the matter is still sub-judice. The Minister is one of the key accused in the First Information Report registered with the police. The issue makes one recall an incident on the day of general elections in 1977, when the photograph of a gun toting provincial minister of the then PPP government in Punjab was carried by an international magazine of repute resulting in disenchantment of the serious followers of  politics and inflicted irreparable damage to the image of the party. The country and the party paid a heavy price for the misdeeds individuals committed at personal levels. 
There is every likelihood that the outcome of this decision may also not be very different for the ruling party. The PML-N leadership was expected to have learnt its lessons after a PTI candidate in a by-election for a provincial seat defeated the PML–N with a clear margin in Faisalabad in 2013. The masses had given their verdict in the city which otherwise had been considered to be a stronghold of Nawaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah who was thought to be a kingpin of the party in the city. The indispensability of certain individuals in the political arena in the culture of Pakistani politics is indicative of complete disregard of their faith in the democratic culture and its values amongst the current leadership. The PML-N, with its exonerations and reinstatements, remains on top; not by the support of the people, but by its sheer stubbornness against change and admitting its wrongs.