Qadri flees the ‘revolutionary’ scene again
Qadri’s ‘safe exit’ strategy barely surprised Pakistan this time, keeping in view that he has a history of abandoning the ‘revolution’ at critical times under the camouflage of a political charter of demands, and perhaps as some may say, an under the table agreement. The players involved in this ‘agreement’ remain in the shadows, just like old times.
The ‘tsunami’ wave of revolution has subsided but it struggles to regain itself via ‘jalsas’ in other parts of Pakistan, as it digests the abandonment of Dr Tahirul Qadri at such a crucial time. Qadri flees the scene ‘again’, and he might not return this time and his vacation in Pakistan may be over for good.
On the other hand, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, lost a significant amount of the supplementary ‘revolutionary’ crowd after Qadri packed up and directed his followers to do so in the wake of an upcoming countrywide revolution. The dynamics of Khan’s politics might suffer a substantial amount of mutilation after his only ally’s estrangement, but he would probably recover with some scars. The rise of mob politics in Pakistan has some interesting and insightful lessons for all political players who have a stake in the current political scenario.
It is debatable whether Qadri’s exit this time is the end of his political career or the start of his wholesome ‘democratic’ revolution. Previously, he manufactured unrest in the capital during Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) regime, led by the Machiavellian political wizard, Asif Ali Zardari. Zardari has a certain prowess in playing his best cards at the right time, and dismantling any form of outrage by the public or political opponents with a stroke of politeness. Zardari proved to be a greater political statesman than his highness, Mr Nawaz Sharif, and he curtailed the unrest with minimum damage.
It is amusing how Qadri’s urge to unleash the Pakistani revolution from its ‘cage’ keeps taking about-turns, and at the same time, how his ‘revolutionary pangs’ reoccur with a seemingly furious vengeance every time
It is amusing how Qadri’s urge to unleash the Pakistani revolution from its ‘cage’ keeps taking about-turns, and at the same time, how his ‘revolutionary pangs’ reoccur with a seemingly furious vengeance every time. Qadri needs to decide once and for all whether he wants to bring in the ‘boys’ to mend the faulty democratic system or the decline of ‘badshahat’ (kingship) or he wants to contest legitimate elections via the ‘democratic’ path.
To top it all off, Qadri miserably fails to justify his audacious actions to his ‘true followers’ who seem to be clueless every time, whether they are supposed to applaud their leader’s ‘strategy’ or not when he reiterates his fiery rhetoric. All our politicians can learn a thing or two about theatrics from the great ‘Allama’ Qadri, who happens to have a massive cult following because of his wide-reaching religious endeavours.
Let’s go back in history and delve deeper into the origin of Qadri’s enlightened journey from being a religious leader to a revolutionary leader. As they say, Mr Qadri has had deep affiliations with a certain authoritarian regime, which changed the relation of Islam with Pakistan for all times to come. Some even say that Qadri was directly involved in creating the glorious constitution of the ‘Islamic’ Republic of Pakistan. After that he expanded his income prospects with religious processions around the globe, and setting up religious institutions on every nook and corner. There is no doubt about Qadri’s strong religious following but his ostensibly rebellious political following continues to arouse the nation’s suspicion more than ever before, given the current political scenario.
Looking at Khan and Qadri’s alliance in retrospect, we see a linear pattern of strategy, Qadri following Khan’s footsteps revolving around the ‘revolutionary agenda’. Qadri claims that Khan was aware of this pack-up before time but at the same time Khan gives a public statement, denying the former ally’s claim of prior knowledge. This gives a new twist to the ‘revolution’ as the two allies part ways in terms of strategy and future plans.
Khan remains adamant on not leaving the scene until the PM resigns whereas Qadri moves on towards mobilising his political following in the form of an organised political party. Some have even gone to the extent of saying that this staged protest was a strategy to test the waters of Pakistan before he makes his move, entering the political domain via ‘democratic’ elections in a formal manner in the near future. This leaves it open-ended and uncertain, especially if Qadri manages to pull off all the public processions in various parts of the country, as planned. If he successfully launches his formal political career after using this protest as a preparatory battleground then Qadri would again become the perfect embodiment of the unification of the church and state, which might lead to a new wave of ‘enlightened’ fanaticism in the country.
