On March19, 2013, Fauzia Kasuri returned to Pakistan from an unquestionably triumphant yet exhausting four-week fundraising tour, which covered nearly 20 cities in the UK, US and Canada. Having easily exceeded the target of $ 1,000,000 set by the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Imran Khan, she disembarked in Islamabad, and instead of going home to take much needed rest, rushed straight to the US Embassy in Islamabad to initiate the process of renunciation of her American nationality. Unable to renounce prior to the departure on the PTI-mandated tour (US passport required), she had to get it done in time for her political party’s first intra-party election ever only two days later.
Earlier, Ms Kasuri had communicated to Hamid Khan, the PTI’s Election Commissioner (EC), that she would be unable to complete the process of renunciation until after the election. Hamid Khan presented a solution. He dictated to Kasuri a letter (to be written on stamp paper, notarised by an Islamabad High Court notary) stating that she had begun the process of renunciation of US nationality, and that in the event it had not been surrendered within four weeks (and she won the election) she would relinquish the position of Women’s Wing President to the runner up. In addition, Ms Kasuri promised to make a public declaration stating that her decision to renounce her US nationality was final. At 4:30 pm, shortly after filing her application with the EC PTI, she appeared on Live with Talat to make her decision public. At 12:15 am on the morning of the elections, Hamid Khan called to inform her that shortly after her submission, Munazza Hassan, one of the contestants, had submitted a voluminous and well-drafted petition against allowing Ms Kasuri to contest the election on the basis that she was a dual national at the time of submission. He, therefore, had no choice but to grant the petition and disqualify Ms Kasuri.
This was a bitter pill for Ms Kasuri to swallow. Firstly, by all accounts, Ms Hassan had been a dear friend to her since the early days of the PTI. To Ms Kasuri’s chagrin, Ms Hassan had premeditatedly seen fit to file a petition against a colleague of 17 years, who was two days away from renouncing the residency/nationality that Ms Hassan had spent the last decade away from Pakistan attempting to obtain in Canada. Notwithstanding the known fact that in ‘rivayti siasat’ (traditional politics) anything goes, Ms Hassan’s perceived betrayal of a dear friend must have weighed heavily on her mind.
Of course, personal issues could not possibly compete with professional ones. Ms Kasuri was the one who has built the PTI Women’s Wing. She had played a central role in energising the PTI’s overseas chapters. She stayed the course with Imran Khan when most of the ‘founding members’ (as per the PTI Information Cell) threw in the towel and migrated overseas. Nevertheless, in his meeting with Ms Kasuri on March 21, Mr Khan took the ‘principled’ position and refused to intervene on her behalf on the grounds that ‘rules’ needed to be followed, no matter who wanted an exception. He further advised her to complete the process of renunciation as she had to serve the PTI in parliament after the general elections. She accepted and completed the renunciation of US nationality on March 22, 2013, contrary to the PTI Information Cell’s erroneous clarification issued recently. However, she did file a petition with Hamid Khan against the decision to disqualify her, one that to this day has not been answered. To be denied the right to contest the intra-party election on a technicality might have been more palatable to her had numerous other dual nationals not participated. It was no secret that Rafi Khan, a leading patron of the Insaaf Student Federation and Rana Masud of Rahimyar Khan were but two of the many dual nationals who were cleared to contest these elections.
The electoral college charged to appoint the Women’s Wing president was itself comprised of over 300 voters, of whom a paltry 20 were women. Interestingly, Ms Fauzia Kasuri, despite her disqualification, won the election as 116 members of the electoral college abstained from voting (in protest). Ms Hassan, a virtual unknown amongst the PTI women, received 96 votes to become the Women’s Wing president, entirely due to the support of Ejaz Chaudhary’s ultra-right wing panel, of which even more interestingly, Ms Kasuri’s own brother-in-law Khurshid Kasuri was a part (so much for the politics of change!). Ayla Malik, a recent entry into the PTI, the subject of a controversy that has allegedly caused a rift in Khan’s own family, came in as the official runner-up with 90 votes.
In an intra-party election where rigging allegations from party workers abound, this one in particular has produced the most tragic result. The sidelining of Ms Kasuri, a socially liberal and progressive woman who had maintained the independence of the Women’s Wing throughout its existence, is a clear victory for the firebrand conservatives in the PTI. More recently, Saloni Bokhari, the elected Women’s Wing President of Punjab (and a vocal supporter of Ms Kasuri) and Ms Kasuri herself, have not been selected to enter either the National or provincial Assembly. Clearly, the PTI’s right wing has succeeded in subjugating the party’s women to the whims of traditionally male-dominated politics. No doubt, educated women across the country wait with bated breath to see what the ‘Naya’ (New) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has in store for the rights of women.
Whether for a seat or on principle, Ms Kasuri’s seemingly inevitable resignation from the political party that she helped to create has left considerable doubts as to whether or not the Insaaf (Justice) party can address the deep reservations its most loyal workers have regarding the demonstrably questionable decisions of its second tier leadership during the intra-party elections, the general election ticket and the reserved seat selection process. Regardless, one thing is clear. Imran Khan is, by the grace of God, back on his feet. It is time for him to step in and take control of the situation personally.
The writer is a businessman and a social activist based in Lahore. He can be reached at [email protected] and on twitter @Mujahidkmir