Rumblings in Lahore

To the surprise of many something very large stirred in Lahore on September 30. Against the analysis of many sages the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) found a return to its glory days and pulled in tens of thousands to a rally that is going to make heads turn in the political establishment and the ruling PML-N. The anti-corruption campaign driven by PTI leader Imran Khan appears to have found new life and energy and once again tapped into a public consciousness wider than the party itself. It cannot be pretended that the numbers attending were all paid to make an appearance, people were making the trek to Lahore and sitting for hours in traffic jams because they wanted to and not because they were coerced into it — an important point for the PML-N to consider as it ruminates on this event sited in its very heartland.

What the attendees got when they arrived was typically firebrand oratory from Mr Khan, with some observers opining that it was one of his best speeches. He vowed that his messages regarding the corruption of the entire Sharif clan, as well as the threats made by Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi in respect of the recent and ongoing tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) — were not to be ignored.

The first is something of an old chestnut, the second is new and designed as a ploy for the times and more or less guaranteed to tap into the overheated atmosphere surrounding ongoing tensions — no nationalist is going to ignore the call to the PTI flag and none of the other parties have made it a rallying point.

An ultimatum was delivered by Mr Khan to Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister, to ‘either present himself for accountability or allow state institutions to take action against him’. Mr Khan certainly applied the heat to both Mr Modi and the PM, suggesting that the citizens of Pakistan ‘won’t take it lying down’ — be it corruption within their own political systems or atrocities inflicted in Kashmir by a smug neighbour. Mr Khan made it clear that if the PM failed to respond appropriately then the PTI would bring the federal capital to a standstill. Given the obvious capacity to attract a very large crowd, the PTI can reasonably expect to cause severe disruption over an extended period in Islamabad if it so chooses. The likelihood of the PM presenting himself as desired by the PTI is vanishingly remote. He has failed to shake the PML-N in its tenure in the past enjoying as it does a parliamentary majority but this ‘jalsa’ was different, and the PTI is once again on a roll.

Though the PM’s name appears nowhere in the Panama Papers, the country desires answers and demands explanations for historical events, and perhaps Imran Khan is again the voice of the people at this point. Whatever the Sharif family have done in the past in terms of accruing and then preserving and protecting their wealth is most certainly a matter of interest — and the PTI has now reiterated its position that they are not going to let the matter slip by this time. We wish them luck in their quest.

Turning now to the matter of taking Mr Modi and India to task much as Mr Khan and the PTI have taken the PM and his family, this is a different order of magnitude. Coupling the two items together may not have been the sharpest move on the part of Mr Khan given the heat being generated across the border. Now is a time for all parties to stand together rather than play politics with what is a knife-edge geopolitical crisis of potentially existential proportions for both countries. This slip of the political tongue aside Mr Khan and his followers are once again a force to be reckoned with, and let the PML-N government behold.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2016.

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