Khan remains adamant on not leaving the scene until the PM resigns whereas Qadri moves on towards mobilising his political following in the form of an organised political party
On a side note, the PPP tries to claim centre-stage and revitalises its politics in Punjab, but its future seems uncertain due to geographical and ethnic barriers towards its popularity. PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari strikes with full force and takes on all his political opponents at once, while taking an overtly aggressive stance towards India as well. This public rhetoric might not benefit him as such, if he is not able to muster public support on the grass roots level, but let’s see if he can galvanise the youth to his aid, as Khan has done in the past, with some help from those trained in the art of information warfare.
The way Qadri dehumanises political emotion by orchestrating public outrage and invoking religious references is commendable, but despicable. Coming back to Qadri and his bleak future in ‘democratic’ politics, he might procure some seats with the help of those who wish to remain in the shadows.
Qadri has significant following at the grass roots level but it is mainly entrenched in the fact that this following comes due to his status as a religious cult leader and not because of his political endeavours. This is further evident when he employs religion to justify his political actions and tries to invoke public sentiment, while quoting from religion. It is a pity to see those mindless followers who genuinely believed in his cause up till now, but then he gives ludicrous statements to cover it up by saying that the pack-up was just a ‘change of strategy’, and nothing else.
In conclusion, Qadri and Khan are desperately trying to shun off their apolitical roots, and trying to ground themselves in Pakistani politics by trying hard to appear as populist leaders. The upcoming elections are just a preparatory battleground whereas the real war begins in the general elections of 2018. These imminent general elections would be a true test of their capabilities, and only if they manage to orchestrate a clean-sweep together, then their political prospects would be solidified. Until then, that’s all folks because the wave of revolution keeps swinging to and fro.
Hey Faysal, I agree with your view to the extent of where you look at it from but I am yet to see a review of the Qadri show from various perspectives, i.e. from the perspectives of those who buy his message, from a religious perspective as after all religious notions of separate state were the main drivers behind the creation of Pakistan and it was religious notions of fighting against injustice that was the foundation of Islamic civilization, my point is that you cannot separate, cultify, religisify any religious rhetoric that prompts you to stand up against a system of falsehood! for argument sake lets think for a second " So what if he used religious rhetoric to prompt people to stand up against a regime to a maximum extent peacefully"… at least it wasn't a religious rhetoric prompting people to blow themselves, or kill innocents, or cause chaos, etc… what is religion to anyone if bound to praying and other rituals… isn't true religious rhetoric meant to prompt a sense of awakening in people? a sense of resistance against oppression? a sense of standing up for others? I think this notion makes a strong view too… I am not defending him as I believe he has a lot of work to do on the image of his movement… I don't believe he is a mere religious figure exploiting religious rhetoric, I do see him as an individual with true religious & political aspirations who is seeking a channel or method in which he can materialize his ambitions / aspirations for the better picture that he sees for Pakistan! You must also recognize that he has done whatever was humanly possible to challenge this system and try to bring it down! We all know what it takes to infiltrate this political system and try to change it from within… it would take generations as everything is designed to protect the self interests of the greedy… you have to fight at every avenue, at every turn and you need a lot of energy and for a long time.. mere energizer batteries are not enough.. you need nuclear energy driven motivation to sustain that level of energy to fight from within!! Lastly the only thing I would say is that one thing is clear that his only strength are the people behind him, call them a cult or whatever… he has proven that no agency, no foreign forces, no internal forces, no other ill factions are behind him… so where did he earn this public support from? its his own personal hard work that has earned him this regard…. just like IKs personal victory in cricket became the founding catapult to his publicity… the two are self made individuals representing a completely different class of our society! Put any leader of Pakistan including this juveniles who are jumping in and minus their ancestor influences and their inherited resources from their life and then ask them to start a political or be it religious movement from scratch… neither would be able to and neither have done so in the past without a army catapult or a western power backing… My conclusion is to give him benefit of the doubt, and please do credit where credit due! in your attempt to marginalize his effort you are also closing similar doors for any other notions of change in Pakistan! I hope you agree.
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