With a conviction apparently imminent and a narrative built on frail grounds, Mian Nawaz Sharif and party sail forth heading for a head on collision with the iceberg. Despite several wise words from within and outside the party, Mian Sahib is in no mood to change course. So the question is not if, but when will Mian sahib’s titanic hit the iceberg.
What happens after it hits? Contrary to tall claims of standing with the awaam and fighting till the last drop of blood, this captain may be the first to jump ship, following or followed soon by the second in command. Mian Nawaz Sharif is a captain who would never go down with his ship but would want his ship, be it his party or his country, to go down with him.
His current narrative of changing Pakistan’s political course may have been appealing had it not come from someone who has for decades been the status quo himself; someone who has been fine with it all as long as he was fed, funded and free to transgress.
Standing on podiums before a consistently decreasing number of supporters, Mian Sahib and his daughter utter words of revolution and revolt, struggle and victimisation; words that do not match the mouths they are uttered from. Which revolutionary comes riding in a million-dollar helicopter or a convoy of pricey vehicles; donned in extravagant attires and jewellery? Which victim is surrounded by gun-toting guards and servant-like colleagues? Mian Sahib does not know what a revolution is; the meaning of struggle and hardship eludes him. He claims to be a victim for he is being questioned on how his fortunes multiplied while he was standing guard at this country’s treasury. He cries foul for the 70 times he had to appear before a court of law to answer for his enormous unexplained wealth, while in his own regimes people had to appear before courts hundreds of times for crimes they did not commit; shackled, unfed, beaten and ridiculed. Men hanged and buried have been acquitted by our courts,yet this revolutionary never spoke of law reforms. A prime minister who deemed it below him to meet his own party members now claims to fight for the dignity of vote. A chief executive who allowed health and education facilities for his people to remain deplorable now promises all that, if given yet another chance, if let off the hook for all his transgressions.
In his fiery speeches these days, Mian Sahib portrays himself as a revolutionary mix of Nelson Mandela and Asma Jahangir. For anyone with reasonably sound memory and working faculties, the truth is far from it. True that Nawaz Sharif’s relationship with the establishment has been a love-hate one in recent past, but has it always been the case? Recordings of his speeches with the same — at times even more — fervour for the late General Zia have not yet vanished from the pages of history. Unfortunately, they weren’t stored on paper in a storeroom somewhere and thus could not be destroyed by a convenient fire. Who sided with the establishment to oust Benazir Bhutto in the 1990s is not a fact unsubstantiated.The verdict in the Asghar Khan case shrieks of a past unforgettable yet apparently ignorable for a few passionate fans.
By all means, believe in Mian Sahib’s narrative if you will. For a moment I too will join you in this ignorance induced trance. The question then arises; what triggered this revolution within his person? How did a passion that usually invades the hearts and minds of sensitive, empathetic and oppressed individuals find its way into the heart of a 65-year-old who has lived the life of a king? What was, in fact, the tipping point? Was it the pain he felt in the eyes of missing persons’ families who have been crying aloud for years? Was it the injustice meted out to thousands whose cases aren’t heard? Was it the lack of accountability of our superior judiciary? All these factors have remained constant in all of Nawaz Sharif’s tenures. Existing yet evenly and conveniently ignored for as long as he was promised power and a blind eye for his follies.
With only a few days left of state-sponsored protocols and security, a government in centre and the largest province and a subservient prime minister, Mian Sahib is desperate to be recognised as a revolutionary
The tipping point came when the eye that was supposed to remain shut was opened and when the promised land of power was snatched from beneath his feet. A “revolution” triggered not by the hunger of fellow men, but by the non-availability of steak on his own menu. No Sir, I do not believe this is a revolution, nor you are a revolutionary. In fact, people in your own party do not seem to believe you; bar your devoted daughter and a handful of chronic sycophants. I am sorry, but Nawaz Sharif is not an ideology as you so desperately want my people to believe. If it were, it would by far be the most confusing, inconsistent and absurd ideology ever.
With only a few days left of state-sponsored protocols and security, a government in centre and the largest province and a subservient prime minister, Mian Sahib is desperate to be recognised as a revolutionary, as an ideology. His statements are just as malice-ridden as his motive behind this drastic change of heart. Jhelum and Buner jalsas made him rethink public appearances. Stooping popularity among the public, as well as his party, made him switch to Plan-B earlier than he planned. Pitching himself against the state, he is now playing to an international audience. A resurrection plan that is no more than the last phase in his self-destruct mode that has been planned and executed by incompetent advisors and PMLN’s signature sycophants. I am afraid this is good-bye.
The writer is a practising lawyer with a Masters degree from University of Warwick and an ex-Member Provincial Assembly of Punjab (2008-2013). Tweets @ZafarSahi
Published in Daily Times, May 23rd 2018.