Daily Times

One of my favourite pastimes on our farm was to have “poona,” an indigenous variety of sugarcane, harvested and have it squeezed for fresh “roh”, sugarcane juice. After sunset in autumn evenings, we would sit under a banyan tree near a “karaha” an oval wide utensil heated by firewood, to produce “gur” chunks of brown sugar. As the moisture evaporated, all the muck would gather on the surface and would be expertly gleaned off to produce a pure residue. I can relate this memory to our present rulers’ dirty tricks of throwing muck and attacking the persona of IK. These morons with chequered pasts must remember “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones at others.”

They rigged up this porn-addicted Mufti to cast doubts on his marriage. Sent a tax bill to IK’s mother Shaukat Khanum 38 years after her death like it was done to Quaid’s sister, Fatima Jinnah by venomous dictator Ayub Khan because she had challenged his rule. The present rulers and their backers have lost all sense of propriety and decency. They are out to destroy every institution or person(s) that stand in the way of prolonging their illegitimate rule; blowing all democratic norms to smithereens much like a bull in a china shop.

In early 2022, Pakistan was on a smooth course. The economy was growing at six per cent, and exports and remittances were at the highest levels. Small, medium and large industries were seeing unprecedented expansion. Agricultural production was on the rise and foreign exchange reserves were at respectable levels. Accountability, despite the machinations of General Bajwa, was inching forward and the noose was tightening around PM Sharif. Inflation was at an uncomfortable level of 12 per cent yet it was being appropriately managed.

The three leading components of PDM: PML(N), PPP and JUI all tested their capabilities to overthrow the PTI government through unsuccessful long marches in 2021 and 2022. They were literally out of options. That is when the top Machiavellian brain in Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, kicked in. By then General Bajwa had accumulated enough skeletons in his closet and had come to enjoy his role as a control freak. He wanted yet another extension. PM Sharif, despite heading the biggest party in Punjab, was shivering in his boots as his indictment came closer. Maulana Fazal was full of spite as he saw PTI as a roadblock. Despite getting temporary relief, the sword of Damocles hung over Zardari’s head for his stolen billions. The icing on the cake was Nawaz Sharif’s bitterness and seething anger at being dispossessed.

It led to the formation of the “Council of Rogues” through backdoor meetings; highlighted by PM SS’s visit to GHQ while concealed in the trunk of a car. Bajwa by then had his spy chief. He used State funds to hire Hussain Haqqani to lobby against his own Prime Minister to distort IK’s image within US Establishment. Zardari led the assault on PTI’s turncoats bribing them to ditch their leader. Bitter Nawaz Sharif, who is looking like an over-fed burly bear, gave the PM’s seat to Shahbaz to be the seat-warmer for his anointed successor, Maryam. Working in tandem they pulled off this coup with a nudge from a complaint judiciary.

These rogues saw PTI’s debacle in the municipal election in KP, backed by their surveys to deduce that IK was unpopular and that he will wither away upon being removed. Allah had His plans. The people of Pakistan reacted in a manner that none of these jokers could foresee. This is when Zardari’s ultimate deception kicked in. Staying in PDM he got Bilawal appointed as Foreign Minister who spent the whole year wooing the West rather than conducting foreign policy. Relations with Afghanistan are a mess. We stand sidelined in all the re-alignments going on in the region between China, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Pakistan is viewed as a wanna-be in the region dying to appease the West.

Zardari let PM Sharif dismantle accountability and run the economy into a ditch. PML(N)’s rock star Maryam completely failed to gain traction amongst the masses. For someone raised in luxury without having done a day’s hard work, she could not connect with the masses. Her entire training revolves around lies, dirty tricks, fake videos and audio.

PDM’s repeated failure in all elections at the municipal, provincial and national levels has traumatized their leadership. “Chaudhry ne khanay te bulaya par pura bakra aap kha giya;” the village head invited us for lunch but ate the whole goat himself. That’s what Zardari has done. Sharifs stand demolished in Punjab while he sits pretty in interior Sind; enough to form a Government there.

Where do we stand now? PM Sharif is on a collision course that could lead to his disqualification. Who is next in line? Queen Maryam has lost her pearls. Starting with “I own no properties” to her latest embarrassment about owning a BMW she has established her credentials as a compulsive liar. Army Chief’s leaked comments talk about the supremacy of the will of the people. It suggests that PDM’s biggest crutch has seen the writing on the wall and gone into self-preservation mode.

Despite the severe attack and divisive intrigues, Supreme Court, under CJ Bandial and his bench, is emerging as Knights in Shining Armor defending the Constitution. With PML(N) in tatters, one foresees PPP in alliance with a newly morphed Muslim League without Sharifs that will face off with PTI in Punjab and KP. Elections are inevitable.

The writer is the director of CERF, a non-profit, charitable organisation in Canada.The weiter can be followed on twitter at following id: @HafeezKhanPU