Feeling betrayed

Out of the PM House though, Imran Khan is back in the reckoning — and quite vociferously at that. Has Imran’s comeback as a popular leader anything to do with his performance at the helm? Does it reflect his persona that disseminates positive vibes despite all odds? Or is there something else behind all the commotion against his removal?

Three milestones were important in Imran’s political journey that eventually led his PTI to power. First was the 2010 jalsa in Lahore at Minar-e-Pakistan which set the tone for the future of PTI’s politics. The second was the 126-day-long dharna in Islamabad in 2014 that he co-opted with Tahir-ul-Qadri, who, after creating the needed drama, left the stage to Imran to weaken the PML-N government further. The third was the Panama Papers case, which established the PML-N as the most corrupt, unpatriotic and India-centric political party. The verdict of the Panama Papers case in July 2017 disqualified Nawaz Sharif, then prime minister of the country, for ten years. He was replaced with Shahid Khakan Abbasi to complete the remaining one-year tenure of the PML-N government. The stage was set to bring in PTI to clean the Augean stables.

This saga of seven years of a successful journey towards the dream job of premiership was not without its downside that eventually became the reason for Imran’s fall.

Imran was at the top of his popularity from 2010 to 2017. Almost every Pakistani was fed up with the Bhuttos, Zardaris, Sharifs and Achakzais. Symbol of dynastic politics, these families were perceived as the plunderers of Pakistan’s wealth. However, their biggest crime was taking this money out of Pakistan. This plunder had a name: money laundering. The amount of this plunder is way above 16 billion rupees.

The downside of the PTI was its willingness to form a government with the support of allies. In any other scenario, this would have been a standard arrangement. In the case of Pakistan, it was not that simple. In the strict sense, MQM, BAP, PML-Q, GDA and BNP-M were not allies. They were crutches that helped PTI complete its number game in the National and Punjab Assembly to form governments at the Center and in Punjab.

Had Imran opted to sit on the opposition benches with something around 90 seats (PTI could have easily begged that number, given their wave of popularity in 2018), his position would have been much stronger. He instead fell into the usual trap laid by the powers-that-be through coalition partners — with the idea to control the helmsman as a pawn from behind the scenes.

The raw sentiments we see in support of Imran are a projection of bitterness for those who the real control rests with. People are feeling deceived by the system that failed to keep its promise of freeing Pakistan of corrupt elements until they serve jail, seek forgiveness and return the looted money to the exchequer. People find it difficult to understand the removal of PTI and its replacement with a party whose almost every leader is wanted in corruption cases. Question is being raised: If they were fit to rule, why were the taxpayer money, time, energy and mental peace wasted in building mammoth cases against them?

People have, however, started seeing, within these intricacies, the hidden agenda behind premature removal of the successive governments. It is being questioned whether the real power wielders are really interested in making Pakistan economically strong.

However, it is just a matter of time before the debate around the political deception on social media becomes a movement to bring a strong and effective government that serves people rather than the power-hungry leaders.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2022.

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