The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

LAHORE, it seems, is content to defy all the calls that urge it to contribute to the grand exercise in progress to unmask a legend. It sits serenely in quiet contrast to the hustle and bustle of Islamabad, which is witnessing a flurry of activity. Perhaps only the most competent of lawyers is trained to separate fact from fiction. The less equipped would be liable to interpret it for their own motley, worldly gains and pass it off as a universal truth.

On this end of the emblematic Sharifian motorway, Lahore sits poker-faced, holding its cards close to its chest as two of its proudest sons fight it out. It is, by all means, a battle for Lahore more than it is a battle for any other part of Pakistan. Yet the temptress sits aloof and yields little to the voices that demand it come out with clues to the future — just as unobliging as it has been over the years to probing requests and appeals for any scandals involving the Punjabi — Pakistani — royalty in its midst.

The city continues to disappoint all those looking to it for providing any ready evidence about the destiny of — one of — its most celebrated sons, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. And it refuses to dismiss another eligible suitor bred in its midst, his name Imran Khan who is out to challenge both Sharif and the Nawaz Sharif family. It is left to the three of them to settle who gets what rewards out of the strife.

There is little in terms of information trails. Journalists quoting a senior PML-N aide say precious little news escapes the Sharif household these days, which is not surprising at all. Quite good at keeping secrets, the members of the household stand firm and tight-lipped at this moment where just the letting out of a sigh could be the breaking news that everyone is so eagerly awaiting.

Members of the PM’s household are tight-lipped at the moment when just a sigh could be breaking news.

Next, there are very few remarks emanating from the cabinet, the resignation of ministers a couple of days ago signifying little so far. Ata Maneka, who delivered the PML-N the much-needed forward bloc from the PML-Q after the 2008 polls, was never fully a part of the Shahbazian scheme. He was half there and half here and doesn’t quite constitute a loss now that he has quit his ministerial post.

This could be one of the least used cabinets in the history of this country. Its members could well be suffering because of a lack of confidence, even from some kind of an inferiority complex resulting from the indifference with which it has been treated under the Shahbaz Sharif formula of how to rule successfully. There may be myriad other reasons why Punjab’s ministers have been acting ritualistically without ever opening their mouth. But this is just too big an occasion to let go without comment, unless the ministers are bent upon proving that they are what they are often dubbed as: the props in the great good governance show going on in their province.

Few Punjab ministers have anything to say about the situation. They have nothing negative, but these second-tier PML-N wallahs apparently find little inspiration to have something positive to say about their government, which is a little weird even for an always ‘content’ Lahore. Nothing is on the horizon either, not even too many slogans.

The best piece of advice, it seems, remains confined to the federal capital and its environs. Like when it is politely pointed out to the leadership that since they are there, and since they are in need, they might as well try and locate the party to justify their titles. Here again, the post-Pakistan Muslim League tradition of keeping the party away from the big bad world of power politics is strictly adhered to.

The PML-N would be lying if it denies having been influenced and forced into doing certain things by Imran Khan. If they were a bit more frequent in their emulation of the PTI chief, they might have been moved by the sight of Imran addressing a party convention in Islamabad. There have been many of these conventions held by this main opposition party that have generated good coverage and conveyed the overall good message of a party trying to engage its workers. True to its history, nothing of the sort has been attempted by the PML-N and there is apparently total disregard for building up a popular wave if one is later needed.

There have been rallies taken out by PML-N workers — a couple of processions with some controlled fist-waving and sloganeering. These have been rather small and while the PML-N politicians vow big resistance, some of them privately going as far as drawing a parallel between Pakistan now and coup-defying Turkey recently, journalists see little protest the making.

Far from it, the occasion provides some hard-core PML-N critics with fresh stimulus for lambasting PML-N as a party without a care for the cadres. It is an outfit that has shown remarkable resilience against the urge of producing workers. An observant Lahore-based journalist analyses it thus: the middle-aged guy who organised one of these rallies in the city to show solidarity with the prime minister still goes around as a Muslim Students Federation leader. The Sharifs long ceased to invest in student activists. The PML-N had the Punjab police do its chores originally assigned to the student leaders.

This is one view, quite a valid one at that, but the more charged among the PML-N crowd insist that there is no dearth of people here who are ready to come out in show of support for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other members of his family. They would be better served if the members of the Nawaz Sharif family were to take time out from their busy schedule in Islamabad to appear in public in Lahore.

The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2017

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