Let’s call a spade a spade; no one in the PML-N leadership has any doubts of the legitimacy of the demands made by Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri. But the point at which Imran and Qadri lost the game is the way with which they have proceeded to get their demands met, making it obvious from the first day that it was a revolution for the elite by the elite.
As party leaders stood in the air-conditioned containers, the general public walked. Leaders stayed at Serena, Bani Gala and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa House, the poor supporters struggled for shelter under the trees. And when the crowd started to disperse, upper middle class and elite from Rawalpindi and Islamabad joined the ranks at night, after work, and good sleep to enjoy the festivities. Who suffered in all this? The poor that went from Mardan in the hope of making either a ‘New Pakistan’, or getting paid 6,000 rupees to attend the ‘revolution’.
If this was not enough, the PTI’s elite leadership went ahead into the Red Zone, and then towards the PM house. The leadership exclaimed, “I will take the first bullet”, but at the very first tear gas, the bravery and spine got a reality check. I have been told by a PTI insider that as the party leadership looked at the negative social media trending, Imran was taken on top of the container after half an hour with a cameraman, posed for pictures, and then came back down in the comfort of the container. And since Imran Khan loves to discuss the French Revolution, for the record, the French Revolution didn’t bring about a change in France. It only abolished Louis XVI’s empire and replaced it with Napoleon’s monarchy. It took almost 100 years after the French Revolution that basic democracy paved its way into the French society.
The PTI is a classic case of how ignorant and distant the elite of Pakistan is from the ground situation. The result of which is that people on the ground question the intentions and legitimacy of the Azadi March that Imran calls ‘revolution’. Khan sahib, if this struggle of yours is about bringing justice, where were you when Mama Qadeer marched with a handful of his people for thousands of missing Baloch people? And as Ahmadis ask where were you when their houses in Gujranwala were razed to the ground by a mob? Was that injustice not enough, or is your definition of injustice tailored by the establishment?
If your long march is all about ending inequality and poverty, Khan sahib, where were you when 150 children in Sindh died due to malnutrition? Why did you not march then? Was that not a good enough reason?
The peasants are astounded that the jagirdaars, gaddi-nasheens, and land mafia members in your ranks are giving fiery speeches on the rights of the poor, equality, and ending oppression. Such hypocrisy? Who are you fooling? The class that does not know the economic and political history of this country? Or those people that blindly follow you?
Revolutions are not a part-time fare and they definitely do not materialise through the rich elite aristocracy. Imran Khan, and those around him, and people like us who are fortunate enough to write and read, can never understand the suffering of the poor in Pakistan; since we are not one of them, and we shouldn’t pretend to be either. This does not mean, however, that we shouldn’t raise a voice for them — we should! But only when we have, first, done enough to change their situation at our own end.
Inequality and poverty will indeed end when we start paying our domestic labour their fare share. As flowery and slow process as it all sounds, all this is unfortunately the hard way that nations grow. There is no easy way, and expecting a shock therapy or ‘inqilab’ to change the situation will only change the rulers in the name of ‘revolution’, replacing them with opportunists that we see on the Azadi/inqilab containers.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (17)
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@Mirza: Ending poverty,corruption, joblessness are things that have not been addressed in last six decades because those sitting in the parliament enter the House through a manipulative election system and hence have their own priorities. IK's demand for election audit and meaningful reforms is the only way to ensure that only those truly elected by constituents enter the parliament and hence perform according to desires of those who voted versus those who rigged.
The beginning of the Op Ed is really clear and true. The leaders who are talking about poor masses of Pakistan are those who never worked in their lives for living like most of us do. They and their families are safe and very comfy in the cool countries of the West and living like royalties. The most imp point is when these leaders give up their struggle we have to ask them what have they achieved for the poor people? Did they have demands against poverty, hunger, diseases, joblessness, corruption in daily life and how have they achieved that? If IK or Qadri were out for mandatory education, healthcare, jobs, and other measurable steps I would be the first one to salute them and be with them in the heat and cold.
Lack of clarity and coherence in the article and without much reference of facts this nonsensical article surprises me. Author is in the payroll of PMLN govt and have been its worker. Zero for writing and minus for analysis, but excellent job on defamation.
So what you are saying is that the message is right but the messenger is wrong......well at least one thing is established and that is that the important part is right.
And btw... where does one start about the irony of a "Special Adviser" to Nawaz Sharif's govt talking with disdain about something being "for the elite by the elite"!
