Persecution, not prosecution

A road to incarceration

Former president Asif Ali Zardari remains the most incarcerated political leader in Pakistan’s history. Be it 1990, 1996 or 2019, it seems he is the lowest hanging fruit in the accountability mechanism’s drive to “combating corruption”. The protagonists in this game are the same: stories fueled to media; politicians opposed to the PPP; and the noise created to involve federal government agencies followed by the judiciary taking notice. Incarceration begins, only for prosecution to fail and persecution to win.

It seems Zardari’s biggest crime was to marry Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and staying a steadfast companion through her trials. He was offered safe passages by Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Nawaz Sharif and Pervez Musharraf to lead a content life and leave her. However, he stood by and took the leadership role after her gruesome assassination 11 years ago. Clearly the assassins thought that with Benazir Bhutto gone, the PPP would wither away. It hasn’t yet. The party completed its tenure under then president Zardari. He ensured the promise of devolution to the provinces in the form of the 18^th Amendment, the NFC Award and transferred power to the “winners” of the next general elections. He also guaranteed there were no political prisoners during his time. While the party has not been allowed to work actively due to administrative and security issues, Sindh continues to support the PPP despite the propaganda against it and its leadership. Possibly, Zardari is a thorn for those who cannot fathom the party’s control and presence across the country, or how the next generation of PPP leadership under Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his sisters are a reflection of their illustrious grandfather and mother in their political agenda of power to the people.

For the last few years, Zardari’s sister, Faryal Talpur, has been receiving hostility for being his and Chairman Bilawal’s obdurate support. She is no ordinary woman. She has been the district Nazim of Nawabshah and an MNA twice and is currently an MPA from Sindh, the only province that continues to stay out of the PTI’s reach. The party has won elections under her leadership and she remains an able organiser, in touch with the workers and the middle and lower tier leadership across the country.

This time the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been extremely active on money laundering scandals and fake accounts which are seemingly inspired from the corruption and kickbacks charges of the 1990s. The PPP has never shied away from politically motivated charges and has faced persecution by the country’s military and political dictators. The “guilty as charged” and not “guilty as proven” process that is followed worries a common man with liberal values. The PPP ensured that during its tenure, NAB and the law under which it operates, is not misused and political prisoners are not fixed. Whereas, since 2013, the use of NAB as a tool to persecute politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen has reached such a level that bureaucrats don’t want to take decisions for fear of the draconian law and businessmen avoid investing in the country. The PTI, which came into power on the pretext of cleansing the system, is considering changes in NAB’s modus operandi and the law. Maybe they have understood that things cannot go on like this or maybe they can foresee the future. Karma?

Both Zardari and Mrs Talpur are strong-willed individuals who have seen the highs and lows of life. They suffered from personal losses and the liberties of life have been taken away, but they have stood by their politics of standing with the people of Pakistan. The PTI must think before it eggs its own face.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2019.

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