Naseebullah Khan
They all were and are clueless and rudderless and if sanity doesn’t prevail disaster is not far.
The story started with the PTI gathering in Lahore in 2011 when Imran Khan was presented as the only savior and redeemer? where the rest of the politicians who dared to raise their voices against the powerful circle were portrayed as corrupt and were held responsible for all the ills of the country. The next episode was the sit-in of 2014 where Imran Khan and Tahir ul Qadri were again launched against democracy. The peak started in 2018 when Imran Khan-led PTI won the general elections and Imran Khan became the prime minister of Pakistan. All who opposed Imran Khan and his policies were put behind bars and were charged as corrupt and traitors.
When Imran Khan was ousted owing to diplomatic blunders, he is now challenging those who had brought him up. During that episode, even those respectable Judges who did not see eye to eye with the powerful and Imran Khan were blamed and shamed which created huge institutional decay and a gulf. Still, some circles might be supporting him which looks from the resistance of his workers in zaman Park Lahore who threw petrol bombs, pelted stones, and wounded dozen of law enforcement personnel who had gone to abide by the warrant orders of a court to arrest Imran Khan.
Imran Khan is reluctant to present himself before the court by saying that his life is in danger and that he should be provided with bail in all cases. While, at the same time, he has been speaking at rallies in Lahore. The question is what precedent he is setting? If anyone who brings a Junta and attacks law enforcement agencies would be barred from appearing in court and would be rejected receiving court summons? Dozens of police who have been wounded have been told not to use force and have been advised to be calm. At the same time, the question arises if an area is in chaos and anarchy, should the state remain a silent spectator?
Law is formulated to protect the state and its institutions and if it is in danger should it not make its way? These directionless policies which have been adopted for the protection of Imran Khan have resulted in some pertinent queries.
1. There is a lack of clarity of policy on the part of trichotomy including establishment as to how Imran Khan was launched, sheltered, and protected. After committing huge diplomatic blunders, making institutions incredible, and creating a violent culture in the country why he is being tolerated by blaming and shaming the institutions and being provided bail over bail on cases against him? Social media is full of questions if Ali Wazir was put behind the bars for merely criticizing, how Imran Khan who is violently resisting law enforcement agencies is not arrested? Had he been from a small province, would he enjoy the same treatment which he is enjoying now?
2. Analysts have been comparing the episode of the Zaman park sit-in to the sit-in of the TTP,l in Faizabad in 2017. When the TTP workers beat the police and even killed them but the law did not take action against the TTP rather it was given a safe passage. Such incidents demoralize law enforcement personnel and put the writ of state at stake. The question is why the TTP and the PTI have been allowed to do so. The state is bound to respond to such juntas and it made not to surrender. It is disastrous and will have serious consequences in the future and the fears are that this wrong precedent would be followed by all those who have violent Junta.
3. The ongoing crisis reflects confusion and division in the lower and upper judiciary that is denting its credibility. For instance, different courts were approached by Imran Khan,s legal team for eroding his arrest. Different court orders made confusion within the judicial circle.
4. It mirrors that trichotomy within the ambit of the constitution is the only viable solution. Let democracy evolve, let politicians decide their issues, let the establishment not involve in politics, and let the judicial system not create a gulf within. Why supported Imran Khan? Was hile in a position to form a government? To hold the 2011 Jalsa in Lahore.
In this scenario, the loser is the institutions that are alleged by different parties, the state that is the ultimate sufferer, and the people who have been paying the price of it. The directionless, rudderless, and clueless policies are calamitous. The policymakers and the powerful should think before it is too late.
