Of failed planning and ‘hijacker’ stealing the show

ISLAMABAD

MIAN ABRAR

Noted philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke once said, “Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go ill together.”

Finally, the three-day media hysteria regarding the so-called “revolution” by none other than Dr Tahirul Qadri is over, providing a respite for the entire nation who felt agitated and nervy over the marathon live coverage of the events which at times turned ugly.

Actually, Dr Qadri’s show was over around a week back when the powerful establishment of the country had sent direct messages to Dr Qadri, Shaikh Rashid Ahmed and Chaudhrys of Gujrat to cancel their respective protest calls as the country could not afford any agitation on the eve of the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan Agency (NWA).

Shaikh Rashid was first to withdraw his train march and same was the case with Chaudhry brothers but Dr Qadri could not follow the suite due to the situation developed following the Model Town massacre which had left around a dozen people killed and over a hundred severely injured.

Emotionalism among the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers forced Dr Qadri to continue with his planned homecoming as postponing his return may have badly affected his support hub besides sending a message of weakness to the PML-N government.

The mishandling of Model Town operation and the way the negotiators of Tehreek Minhajul Quran were arrested has no parallel in country’s political history. The use of brutal force by the Punjab government and the subsequent announcement by Shahbaz Sharif that he was bypassed by likes of Rana Sanaullah & Company has left many questions unanswered about the ability of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to handle crisis situations.

The mishandling of the arrival of Dr Qadri and diverting the Emirates airplane to Lahore is another proof that Sharif family faces a lack of proper planning to face protest calls and even a politician like Dr Qadri who suffers from credibility issue can shake the Prime Minister’s House.

Ill planning and use of brute force in political matters by the regime reflects that the worst has to come and any call by a credible politician like Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) can force the advisers of the prime minister to rock the boat.

Moreover, diverting the Emirates plane carrying Dr Qadri and others has badly damaged the country’s image internationally.

The poor planning is reflective of the fact that the PML-N ministers thought that by erecting containers in across the twin cities, no PAT worker would be able to enter the airport. However, their failed and poor planning has badly damaged the credibility of the political administration as the PAT workers not only overpowered the police, they also crossed over all the containers to reach the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in such a huge number that they easily took over the premises. This all is a big slap at the performance of our law enforcers and the administration capabilities.

Moreover, the inflexible attitude by the federal and Punjab governments is beyond comprehension. Following failure of the government, it was however opposition parties like MQM, PML-Q and even Dr Qadri himself who showed magnanimity and came up with ideas to get the government out of the stalemate.

It has established the fact that either the rulers lack badly the political wisdom or they are shaken by the TUQ ability to draw people on streets in such a huge number.

Moreover, it was surprising and reflected huge credibility gap between Dr Qadri and Sharif brothers that the PAT chairman, like a true “hijacker”, used Punjab governor as an abductee till his safe arrival at the PAT headquarters.