Azadi, Inqilab marches: Expats want change, but in attitudes of leaders

Participants from abroad support Imran, Qadri but insist they show flexibility in demands to resolve deadlock.

ISLAMABAD: Expats coming from the developed world to participate in the ongoing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) sit-ins have expressed their concern over the stubborn attitude of the leaders towards solving the current deadlock.

Atif Masud and Hasan Ali Shah, both graduates from the London Business School, expressed distress over the fact that none of the parties had shown any flexibility and the sit-ins have continued for “far too long”. They were of the view that rigidity should now be set aside and the leaders should be more flexible.

“Not all demands will be fulfilled. It’s always a give and take situation,” said Masud.

At the same time, they underscored that the loss of lives in Model Town, Lahore, along with rigging, corruption and other issues were deplorable and should have been dealt with according to the law.

Despite their endless support for PTI chief Imran Khan, Masud agreed that the sit-ins have served a blow to the economy. “The protest should have been affecting the business community a lot. Exchange rates have also gone up since the sit-ins started,” he added.

In regards to the civil disobedience call, Masud said that it was perhaps one of the biggest mistakes Imran has made as there was ‘no way to evade taxes.’ Masud insisted that PM’s resignation was just a demand. “All we need is to live a peaceful life as we witnessed in other countries,” he said.

He insisted that there should have been a “plan B or C” as it now “makes no sense to some to continue the sit-in after five out of six PTI demands have been agreed to”.

“Personally, I think Imran should never quit, but at all other levels, things should be seen differently. This sit-in should be called off and considered a good pre-election campaign.” He added that energy should now be spent on the implementation of the accepted demands as the fight is against the system instead of persons. The PTI is adamant that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns—a condition which has caused the deadlock to persist.

Shah disagreed, however, reasoning that if the protests were called off at this stage, it would put things back at square one.

Commenting on the deteriorating law and order situation in the country, Shah said that multimillionaire Pakistanis live in the UK but are reluctant to come back to Pakistan because of rampant corruption, extortion, kidnapping for ransom, street crimes and terrorist activities. “Who would want to invest in a place where there is a constant threat to life and property,” said Shah.

Speaking of the issues faced by overseas Pakistanis, he said that changing the image of Pakistan at an international level was above all other issues, including the right to vote, discrimination in the consulates and embassies and ethnic issues. “Pakistanis are given least priority and if anyone can bring change and make Pakistan’s image better, it’s Imran Khan,” Shah said.

An expatriate PAT supporter from Malaysia said that that people should think over why we left our comfort zones before they judge us. “We have come out for fighting for the rights of people of Pakistan,” Arshad Mehmood maintained.

Mehmood is amongst the few expatriates who have left their jobs to “come back to Pakistan to get rid of the corrupt system”.

Another PAT supporter, who has come from Italy, said he was deprived of his life savings, amounting to Rs10million, after his friends lured him to invest the money in a business which turned out to be a scam. He said that the police were not even registering an FIR. “I have dual nationality and I can go back to Italy any day, but will stay here till Qadri sahab calls off the protest.”

Two women, who asked not to be named, said that they had come from Dubai to support Imran Khan as, “Only Imran had solutions to all the problems.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2014.