LAHORE: The verbal clash between leaders of once “cousins in protest” Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in Supreme Court on Thursday reflects straining of relations between the two parties.

Background interviews with elders of both the parties reveal that their ties had begun souring two years ago when Imran Khan backed out of his “promise” of leading a joint march on Islamabad back in August 2014.

The issue was, however, settled during the prolonged sit-in there and Dr Tahirul Qadri rather extended help in kind and manpower to Khan against police raid there.

But their relations hit new lows when the PTI chief did not visit as per promise the PAT chairman after the former’s public meeting in Karachi on Sept 6 this year for devising a joint strategy on Panama leaks against the government.

Khan, revealed a PTI leader, brought forward his visit saying he’s to attend a National Assembly session (which he did) and promised to meet Qadri after his address in the parliament.

This promise too was unfulfilled, admitted the PTI official, while a close aide to the PAT chairman regrets that neither Imran Khan nor any other leader of the PTI ever offered any excuse or reason since then for not visiting Mr Qadri.

The situation further aggravated when the cricketer-turned-politician earlier did not bother to formally invite the Islamic scholar to PTI’s Sept 30 Raiwind march. The invitation was extended only after a public statement that the step was taken reluctantly under pressure from go-betweens.

Khan also ridiculed Qadri by saying in a Bani Gala speech prelude to the Nov 2 Islamabad lockdown that the latter was acting like an arrogant bride in response to an invitation for the protest.

Dr Qadri’s aide said the words hurt the PAT chief and he decided not to mobilise his workers in favour of the lockdown plan.

Meanwhile, the PAT central core committee met on Thursday and decided to take up the matter with Imran Khan.

A PAT spokesman said Naeemul Haq had tried to harm cooperation between the two parties. “If Haq cannot behave, the PTI should replace him.”

He said PTI information secretary’s remarks that he did not know Khurram Nawaz, who was there on the invitation of the PTI to participate in the Nov 2 protest, was an insult.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2016