Curious timing of Tahir-ul-Qadri’s return
Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri has burst upon the scene as if from nowhere. Since 2004, when he resigned from the National Assembly, his focus had shifted to education and reform. Initially, he concentrated on expanding Minhajh-ul-Quran University. During the last few years, he has mostly lived abroad delivering speeches against extremism and advocating tolerance. His views endeared him to the Western establishments facing the tide of extremism. He travelled from one Western capital to another speaking to gatherings of the Muslim community and addressing think tanks. The issues that mattered to many Pakistanis, like restoration of democracy, independent judiciary, end to enforced disappearances, corruption or poverty, didn’t draw his attention. Unlike Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif, Qadri was not sent into exile by the last military dictator’s government. Benazir decided to return to Pakistan despite threats to her life while Nawaz also followed her. Qadri, however, lived most of the time abroad, putting up an occasional appearance in Pakistan.
And now that the elections are round the corner, Qadri has made an entry with a bang. For almost two weeks, an aggressive and costly publicity campaign has been conducted announcing his arrival. The campaign is targeted at inviting people to Qadri’s rally today (Sunday). What worries one his enigmatic slogan “Save country, and not politics”. All the more so because elected governments in the past have been overthrown by military adventurers in the name of saving Pakistan from politicians, pushing the country into the abyss. Addressing a press conference in Lahore on his return to the country, Qadri said that he wanted revolutionary changes in political and electoral systems. If Qadri is really serious, he should have remained in the country all these years, making use of the democratic freedoms available to propagate his panacea. Better still, he should have revived the long defunct Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PTA) that he once led, put up candidates for the elections and got his programme implemented through parliament. This is the only way things are changed in a democratic society which he says he believes in.
What strikes many is the timing of Qadri’s arrival. As things stand, all is set for elections. For the first time, a consensus Election Commission is in place. The information minister has assured that a caretaker setup would replace the government in mid-March. Suspicions, however, continue to be expressed about certain quarters being interested in postponing the elections on one excuse or another. No political party in Pakistan is willing to support any move of the sort as it could lead to conflict and uncertainty. Hopefully, Qadri will not play into someone else’s hands.
