Fishing in troubled waters

The troublemakers

In the wake of the controversy over army chief’s remarks regarding maintaining the dignity of the armed forces’ institution, things have started happening that give a sense of déjà vu. Whether these are unrelated, with each one having its own cause, remains to be seen. On Friday JUI-F decided to break away from the ruling coalition avowedly for lack of consultation on talks with TTP, failure by the prime minister to allocate portfolios to its ministers and for differences over the PPO. The party has however kept its doors open for dialogue with the government. What is more alarming however are statements from Altaf Hussain, Ch Shujaat and Tahirul Qadri which had an uncanny similarity.

The common theme in the statements by the trio is a defence of former military ruler Musharraf. Ch Shujaat and Tahirul Qadri have also demanded action against ministers who, they alleged, had used inappropriate language against Pakistan Army. Altaf Hussain, who didn’t care to renew his Pakistani passport once he left Pakistan in 1992 and invariably turned down requests for return, says he has applied for a new passport and a NIC and could reach Pakistan any day. Tahirul Qadri, the other dual nationality holder, who vainly tried to sabotage the May elections is back to his antics. Declaring May 11, 2013, as a dark day for Pakistan, the chief of Minhajul Quran Foundation announced a country-wide protest on the day next month.

No doubt Nawaz Sharif needs to tread carefully in order to strengthen democracy. Infantile statements by some of the PML-N ministers have ruffled many feathers. They have however been made to realise, albeit belatedly, that it was unfair to pass remarks about Musharraf when the special court was already trying him for high treason. The matter should end there.

The three leaders have displayed no scruples in the past while seeking share in power. The MQM and PML-Q take no time to abandon an ally who has fallen on bad days and making up with an erstwhile enemy willing to pay the price demanded by them. The two benefited from the Musharraf era while Qadri offered full support to Musharraf before deciding to become a Canadian citizen. What they fail to understand is that the people of Pakistan are fed up with military rulers and Musharraf has no political future. There might have been irregularities in some constituencies during the May 2013 election; these however cannot be used to bring to question the validity of the entire exercise. Despite their differences the mainstream parties stand united in defence of democracy, as are civil society and judiciary. None can be allowed to undo the gains achieved by the people of Pakistan after a prolonged struggle and untold sacrifices against military rule.