The present government seems to have a unique ability to surprise you even when it is doing exactly what you expect it to. Nothing explains this strange tendency better than the lengths it went to in order to do something about the opposition protest movement that was snowballing into Lahore for today’s jalsa. Everybody expected hundreds of our workers to be rounded up and leaders arrested and discredited. Even the flooding of the Minar e Pakistan ground, which will host the rally, wasn’t entirely ruled out. But it was the seemingly little things, like sealing Butt Kahari restaurant in Lahore for serving food to Maryam Nawaz and her entourage, that delivered the surprise. Most people have taken it as something of a joke, especially on social media where some have advised the PML-N vice president to stop for a bite at a popular foreign pizza outlet that was recently in the news next time, but in fact it was far more telling than most of the government’s intimidatory tactics employed so far. If all the arrests, threats and watering the park didn’t stop us, surely those calling the shots would have known that something like this was not going to help at all. Yet somebody still thought it was a good idea. And this, more than anything else, shows just how much they were shocked not just by the way Maryam Nawaz connected with the grass roots to mobilise workers ahead of the rally, but far more importantly by the response that she got from the masses. For she was thronged by thousands of people who want nothing more than a sense of order to return to their lives, and prices of essential items of course. In fact so large were the crowds, and so many people had so much to say to her, that her movement was reduced to a trickle. And, not knowing any better, the Lahore administration reacted by showing that it was ready to teach anybody who tried to cozy up to Maryam a lesson. Why else would they shut down a food outlet? If all the arrests, threats and watering the park didn’t stop us, surely those calling the shots would have known that something like this was not going to help at all. Yet somebody still thought it was a good idea. Actions speak louder than words and the government’s actions are clearly beginning to show that it is extremely unnerved by the constantly rising popularity and appeal of Maryam Nawaz. And why wouldn’t they be? They have tried everything in the book to take her out of the game, from bringing her reputation into disrepute to harassing, accusing, arresting and disqualifying her, yet she has shown the incredible will and fortitude to come out stronger every time. Even the select group of prime time TV anchors who would report night as day if PTI said so have been forced to accept and appreciate the fact that Maryam has stolen the spotlight by the sheer power of her personality and political acumen. In a matter of just a few months, she has appeared as the unquestioned new leader of PML-N and the face of PDM. It’s for a reason that PTI spokesmen no longer attribute her rise in the party to her being former PM Nawaz Sharif’s daughter only. That is because they know that she has built her political career on the power of the people, the true essence of democracy. People know their facts from propaganda, and they don’t just come out in the hundreds of thousands to see and hear her just because she’s Nawaz Sharif’s daughter. She has never contested an election, never held public office, not even headed the party before, yet she has emerged to command the respect of the most senior politicians and observers by taking her case directly to the people, who now see her as the future of Pakistan. It is also very important to point out that by trying to blame the opposition for spreading Covid-19 through its rallies the government is only weakening its own case. It’s not as if anybody holds a gun to the people’s heads and drags them out to our gatherings. And it’s not as if people do not understand the dangers of the coronavirus. Yet the fact that they still come out in such large numbers is not short of an indictment of the government. Clearly their actions are meant to show that of the virus and this administration, they are desperate for the latter to go first. Pakistan is slowly waking up to the reality that Maryam Nawaz personifies the new wave of leadership that is going to sweep through the country. These leaders will owe their rise to the people, therefore they will always place their compact with the people above everything else on their priority lists. That is why I am not surprised that already opposition parties are gaining strength from each other and talking about stretching PDM beyond the ouster of the present administration, including the prospect of accommodating each other through seat adjustments. PTI, and the so called establishment that pushed it up, can see the writing on the wall as well. In famous French poet Victor Hugo’s immortal words, “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” The idea that people were central to democracy had somehow got lost in Pakistan. Maryam Nawaz has brought it back and its time has now finally come. Just follow today’s jalsa to see how. The writer is a LUMS graduate and currently serves as PMLN MPA. She is a close aide of Maryam Nawaz and tweets at @hinaparvezbutt