ISLAMABAD:
For nearly 50 days, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has barrelled forward with its demands as it carries out a sit-in in the capital. And the man in the container – Imran Khan – shows no signs of backing down or calling off the dharna. “Look, the mission has been promising,” the PTI chief says, sitting inside the container’s makeshift meeting area as rain pours outside. “This is the mission to change Pakistan, to liberate Pakistan from these crooks and criminal politicians.”
Imran sits on a red chair inside the container, which is festooned with party flags and banners. Supporters vie for photographs with him and Naeemul Haq and Faisal Javed Khan hover nearby. It is 12.30 am and the PTI chief looks tired. But the dharna will go on, he insists, adding, “It has changed the fate of the masses.”
He speaks of army general turned Indonesian president Suharto, who was forced out of power after 32 years. “No political party succeeded in removing Suharto,” Imran says. “He finally stepped down through street protests and the power of students who occupied the grounds and roof of parliament. So if Suharto could be removed, then why not Nawaz Sharif?” The dharnas will continue as long as needed, because Imran is confident that it is the “power of the people and not guns” that will eventually triumph.
The PTI chief says his faith in this ‘mission’ lies with his supporters. “Public protest in the most powerful weapon,” he reiterates, describing the current leadership as a ‘mafia’ that controls the system through rigged elections.
“Traditionally, politicians loot money first, then they buy the voters and eventually they buy the elections,” he says. He accuses the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of siphoning money away in foreign bank accounts and purchasing properties worth billions of dollars outside the country.
“They (Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari) have laundered money from Pakistan. Money that belongs to the people of Pakistan has been taken away. Both men have the same interests and both want to protect the status quo,” he reiterates.
This ‘status quo’ can only be defeated through the “power of the people on the streets” because all those in Parliament only wish to preserve it for their benefit, he argues. He points to the joint session of Parliament wherein lawmakers voiced their support for the PM and urged him not to resign. “Their interests are the same and they came to the PM’s rescue because he protects the status quo,” he explains.
“This is the moment for the rights of the common man in Pakistan,” Imran says. “The right to health, education, justice, employment and most importantly, the right to vote for who they want as leader.”
He addresses his detractors, who have urged PTI to use legal and legislative forums to continue its struggle. “We tried all the legal channels and besides, the former chief justice himself was involved in this match-fixing,” he says, referring to allegations that former CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry enabled electoral rigging. He accuses the ex-CJP of “controlling and using the returning officers” to rig the elections. “The only road left for us was to mobilise the people against the most rigged elections in history,” he insists. “Those who were involved in this fraud must be punished.”
Discussing possible electoral reforms, Imran says he does not have faith in any such changes until and unless those who violated the Constitution and stole the people’s mandate are punished. There will be no deal, it appears, no negotiations, without some heads rolling. And in the end, Imran’s main target is at the top. “Nawaz Sharif, if you were involved in this electoral fraud, how can you sit as the chief executive?” he asks of the premier. “And if the PM was involved, how can there ever be an independent inquiry into the fraud?”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2014.
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I am sorry but the writer who is unabashedly an ardent supporter of Mr Imran Khan is glossing over the gross misconduct of Mr Khan. It was reported by Khan's party president that IK was being openly supported by the all powerful military to trying to cut PM Sharif to his size. The reason is as old as Pakistan itself i.e Sharif is trying to punish former dictator Musharraf for abrogating the constitution and declaring himself president for 8 years without any electoral process. Javed Hashmi has openly claimed that he will not be part of a constitutional coup in which an elected parliament is being held hostage by the likes of Tahir-ul-qadri (a firebrand cleric without a single seat in parliament). Don't believe me? Just view the ex-cronies of Musharraf such as Shiekh Rasheed egging Imran on to topple the government.
This movement has evolved from a movement demanding a resignation and an election audit, into a movement that has awakened the masses. Anyone who still supports the status quo is either a beneficiary of the status quo are just plain blind. It's time these despots are kicked out of the country. It's also about time the their system of getting into power, rigging elections, is kicked out of the country. Success in eliminating this system will change Pakistan's destiny forever InshaAllah.