Marches and sit-ins will end soon enough and most likely not with a bang but a whimper. Over the last few weeks, much of the country was riveted to its television screens, watching the goings on in Islamabad. Almost every Pakistani, and that includes almost every US Pakistani I came across during my stay in the US, had an opinion about all the ‘actors’ in this drama. Perhaps it is time to summarise some of my own impressions of the participants, the leaders on either side of the protests and also the people I met and talked to and their opinions about what was going on.
The most striking impression I got was the utter loathing most well educated Pakistanis and US Pakistanis have for Allama Tahirul Qadri. As far as Imran Khan is concerned, his hardcore supporters were initially ambivalent but once he joined hands with Qadri, his supporters sort of went ballistic. The very same people that could expound for hours about freedom of speech and the right of peaceful assembly to protest against a government suddenly became absolute opponents of the ‘peaceful’ Qadri/Khan marches and sit-ins.
It will require some serious analysis to determine why the Pakistani intelligentsia is so anti-Qadri. Fortunately for me, my analytical capabilities are not up to snuff for such an analysis. And, no, it is not enough to blame alleged army backing for why Tahirul Qadri is so widely reviled. Almost every Pakistani politician worth his or her salt has been nurtured by the army at some stage of their political ‘growth’. As far as our present Prime Minister (PM) is concerned, he is after all the political spawn of General Ziaul Haq, the devil himself.
I had a rather favourable impression of the participants in these protests. Most of them are young, seemingly well educated and a large number of them are women. They seemed to be committed to the cause, remained peaceful and suffered the harsh weather with equanimity. All the detractors of Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri must also accept the fact that these two men were able to mobilise young people and bring them into politics. An interesting side bar: even with all these young men and women out in the open for a prolonged period of time there were no untoward incidents. There were no reported cases of sexual harassment or of attempted assaults. Pretty impressive that!
All the armchair politicians and internet warriors should accept that these young people represent what is good about Pakistan these days. At least these young people were willing to come out and stay put in an inhospitable environment for the sake of what they believe. Yes, they might be ‘burger kids’ or students from Qadri’s schools but, whatever, they are at least willing to do something to make Pakistan a better place. The participation and the behaviour of all these young demonstrators fills me with the hope that Pakistan has a much better future than the one predicted by our prophets of doom and gloom.
Now, to the more interesting stuff: who is up, who is down and who is out? Tahirul Qadri is definitely up. Not a single seat in parliament and yet he has filled the hearts of the Sharif brothers with terror. More importantly, he has managed to bring anguish to all self-styled liberals in Pakistan and that by itself is worth considerable admiration. He has forced the Punjab police to register cases against the Sharif brothers and their cronies for the Model Town tragedy. Not bad for a visiting cleric from Canada.
As far as Imran Khan is concerned, he is down and possibly even out. The best thing that can happen to him is if he is arrested and kept in jail for a few months. This will give him a chance for some serious introspection out of the limelight and prevent him from making the bizarre speeches he seems to thrive on these days. Perhaps while in jail he can also catch up on some of the serious reading he seems to have neglected since his days at Oxford. And, yes, he will emerge as a hero.
The one person not directly involved but who has definitely refurbished both his waning influence as well as his reputation during this ‘crisis’ is former president Zardari of the perpetual smile. He has become the Sharif’s go to man. I do not know what advice he gave to the PM during that now famous lunch in Raiwind but I will venture to guess that it was for him to, first, not resign, second, not start anything too violent, and, most importantly, keep talking to them. If nothing else, he might bore them into a state of terminal ennui. As far as dealing with the general is concerned, Zardari’s advice most likely was: just do not say no to him but do not say yes either and definitely do not try to fire him.
And now to our PM. He is not out but he is definitely in and therefore up. Not up, up and away but just up. The fact that he has spent more time in the national assembly during the last week or so than he probably did during all his tenures as PM suggests that he has finally found a place where he can expect some respect. To slightly misquote what Captain Renault said to Rick in the movie Casablanca, it might be the beginning of a new friendship. However, nobody has ever accused the PM of learning from his past mistakes.
About the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), by not doing anything he has done more than could be expected of him and that is good. It is tough for even the worst army haters to find fault with how the army under the COAS has behaved so far. But tomorrow is another day.
The writer has practiced and taught medicine in the US. He can be reached at [email protected]