Dangerous talk

As the November 2 date draws near, an air of uncertainty has begun to pervade across the political landscape. PTI Chairman Imran Khan is ramping up the tempo on a daily basis by engaging with his supporters through a whirlwind tour of key cities. He is also planning ‘warm up’ rallies ahead of the march to Islamabad in order to — as he calls it — lockdown the federal capital. But while activity within the PTI and government camps has started to generate heat, so has the almost daily verbal sparring in speeches, press conferences and TV appearances. At one such interaction with journalists, the PTI Chairman declared that if a third force intervened as a result of his protest movement, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif alone would be to blame.



This is rather unsettling. For Imran Khan to mention the possibility of a military intervention at this point means he thinks such an eventuality could come about if things go awry. Does he fear this intervention because he is not sure his ‘siege’ of Islamabad can remain peaceful? The reference to the third force becomes all the more significant in the context of how events unfolded in the dharna of 2014. The military’s presence in the Red Zone had saved the PTV headquarters, and possibly the Parliament and other key buildings, from being overrun by protestors. At one point there appeared to be a dangerous power vacuum and the situation could have easily slid towards another constitutional crisis. Thankfully better sense prevailed and the country was pulled back from the brink.

Does Imran Khan want a physical lockdown of Islamabad to lead to a constitutional lockdown of the government? At a time when a looming danger of things slipping out of control remains very real, loose talk by leaders can have unpredictable and unintended consequences. Mr Khan has a genuine right to demand the accountability of the PM and his family but he must carefully weigh the possible outcomes of his words and actions. When he repeatedly refers to the ‘Umpire’ and ‘Third Force’ this may be misconstrued as a subtle acceptance of the military intervening to resolve the confrontation between politicians. Both the PTI and the government need to avoid saying or doing anything that may take us down a path we would rather not go.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2016.

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