Habibullah Kalkani, better known as “Bachai Saqao,” which means a water carrier, ruled Afghanistan from January to October, 1929. He forced King Amanullah to abdicate. He was thrown out by Nadir Shah Kalkani, of Tajik origins, who came from a humble background, earning his livelihood distributing water in buffalo skin bags. Driven to break the shackles of poverty, he started as a petty thief, graduating to becoming a robber of caravans transiting Afghanistan. Through murders and plunder, he was able to assemble a force to take over Kabul. During his short rule, his ultimate rebellion was to introduce pieces of leather as the official currency. Laughable, but true. He was executed within 20 days of being overthrown. When a robber king takes over, anything is possible. It appears the same is happening on our political scene. PM Sharif and his gang of 13 are clueless and totally bamboozled on how to tackle the challenges facing us. Geographically, more than half of the country is literally drowning. Millions of acres of standing crops and animals have been washed away. Traffic is cut on all the national highways. Millions of affectees are surviving under the open skies facing scorching heat during the day and swarms of mosquitoes at night. Without respite, they are desperate and starving. Food shortages of an unbelievable magnitude have hit the urban centres to add fuel to the fire of existing runaway inflation. Electricity bills are killing people. The economy is tanking fast with a steep drop in exports and overseas remittances. The IMF dole out of 1.2 billion is already eaten up by the drop in the above segments. The ruling political elite of bandits has no plans to deal with this precarious situation. Cracks have already begun to show within PML (N) ranks. Abid Sher Ali, a close confidante of NS, is only an opening salvo. Food shortages of an unbelievable magnitude have hit the urban centres to add fuel to the fire of existing runaway inflation. The ugly head of terrorism is resurfacing. It will only be accentuated by a clear shift in our foreign policy. We are clearly in the Western camp through permitting drone attacks and expedited and unhindered supply of ammunition and arms to Ukraine. There are no clear announcements; however, actions speak louder than words. CPEC, deemed a lifeline for Pakistan, is literally dead. Bilawal is just the face. The actual policymaking is being done by the duo of Zardari and Haqqani. Finance Minister Miftah is only following the dictates of our foreign masters oblivious of the suffering masses. Rana Sana is attempting to crush anything that comes his way. Sharifs’ quest to rake in ill-gotten wealth is at work again. Is PM Sharif’s visit to Qatar for a national cause or to finalize the sale of New York’s Roosevelt Hotel to a family member? Do all his bold pronouncements for solar energy equipment from Turkey revolve around the fugitive Salman Shahbaz tying up the suppliers during PM’s visit? Pakistan is at its weakest position since the fall of Dhaka in 1971. This situation begs the question; who is really in charge? Rather than dealing with the burning issues, this imported regime is totally consumed by attempts to corner Imran Khan. The terrorism case against him is ridiculous. In which dictionary do you find that instituting a case against a delinquent police official is an act of terrorism? While attacking the Army Chief and a Corp Commander by name is totally condoned. Contempt of court proceedings has been initiated against IK for a remark against a District Judge who ignored the custodial torture of Shahbaz Gill. How do they equate that with the tens of statements from elder Sharif, his daughter and other PML (N) lackeys against the Superior Courts? Lice covered by hair are still lice. While PM Sharif lords it out in his expansive office under the portraits of the Quaid-e-Azam and Nawaz Sharif, is he really running the show? Real events tell a different story. “Orders from above” is a clear theme emerging from all quarters. The echo grows louder by the day. Be it police privately claiming about Gill’s torture, or mayhem on 25th May, the non-revival of ARY TV despite High Court Sind’s orders, ARY and BOL journalists lifted from their homes, ECP’s undue haste in issuing two differing versions of its findings in prohibited funding, and Mr X’s failed attempts to rig by-elections except on two seats. The list keeps growing. Hence, IK’s rhetorical question. Are you neutral or not? A lot of damage is already done. Local media can be muzzled. What can you do about social media and overseas media? The army binds us together and is loved by all Pakistanis. Yet, in the words of Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director, Asia Program at Woodrow Wilson, “the Chief has gone from revered to reviled.” It is truly a tragic day for Pakistan. Relying on coercion, attempting to create fear and custodial torture is only further galvanizing support for IK. The all-night vigil at Bani Ghala is just a starter. Thinking minds stop and re-think after taking a deep breath to re-calibrate. Ego-driven desperate acts taken in panic make the situation worse for the perpetrators. Do not commit the ultimate blunder of arresting IK. It will unleash a reaction from the masses already spoiling a fight due to inflation. It will paralyze the country. Police and Rangers do not have the numbers. Please don’t force the Army to fire its own citizens. IK seems prepared to see his latest haircut! The writer is the director of CERF, a non-profit, charitable organisation in Canada.