The angry Khan

And shenanigans from the backdoor

Imran Khan has proudly celebrated his first thirty days of dharna in Islamabad with a lot of fanfare. The PTI chief and his supporters, and more so the Canadian cleric TUQ (Tahirul Qadri) deserve full marks for showing resilience unparalleled in our political lexicon.

But apart for setting a new record for perseverance what else did the dharna achieve is a moot point. Admittedly the sit in is symptomatic of the empowerment of upwardly mobile, relatively better-educated middle and upper middle class strata of society. Especially, young women in unprecedented numbers have actively and consistently participated in the daily evening container festivities of the Khan.

But these, perhaps mostly first time voters in the last elections, are an angry lot. That their leader has been robbed of a clear victory through the shenanigans and subterfuge of the Sharifs is an element of faith for them.

They also believe that Imran as their leader is an agent of change. He can fix everything including the endemic corruption of our political system through good governance, singularity of purpose, honesty and sheer hard work.

It is futile to argue with them that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Despite the singularity of purpose and his ostensible sincerity the PTI chief is mostly surrounded by run of the mill hardened politicians who, not by any stretch of imagination, can be termed catalysts of change.

Nonetheless, a fresh dose of idealism is a welcome change from the rampant cynicism, contempt and apathy reserved for our established political elite, well earned by them.

The Sharifs’ impervious style that permeates straight down through their kitchen cabinet has alienated the younger lot to no end. Brought up and educated in the age of social media and the internet, it makes them angry to see their leaders squandering state resources literally at their expense.

The Sharifs’ impervious style that permeates straight down through their kitchen cabinet has alienated the younger lot to no end. Brought up and educated in the age of social media and the internet, it makes them angry to see their leaders squandering state resources literally at their expense.

The ubiquitous 24/7 news channels giving saturated coverage to the goings-on of the ruling elite leave little for the imagination. For example, camera footage of high-level meetings presided by the prime minister usually with the same members of the kitchen cabinet – mostly comprising cronies and family – shown ad nauseam, says it all.

Lack of merit bordering on crony-capitalism has strengthened the perception that old guard politicians are corrupt, effete and obscurantist as a class. What is termed as consensus building and co-operation in the name of democracy is seen by their detractors as a diabolical ploy to protect their vested interests.

Unfortunately, the so-called educated elite sees the constitution as a tool used by corrupt politicians to protect themselves. They have no stomach for constitutionalism if it stands in the way of their somewhat quixotic agendas. Even military rule is not anathema for them.

Unlike the youth of the seventies, this is end of history. Simply put, the nouveau politicos have little or no ideological moorings. Unsurprisingly, Imran himself is somewhat of an enigma.

Apart from leaning in favour of the Taliban he has no known ideological moorings. On one level he portrays himself to be home spun but on another level he is well clued-in with liberal movements of the west, perhaps courtesy his former in-laws the Goldsmiths.

Somehow any criticism of their leader does not sit well with the Khan groupies. Critics in the media are immediately branded pro status-quo, corrupt and on the take from the Sharifs.

Like perhaps the Sharifs’ arrogance, Khan’s venom and contempt for the rest of politicians that he spews every evening from his container inevitably rubs on his supporters. This is a dangerous trend that does not auger well for democracy.

Meanwhile, the charade of negotiations, primarily between the PML-N and PTI teams and also with PAT, continues without any tangible progress. The so called Jirga composed primarily of strange bedfellows, Jamaat-e-Islami’s amir Maulana Sirajul Haq and PPP’s maverick Rehman Malik, gives a daily dose of optimism about the prospects of success of their parleys with PAT and PTI.

Nonetheless, with each side virtually hurling abuses on each other in their daily public utterances, the so-called talks are hardly yielding any results. Perhaps both sides are engaged in this chimerical exercise waiting for some kind of divine intervention.

Somehow any criticism of their leader does not sit well with the Khan groupies. Critics in the media are immediately branded pro status-quo, corrupt and on the take from the Sharifs.

Nawaz Sharif, while regularly attending the recent joint session of the parliament, was usually poker faced when his ministers and allies made vitriolic attacks against Imran. Similarly, while the Khan is attacking the Sharifs and their cohorts and virtually abusing them, his team, usually at Jahangir Tareen’s house close by, are engaged in useless negotiations with the PML-N team.

Imran does not make any bones about the fact that there is no going back for him without Sharif’s scalp. I met him a day before he embarked on the dharna last month in Lahore. He was quite categorical that he will not move out of Islamabad unless Sharif resigned.

According to him Sharif is a kind of person who concedes when he is weak but once out of a crisis he backs out of from his commitments. In 2008 while together in APDM (All Parties Democratic Movement) PML-N pledged to boycott the 2008 elections. However PTI was left high and dry when Sharif reneged on his promise and decided to take part in the elections.

Similarly in early 2009 both PML-N and PTI decided to embark upon a Long March for restoration of then suspended CJP Chaudhry Iftikhar. However, once getting a call from the COAS General Kayani, Sharif unilaterally abandoned the march half way without even affording the courtesy of informing Imran.

Nonetheless politics is the art of the possible. Perhaps if the PTI and PAT can extract an empowered supreme judicial commission, a fair audit of selected constituencies and an ironclad guarantee that Sharif will have to quit if 2013 elections were proved beyond doubt to be entirely fraudulent, he and Qadri should seriously be thinking of going home.

So far as waiting in earnest hope for the fabled man on horseback intervening, it does not seem to be happening soon. A number of out of job politicians are working overtime for the system to be packed off; so that they can enter the corridors of power though the backdoor.

Novel interpretations are being proffered to the expected retirement of the ISI chief Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam and a few corps commanders. While some in the Sharif camp think that the exit of Gen Zaheer bodes well for them, there are other adventurers who reckon that a relatively strengthened COAS will fit their scheme of things.

The fact of the matter is that despite a checkered Bonapartist past, the present military under the stewardship of a thoroughly professional soldier is engaged on many fronts, but primarily in rooting out the existential threat of terrorism. It is also stretched by the floods, taking the lead in rescuing and rehabilitating victims. The squabbling politicians should let them do their job and also in the process try to do their own.