21
In many ancient civilisations, the appearance of a comet in the sky was seen as an omen of natural disasters and other terrible events.
Mothers would hide their children; farmers would herd their animals into enclosures; and kings would offer sacrifices to the gods. Now, it is the annual visit of Tahirul Qadri that sends similar jitters across the country. OK, perhaps mothers don’t hide their children, but the government does tighten its seatbelt.
Cynics have pointed to the timing of these visitations as they often coincide with Ramazan, the holy month when believers are generous in donating to religious organisations like the one run by Tahirul Qadri. Indeed, detractors have demanded details of the funds collected by the allama’s Minhaj-ul-Quran International, but, to the best of my knowledge, they have been disappointed.
Three years into the PM’s third stint, and the knives are out.
Be that as it may, the news is that Tahirul Qadri’s air-conditioned container was recently on the move in Lahore. For good measure, we are informed that it contains all modern conveniences, including a sofa and a small library. Is the erudite cleric settling in for the long haul?
A sit-in would be aimed at obtaining justice for the 14 victims of police firing in Lahore’s Model Town two years ago. And who can say this is not a worthy cause? But it would have helped had Qadri answered court summons issued during the proceedings. No doubt the climate in Canada, his adopted country, was more pleasant than Pakistan’s summer heat.
Qadri’s abrupt departure from his Islamabad dharna two years ago gave the government some respite. And here we are, back to square one, trying to bring down the government yet again. For Imran Khan and his PTI, the Panama Papers provide the lever to dethrone Nawaz Sharif. And there is a possibility of coordination between the two campaigns.
To be fair, all of the issues raised by these two politicians deserve to be aired. Imran Khan’s effort to reform the electoral system surely deserves our support, as does his demand to investigate the alleged corruption revealed by the Panama Papers. And certainly, those responsible for the Model Town incident should be tried.
But one doesn’t have to be a cynic to see motives other than a burning desire for justice behind these campaigns. Imran Khan is convinced that had it not been for massive rigging, he would have won the 2013 election. So he has worked ceaselessly to topple Nawaz Sharif and trigger a fresh poll. Qadri’s party, the Pakistan Awami Tehreek, does not have a single seat in parliament, and his motive in promoting chaos is unclear.
Read: Panama is about the ouster of Nawaz, not the system
However, we must not forget the revelations made after the previous dharna when an ex-chief of ISI was shown to be orchestrating events. Fortunately, his boss, Gen Raheel Sharif, intervened. But the conspiracy was laid bare. Clearly, in the eyes of many, Nawaz Sharif had reached his sell-by date just a year after his election.
And now here we are, three years into his third stint as prime minister, and the knives are out again. We had thought that after five years of the PPP’s chaotic rule, we would get a period of stability, even if not one of brilliant performance. But just as chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was determined to hold Zardari over the coals, so, too, has Imran Khan proved to be Nawaz Sharif’s nemesis.
Judging from our experience since the 1990s, it would appear that the chattering classes enter a feeding frenzy a couple of years after a new government has been elected. They are goaded by the media which, all too often, is manipulated by shadowy puppet-masters. Dharnas and marches are organised, blistering op-ed columns appear, and TV chat show guests and hosts begin frothing at the mouth.
Appeals are made to the army and the judiciary to step in and save the country. We are all familiar with the resulting scenario. After the game of musical chairs we witnessed between the PPP and PML-N in the 1990s, we thought the Charter of Democracy signed by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif would put these shenanigans behind us.
Nawaz Sharif resisted the temptation of destabilising the Zardari government when it was under great pressure from the judiciary and the military, but now finds the PPP joining forces with Imran Khan. Among others, the MQM has signed up to the alliance. Truly, politics makes for strange bedfellows.
But while the urban elites turn against elected politicians a couple of years or so after they take power, military dictators are granted a far longer lease on power. True, they enjoy the support of the military; and since much of our electronic media are in thrall to one bunch of spooks or another, dictators also get a free pass from our poisonous chat show hosts.
So this Ramazan, let us pray that the comet leaves our skies without causing any fresh crises.
Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2016
