KARACHI:
Summoned by NAB in a property case on Tuesday, Maryam Nawaz reached the graft watchdog’s office in Lahore along with a large number of PML-N workers. However, she could not submit her reply as a scuffle broke out between the police and agitating political workers. Both sides pelted each other with stones while the police used teargas to disperse the crowd. Both sides accused each other of bringing the stones with them, one of which scarred the wind screen of Maryam’s car. “The government tried to harm me through the police,” said Maryam, adding that it was easier for her to speak and harder to keep quiet.
Official quarters believe that the young PML-N leader had come to the NAB office with a pre-planned strategy to offer resistance and make it a political event. The power show, and a quite successful one at that, is a sign that the country’s main opposition party is now shifting its political gear — from reconciliation to resistance. Maryam, who had been tightlipped for a long time, has finally broken her silence by criticising the government over the event.
The whole opposition reacted sharply after that incident and denounced the “attack” on a political leader. The opposition is also expected to announce the date of an all parties’ conference within a few days. While the opposition has so far remained divided and unable to give the government a tough time, the political event outside the NAB office may galvanise them and unite them all into an effective grand opposition. It looks like time for the government to be prepared to face the opposition’s wrath.
Babar Ali Palli
Dhoronaro, Sindh
Published in The Express Tribune, August 13th, 2020.
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