Daily Times

Notwithstanding Imran’s emphasis on rule of law from every convenient roof-top, what transpired at Zaman Park, when police and law enforcement agencies went there to carry out the implementation of the arrest warrants issued by Session Judge of Islamabad, was a horrendous portrayal of undermining writ of the state and making a mockery of judiciary. It was not an incident in isolation. The country and the whole world saw the repeat of the same enactment when he came to Islamabad to attend the court proceedings on March 18, accompanied by thousands of his supporters against Islamabad Police.

IG Islamabad Police, in a statement, said that the unfolding events were a new thing for them. The supporters of Imran Khan created a situation in which it became almost impossible to start proceedings of his indictment on the Tosha Khana case, and the judge perforce had to postpone it till March 30.

On the eve of his appearances in Lahore High Court, Imran Khan came along with his supporters and made the court wait for him rather than it being the other way around. He almost dictated terms to the provincial apex court for condescending to make his appearance. He has been acting the same way regarding calls from lower courts and even the Islamabad High Court.

In a democratic polity, political parties have a right to protest and agitate their causes through rallies and media.

The mind-boggling dilemma is that despite his defiance of the courts to thwart his arrest, the judiciary has inexplicably adopted a grovelling attitude towards him. I am now seventy-five years old and have seen many political movements and struggles, beginning in the late sixties. But I cannot recall any instance where other political leaders were treated the way Imran Khan is being entertained by the courts. It surely raises many eyebrows.

Is it not strange that despite the IHC and sessions court terming the resistance by PTI supporters at Zaman Parak an attack on the state and the Lahore High Court also telling Imran Khan that he had mishandled the situation, he was granted bail in several cases and the sessions judge also followed suit while postponing the hearing till March 30.

In a democratic polity, political parties have a right to protest and agitate their causes through rallies and media, but a political leader using his supporters to challenge the writ of the state is unheard of. Such activities are considered legitimate only in freedom movements, as has also been recognized by the UN. The nineties were a decade of politics of vendetta in Pakistan when two major political parties feverishly worked to destabilize each other’s government, framing the opponents in false corruption cases and sending them behind bars. But nobody ever thought of resisting arrest, challenging the writ of the state or defying orders of the courts.

The anodyne and conscientious observers who saw the tragedy unfolding at Zaman Park and Islamabad are not off the mark to liken it to terrorist activities. That impression is strengthened by the fact that among the supporters of Imran Khan at Zaman Park was also a member of the Swat Taliban Iqbal Khan and a close associate of Sufi Muhammad, who has served a long term in prison. His presence is corroborated by a picture taken at the site. The presence of GB Police to protect Imran Khan also sent a very wrong message. What consequently transpired is not the way of the politicians.

The element of violence and challenging the writ of the state that Imran Khan has introduced into Pakistani politics will impact Pakistani politics in many ways. It is said that even madness has a method, but what we saw during these incidents belies that saying. It was far beyond madness. An eminent journalist and columnist Salahuddin rightly described it as a cult following. Imran Khan surely bears responsibility for what happened. He needs to be stopped in his tracks before he wittingly or unwittingly leads the country into anarchy and chaos.

Political leaders try to unite nations while pursuing their political discourse within the confines of the law and constitution of the land. But Imran Khan has fomented extreme polarization in the country. The nation stands divided, which is not an encouraging sign for the future of the country. As they say, nobody is bigger than the state. The law has to take its course and the state must assert and protect its writ irrespective of the fact who was challenging it.

Imran Khan is a leader in his own right but to prove his credential of being a patriotic politician, he has to abide by the law and show allegiance to the state and the constitution. Any conduct to the contrary is simply not acceptable. I was flabbergasted to hear the PTI stalwarts claiming that PTI workers have never resorted to violence in spite of the people seeing it on their TV screens. I wonder whom they and their leader are trying to befool?

Imran must realize that the course he is treading might eventually lead to undermining the chances of elections in Punjab and KPK or even wrapping up the system if things get out of hand. In this regard, I agree with the tweet of Ahmed Bilal Mehboob chief of PILDAT in which he said, “I think Imran Khan, through the events of the past 30 hours or so has unwittingly provided the strongest argument against Punjab Assembly Elections on 30th April. Petrol bombs were a great idea of someone who did not want the elections.”

The writer is a former diplomat and freelance columnist.