Daily Times

The evening of January 17, Pakistanis saw another of the familiar farces called negotiations with the authorised representatives of the ruling coalition in full view of TV cameras in the well-furnished sitting room of the famous container. This was a strange but instructive sight. Against nine very seasoned politicians of various shades, the great Allama was the lone gladiator and in command. A three-page, seven-point agreement was negotiated, finalised and typed in less than three hours, which could be a world record. We were led to believe by the Allama that very serious discussions took place on each point. In less than fifteen minutes, it was signed by the prime minister and countersigned by the jubilant negotiators, including the bossy Maulana himself, again the lone ‘brave heart’. His body language was patronising, even doting over the likes of the formidable Chaudhry Shujaat, Farooq A Naek and others in the ‘royal’ presence. He asked his followers to believe that the march had succeeded and looked the part, but that is what he thought. To the contrary, he gave up three of his seven main demands in the first ever encounter with the hulking system.

The entire episode was revealing in many ways. While the fiery Allama was busy delivering his inflammatory harangue on January 16, in came the news that the Supreme Court had ordered the arrest of the prime minister. Dr Qadri immediately took it as his God-sent victory and was beside himself congratulating the bemused squatters. Whereas he, in fact, was completely bamboozled by the utterly fortuitous turn of events and could not make out what to do. Therefore, he ended his speech by claiming half the job done and that the remaining half would be done the next day. Did he expect the Supreme Court to depose the president or pack up the government? No one is sure what he really meant, including Dr Qadri himself. However, he seemed to relish the decision, and perhaps logged it as confirmation of his ‘divine selection’ to lead the wretched Pakistanis. He has lived with this maddening hallucination since long. In this regard, refer to his infamous and irreverently manufactured dream. As also notice the man’s strange attire, aping the Grand Mufti of Palestine, late Amin ul Hussaini. In the process, some unpleasant sides of his complex personality were incidentally uncovered. Recollect his reaction to the composition of the delegation led by Chaudhry Shujaat in Lahore a day before the march. The way he publicly insulted one of the unwelcome delegates was not as much out of indignation as it was for the fear of being undermined. He immediately sensed the horrifying possibility of the crash of his carefully cultivated cult and therefore reacted the way he did. His demonstrated disdain for the incompetent ruling coalition was understandable, but the angry public expression was quite unpleasant all along, to say the least.

Dr Qadri is highly self-righteous, that had been known since long. His strong disapproval of ordinary sinners like most of us too is known. However, the constrained ambience of the constricted container talks followed by the ones at the Minhaj-ul-Quran (MuQ) headquarters have thrown up a potentially invidious trait of his make-up, which is ominous should he be able to fully insert himself into our national decision-making loop. He appears strongly self-opinionated and despotic in his discourse and demeanour. His extensive public exposure and subsequent talks at the MuQ headquarters have not been able to produce even a single authentic spokesman, let alone a worthy colleague or teammate. The autocratically inclined Allama does not let the limelight shift from his person. This is a dangerously destructive trait in a leader of men. In our country’s history we have had men like him before too, whose these very traits brought untold miseries to this bonded nation. Déjà vu, shall we say? His habit to reside in a make-believe world is disturbing as it can be disastrous. One is reminded of Hitler, whose belief in phantom army divisions did much to bring about the German defeat during WWII. Dr Qadri vehemently insisted people believe, and perhaps did himself too, that the crowd at Islamabad was from a million to five million strong. That was his compulsion of optics but this falsehood did not have to be made into an article of faith. One did not also see any droves of people rushing to the Blue Area to join in as claimed by him. As a matter of fact, by January16, the few thousands-strong crowd was successfully contained and had mellowed down so much that business as usual went on in other parts of the capital. All roads leading into Islamabad were deserted and free of traffic hazards.

The long march is done and Dr Qadri is at centre-stage for the time being. However, this courtship is not likely to last long. The traditional keepers of state power may already be busy in their workshops devising tools to either unseat him or chisel him down to fit into a convenient power-sharing slot. The regional and national stakes are huge and he is not so indispensible to be allowed to upset the apple cart. Should we believe for a moment that his protest was genuine, the very selection of the timing of the agitation might undo him if he does not relent suitably. That should partly explain why his continuous refrain is to remain within the constitution and democratic dispensation. He is no revolutionary but a skilful political manipulator. Just as expected, he changed tack and inserted the PAT into the scheme of things after the Lahore round of talks in order to open a window for his political entry. From here onwards, it will be the PAT as long as things go right, as MuQ would serve as his strategic coercive reserve.

Dr Qadri’s stage-managed show leaves many questions behind. His was the only and from its pronouncement most threatening march on the capital, which was facilitated right from Lahore to the renowned D-Square right across Parliament House. Does that show extraordinary self-confidence of a perpetually shaky administration, or is there more to it? His Barelvi shade of faith and edicts against Taliban terrorism (TTP variety) are well known. He re-emphasised this point during his addresses also. Why did the trigger-happy TTP, who are very quick to take exception, spare him and his supporters, who were vulnerable every step of the way until they safely dispersed? Our LEAs could not have thrown up such a hermetically sealed security cordon around these protesters, that too for days on end. There was a sudden and almost simultaneous eruption of violence over the Line of Control. That added to tentativeness and general insecurity caused by the long march into our national outlook. More unusually, the Indian air chief followed by their army chief issued public threats before their political leadership could. The heat is still on. Was it a coincidence again? Dr Qadri has inserted himself into the high political power plane through his successful coercion. He has also managed to baffle the PTI and combined opposition into knee-jerk reactions, thereby exposing their dismal political sagacity. Seemingly, the coalition also buckled under pressure. But who actually stands to gain from this despicable melodrama at the cost of the people of Pakistan one more unfortunate time?

(Concluded)

The writer is a retired brigadier of the Pakistan army and can be reached at clay.potter@hotmail.com