Put an end to political ‘Khaie’

The tendency in our midst to experiment with illusions for the sake of personal interests pushed the country to brink

Nowadays, I have fallen in love with drama serial ‘Khaie’ being telecast on a private TV channel. It is an articulately filmed piece of fiction in the serene valleys of Northern Areas, which goes on to depict tribal revenge, vendetta and warfare in generations. It calls for an eye for an eye. These days Pakistan’s political culture is in a Khaie. Nawaz Sharif’s extrajudicial exit in 2017 has been avenged by Imran Khan’s stage-managed extermination on the floor of the house in 2022. And the vendetta has come square. Now the engineering behind the curtains for denying Khan and his PTI the mandate delivered by the masses on the extraor-
dinary Feb 8 election is casting a new chapter of political feud. This vicious circle of Khaie has to stem somewhere, as it comes at the altar of national cohesion and trust in the state edifice. So where do we stand now? It is a well-documented conclusion that
the verdict of the masses on Feb 8 has been tampered with.

The Election Commission and the judiciary are in the dock, and some instant and serious rectification is indispensable. But that seems to be a wish-list as the PTI-backed Independents are being pushed to the wall, and their legal claims as per Form-45 veracity brushed under the carpet. This speaks high of a vested plot.

But the men on the street, this time around, are more vocal and are refusing to take the defeat. They have learnt to question the status quo in the aftermath of the ballot, and are ready to put their foot down. To join their chorus are a large number of political
factions, who too are determined not to go down without fighting. This situation calls for a pause, and some deep breathing, to establish as to why we reached this stage. To quote Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, a veteran in politics with a visionary insight into state affairs, it is all owing to the denial of mandate to the party that won the polls. Though he belongs to the other side of the political divide, he had the courage and conviction to make it a point that an independent election
commission and upholding the verdict of the masses is the way to go ahead.

Flanked by Jamaat-e-Islami stalwarts at a press conference, he categorically admitted that PTI voters through the use of technology had ‘defeated the system’. Eliciting from recent history, he cautioned it is either the Cairo route or the Turkish module. The jury is out! The future of Pakistan is civilian supremacy. This calls for abidance to the Constitution and rule of law. The earlier we recognise this reality the better. The tendency in our midst to experiment with illusions for the sake of petty personal interests has pushed the country to the brink. While hanging over the cliff, we are all in it: no one can be spared of responsibility. The
politicians failed to mushroom a culture of tolerance for each other and resorted to short-cuts at the behest of extra-
constitutional characters, and in doing so they destroyed national institutions. Likewise, the military thought it is its domain and prerogative to decide on ‘national interests’ and kept on intervening in power politics, in contravention of its oath of duty. Last but not least, the civil and judicial bureaucracy, et al, kept on relishing on bounties and did everything they can but service to the masses.

The outcome is chaos, confusion and a serious credibility deficit in the apparatus of the state. It has bred a gangrene of discontent. This is in needof being healed, and the only diagnosis is to put the people at the vanguard, and take out the arm twisters in state edifice. Pakistan is an outcome of a constitutional struggle, and it is a good omen that people still believe in a change on the premise of their legally ordained choice through the ballot. The people have defied regulations to
stand with their political leadership, and this calls for setting free all prisoners of conscience, including Imran Khan. The Feb 8 dyed-in-the-wool verdict for a ‘new tomorrow’ must be respected, and let that be the ‘new normal’. This is how Pakistan’s political
Khaie can come to an end.