After the ruling PML-N met PTI’s demand to set up a judicial commission to inquire into allegations of rigging in 2013 general elections, the PTI’s return to the National Assembly was expected, but not the reception it received.

Even PTI legislators foresaw “a little jeering”, mainly from the JUI-F and ANP which form the opposition in the party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa home base. But the virulent attacks that the PML-N members launched when Imran Khan led his MNAs and Senators into the joint sitting of the parliament surprised all and hurt many sitting in the visitors’ galleries of the Parliament House.

Seasoned journalists covering the event were taken aback by the frothy language used to shame the PTI and its leader. They compared the unbecoming behavior of the PML-N with the civilized manner in which the MQM and JUI-F registered their objection to the presence of PTI members in the parliament by staging a walk-out.

Interestingly, two PML-Q deserters, Umar Ayub and Daniyal Aziz, led the attack from the PML-N benches on the PTI. PML-N backbenchers, mainly comprising women members on reserved seats, provided unseemly support to their two colleagues, who joined the PML-N right before the May 2013 general election.

The moment Imran Khan entered the house in the company of his party legislators on Monday, Umar Ayub and Daniyal Aziz jumped to their feet and questioned ‘the legal status’ of the PTI members as they had already submitted their resignations. They literally competed in seeking the attention of speaker National Assembly so that they could pour their scorn for the PTI using the microphone.

Even without the facility, their shouts accompanied by the chorus kept up by their women colleagues, made their attacks on Imran Khan quite audible. By shouting ‘Lot kay buddhoo ghar ko aye’ (the fool returns home), they reminded Khan of the vow he had taken last August, at the height of PTI’s sit-in for an inquiry into election rigging, of never returning ‘to this parliament’.

The PTI has returned to the parliament after a hiatus of a little over seven months – but politically not empty handed. It gained in the meantime not just the judicial commission all its agitation was about but also entry into the Senate. No mean achievement to some, considering the shifting sands of domestic politics.

Although the PTI legislators indeed had resigned their seats in the national and provincial assemblies, the ruckus caused by the PML-N, particularly its young brigade, over the PTI’s return did not make sense to many. The ruling party been wishing and others pressing for the PTI to abandon street agitation and return to the parliamentary process.

It was the PML-N’s chief political negotiator Senator Ishaq Dar who signed an agreement with the PTI for the government’s side to form a judicial commission to investigate the results of the 2013 general election. Only last week, he urged Imran Khan to come back to the house. Then why the fuss then when the PTI did return, whether on its own or in response to the wishes of the top PML-N leadership?

According to a well connected government source, the government’s spin doctors went into a huddle soon after the PTI announced on April 5 that it will attend the joint sitting of the parliament called for the next day. Their deliberations produced what the source called “an unwelcome welcome strategy” for the occasion. Essentially they decided to harangue the PTI and its leader the same way they used to harangue the PML-N and its leaders during their anti-government agitation. The idea was to be pay back the PTI in its own coins – and in the same language.

So a message went out to the younger lot in the treasury benches to hoot and boo the PTI MNAs as much as possible. And people who watched the proceedings of the joint sitting, particularly of its morning session of April 6, saw the brashness of PML-N young brigade on display. All the Marvis, Maryams, Talals and Ranas in the ranks constantly booed the PTI members for attending the session.

Perhaps, their performance was not impressive enough for some senior PML-N leaders. The veteran Khawaja Asif stood up in the evening session to deliver the final blow. “You utterly shameless creatures,” he said addressing the PTI members, causing an uproar.

However, the defence minister stuck to his guns, explaining that he was only reacting to Imran Khan’s remark that in his eyes the parliament would remain ‘fake’ until cleared by the judicial commission.

Although the PML-N has been able to shame the PTI with the support of JUI-F, MQM, ANP and others, Khawaja Asif’s reaction reflect an uneasiness among the PML-N hotheads about the judicial commission probe.

For now, the PML-N seems to have wasted an opportunity to build peaceful coexistence in place of the harmful fractious politics in the country. Some observers feel Khawaja Asif’s tirade against the PTI leadership has spoiled the chances of reconciliation raised by their agreement on the judicial commission.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2015

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