Daily Times

I used to farm in Kasur till I moved to Canada. In the early nineties, rural areas had limited TV access. To while away evenings, we would invariably congregate at “deras” of local landowners. Conversations would touch upon various topics, including local issues. It included stories about dealing with “mozairas”, farm workers, and falling out of line. Mostly the owners would not soil their hands by teaching the culprits a lesson. They would use the local police.

The standard operating procedure was to register a false case, have the deviants picked, given a “tauni,” a thrashing, and subjected to other forms of torture till their spirit was broken.

Rana Sanaullah is deeply steeped in these techniques, having blossomed in the rural suburbs of Faisalabad. He expanded the horizon of this format during his prolonged stint as the enforcer in Punjab. He used the mercenaries in Punjab Police to suppress and coerce opponents. This police brutality was on full display for events leading up to and on 25th May. The 17th July elections resulted in the ouster of Hamza. It was a huge blow and severely curtailed Rana’s capabilities.

Like a cat, he landed on his feet. As the muscle of this imported regime, with the full blessings of PM Sharif, he changed his horses. FIA and IB fall under his purview. He is using them to continue his heavy-handed suppression tactics. The pattern of brutality used in the recent attack on the ARY executive’s home is exactly the same as the one used in the raid on Hamad Azhar’s residence in May. Inhuman treatment and ruthless intimidation is the hallmark of this fascist regime.

Uncontrolled inflation will be further accentuated with the upcoming mini-budget that will drain the common man’s remaining few drops of blood.

PM Sharif’s speechmaking and public posture show he is extremely impressed by Hitler. He is relying heavily upon to re-enact Nazi brutality through Rana Sana, akin to the role of Adolf Eichmann. He has two Goebbels running his propaganda machine, Maryam and Maryam. All democratic norms have evaporated. A bully resorts to violence when he does not argue. PDM has been debunked in the people’s court. They are incapable of taking on Imran Khan politically. Hence they are using the meanest methods to intimidate and suppress PTI and discredit IK, fearful of his massive popularity.

In a democratic setup, a Government in power does not seek confrontation. It is the opposition that wants disruption. The opposite is happening in Pakistan. It is the imported regime that is trying its utmost to provoke a fight, while PTI is showing extreme restraint. All the energies of PDM are focused on deflecting IK’s simple demand; free and fair elections.

They have lobbed multiple bombs at IK. Sharifs and Zardari are the biggest looters who have thrived on laundering their ill-gotten dollars out of Pakistan. Yet, in connivance with ECP, they want to punish PTI for bringing dollars into Pakistan. The prohibited funding case is farcical as opposed to PML (N) and PPP’s plane-full of dollars smuggled out of Pakistan.

The Goebbels duo has moved to pit PTI against the Army. It is on thin ice. Like a pack of hungry wolves, they have pounced at a few words uttered by Shahbaz Gill in his capacity on ARY. His words are peanuts when compared to the mountains of crap vomited by Nawaz Sharif, Maryam and a long list of their lackeys. Illegal harassment of Gill staff’s wife and infant is shameful. This attempt will fail too, like their “toosha Khana” onslaught.

Based on such flimsy grounds, they are attempting to muzzle ARY, arguably the most popular TV channel within and outside Pakistan. Rana Sana’s goons’ physical assaults on Ayaz Amir, and Sami Ibrahim, their disgraceful harassment of Imran Riaz Khan and intimidation of social media contributors will blow up in their faces. It will further galvanize support for IK.

TTP’s ugly spectre is raising its head again. This is in response to the permission given to use our airspace for a drone attack. Despite IK’s constant reminders of the heavy price paid by Pakistanis by being a US ally, this imported regime complied with their master’s wishes. They ask “how high” when asked to jump versus IK’s “absolutely not!”

Efforts are now afoot to launch PDM’s biggest heavyweight, Nawaz Sharif into the fray. NS hates jails and has laid his pre-conditions. He wants the Establishment to wave a magic wand so all cases against him disappear. Nothing is beyond this imported regime and its enablers. In reality, his name is soiled and Punjab is no longer his bastion.

All these shenanigans by PDM outside the political arena, conducted behind closed doors, are for the sole purpose of disrupting IK’s popularity. They are consumed by their frivolous attempts to defame IK. It is not without a purpose. They are attempting to distract the nation from their utter and complete failure to deal with a sinking economy. Uncontrolled inflation will be further accentuated with the upcoming mini-budget that will drain the common man’s remaining few drops of blood.

There is an opportunity to blunt all this drama by Pakistanis. Show up in numbers never seen before on 13th August to give a slap to these shameless autocrats. Unity and show of strength in unprecedented numbers will expedite the path to force an election. It is the most powerful tool. Use it to enforce your will without a confrontation that this crazed regime is so desperately seeking. May Allah bless you all.

The writer is the director of CERF, a non-profit, charitable organisation in Canada.