On this scale of his, where does he put the Sharifs and their cabinet (aka. their family)? Who does he think this parliament is serving and who does he think is "protecting" it?
The people he refers to as the "elite" are just the educated middle class who know there are bigger things than underpasses and flyovers... the real elite are the ones who fool the public into thinking that these scraps that they throw their way are something to be grateful for!
IK is our hero who is ready to sacrifice his political career fighting against shameless power grabbers & blood thirsty draculas. He is fighting our battle to transform our nation while majority of sufferers prefer to watch misleading TV propaganda by Nawab Sharif. A golden opportunity has knocked our doors in the guise of Azadi March but we are busy in futile debates. I myself am attending the March with my 6 month old baby from day 1. I curse those who are killing this revolution & our mustaqbil and those who criticise my hero IK. Shame shame. Imran zindabad! Azadi zindabad!!
Mr. Special Advisor, before laughing at 17 days long stay of Imran Khan in a container, you must read the news papers of October, 1999 showing your proletariat leader Mr. Ahsan Iqbal requesting policemen to arrest him while making a victory sign!
Shameful that paid from public exchequer for writing articles for a political party. Planning Minister should resign for using public money for party support.
What else could be expected from special assistant to the PM. The issues you speak of such as plight of missing persons, droughts in sindh, ahmedi persecution incident in gujranwala, etc- good governance FOR the people and an end to this nepotism and kleptocracy is the nly way to achieve these goals of ending such massive problems which afflict our poor nation.
I agree when you say that no one doubts of the legitimacy of the demands made by Imran Khan but it is the way that they proceeded damaged the movement.
However, it appears thereafter, you have viewed the entire thing wearing spectacles of the fed. Govt, for surely you may no longer enjoy the position of Advisor to Minister of P & D, if you were to view the entire thing from a different angle.
Raza Rabbani's statement is grossly misplaced , for obvious reasons that PPP has the same aversion to electoral reforms as other status quo parties. The so called " Haves ", certainly do not have the right to free election and a credible representatives in the parliament that solves their problems.
Your criticism over PTI leadership enjoying the amenities while leaving masses to bear the rough environment is valid on its own. But I wonder how you forgot to recall IK's anti-drone rally in 2013 that brought attention of Int media on the matter, when you taunt him for not taking out marches for missing persons and Tharparkar affectees. Practically speaking, can you expect any political party to tackle all the ills of the country simultaneously? and that too by taking out marches in all the directions? Instead of focusing on good contributed by demanding electoral audit and reforms for future elections, you have resorted to attempts to erode IK's credibility in much the same manner as the Mr. Ahsan Iqbal ( to whom you serve as "special Assistant").
Hypocrisy is the disconnect shown in each and every speech by the joint session of national assembly. Hypocrisy is Prime Minister saying sorry on phone and in parliament to solve a petty issue between pmln and ppp but not saying a single sorry to the lives lost in model town incident or the lives lost in red zone crackdown or the lives lost in floods. Hypocrisy is the national assembly session this friday in which ppp and pmln tried to settle a dispute between two individuals and didn't utter a single word about the flood crisis. Hypocrisy is prime minister telling lies in the assembly to the whole nation and dragging army into a situation the government was supposed to solve itself. Hypocrisy is telling the nation lies about the chinese president's visit and the 34 billion dollar loss if the visit is postponed, whereas the actual fact is that chinese foreign office denied even giving a particular date of the visit as the chinese spokesperson stated that: "It is worth pointing out that we have never released any information about President Xi's visit to Pakistan officially. So, there is no basis to say we are about to cancel anything" and the 34 billion dollar loss claimed is actually projects and loans to be given at 7% interest rate against 2.3-3% interest rate loan given by adb or world bank. PML and PPP have been switching power since decades without doing any good to the country and exhibiting hypocrisy in their every action and word. Its better to choose the third option of pti atleast once to see if they are any different than the 2 parties which keep on sharing powers and see if they are the poor eating hypocrites or they are capable of delivering some good to the nation with some sincerity
This article is a good example of "how ignorant and distant the elite of Pakistan is from the ground situation. "
Thought it was biased and wastrying to make sense from a particular perspective. But then saw the author is the special assitant to PMLN minister
Great article! Revolution by the elite for the elite!
very well written. The need for change is a writing on wall. but the path taken and the time chosen to do this, does not make sense.
Of course, people of PK are not stupid, with 58-2B gone, anti democratic forces are now using long marches as a tool to keep civilians in check from becoming too democratic. All of it nicely packaged, and loaded up with eye candy.