Daily Times

Accountability is the last refuge of the scoundrel. With apologies to Samuel Jackson, I had to modify his famous quote, which points at patriotism as being the last refuge. I just did not know how else I could express my outrage and disappointment at the tweet that appeared last week from the self-proclaimed mother of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), Fauzia Kasuri, in which she said: “Time is right for the fauj (army) to cleanse and hold accountability of all who are guilty of loot, plunder, fraud, terror against Pak!”
If you are thinking this message was taken out of context and does not represent the continuum of a thought process, then let me assure you it is not true. Just a couple of days before her open invitation to the army, on June 25 she tweeted: “Pakistan is in desperate need of accountability, without discrimination, now! Looters of public wealth and trust must not be spared!”
As far as ruthless accountability is concerned, everyone agrees with her. The difference is that we want it to be done through legal and constitutional means. That, on the other hand, is not the case with her. She does not believe in this parliamentary democracy. She writes: “My humble opinion — Pak needs a pres form of govt. parl system breeds corruption in our country where institutions are weak and no accountability.” Yes, you got it right; she is referring to the parliamentary form of democracy, the same parliament that she so desperately wanted to be a part of and even left her party when she was declined a reserved seat. Now, two years later, it suddenly “breeds corruption” and for that she is ready to attack the Constitution, the essence of our nation. Now tell me, if the army is leading the accountability process, who will be the president?
With her family background and experience, I am sure she knows what she is doing by ‘pitching a feeler’ to gauge the people’s resentment against the current government. However, I am not sure if the young workers of her party understand these tricks. Let me tell them that this is not the first time a political party has played this dubious role. Just before the PTI, it was the PML-N that stood up for accountability, claiming to bring all the alleged wealth of the nation back. It was its job to pave the way for another martial law and to welcome it once it was implemented, to suppress the people’s anger if they started agitation and to join the cabinet once it was announced as if it was inevitable because of the incompetence and dishonesty of the civilian government. The party, led by the current Prime Minister (PM), at one point was notorious for its association with the establishment. It flipped to acquire an anti-establishment role only after PM Nawaz Sharif himself, while he was still in office, was incarcerated, prosecuted, sentenced and exiled for years.
Let me also remind energetic yet gullible PTI workers that 57 years ago when Field Marshal Ayub Khan imposed the first martial law in 1958, he too shared his concerns regarding “the chaotic state of the country”. He was disturbed as well by the “lack of scruples on the part of parliamentary leaders”. In the first few months, he also mentioned “widespread corruption, irresponsible conduct of services and disorderly finances” as the reason for his intervention and he too promised to “clear the messes and prepare the country for a more practicable form of government”. However, what happened after a short period of economic stability is a different story: the true mother of the nation, Fatima Jinnah, was declared as an Indian agent, the 1965 war ended up in a disaster and the process of the partition of Pakistan gained momentum.
PTI workers must also realise that Field Marshal Ayub Khan is not alone in his attempt to “clear the mess”. After him there has been a long list of commanders who followed in his footsteps. Some of them, like Generals Ziaul Haq and Musharraf, attempted this overtly by subverting the Constitution and risking prosecution. But there are many others who pulled the strings while staying behind the scenes. Did any one of them accomplish his objectives? Is the country better off after four martial laws, especially now that the Pakistan army is fighting an active insurgency in three out of four provinces and its soldiers are losing lives fighting people who share the same faith and nationality?
Party supporters must not also forget that Asif Ali Zardari, the most corrupt politician of Pakistan (allegedly), was in jail for seven years or more. Why could the administration led by General Musharraf not put together a single case against him that could get them a guilty verdict? What happened to the accountability process then? Besides that, why were they not able to prove a single case of financial misconduct during eight years of exile of the Sharif brothers? I think it is a disservice to the Pakistan army by pulling it into civilian matters, by challenging its capabilities for something it is not trained to do.
Fauzia Kasuri’s statement cannot be brushed aside as a matter of personal opinion. It was not shared with close friends in a private meeting leaked as hearsay without evidence like the ‘gospel’ of the 35 punctures. This invitation to the army was made public on social media with the twitter address of the current Director General (DG) of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), General Asim Bajwa, attached to it. It needs to be taken seriously. From the PTI’s side, I want to know if she is representing the party’s position. Since the day this message appeared on Twitter, I am waiting for an official response from the PTI, the party she claims to belong to. Usually, the party does a press conference on almost every issue but is quiet on this one. Why? Is the PTI on the same page as her?

The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com