How their loyalty can be questioned
Tahirul Qadri’s departure for Canada raises a number of questions. The revolution he had promised never came. What is more he broke the vow he had made to seek martyrdom instead of returning without revolution. His promises were taken seriously by thousands of his followers, including entire families who braved all kinds of weather while camping in the open in Islamabad. When told the sit-in had been called off, many left the place in tears; none made the victory sign. Qadri needs to explain the betrayal.
There are two possibilities. Either Qadri’s assessment of the situation on the ground was entirely incorrect or he was indulging in sheer bluster week after week. He had worked up his followers to such a high pitch that they were ready to offer any sacrifice required of them. A leader who can make dangerous miscalculations can lead his supporters, particularly those with a blind faith in him, to a situation that could end up in human tragedy. Similarly, if a leader is used to blustering, there is no end to the mischief he can do. In both cases Qadri has proved himself to be a thoroughly unreliable leader.
In his last interview before departure, Qadri claimed that he failed to make the Prime Minster resign because the sole super power decided to save the government. He failed to explain how the US managed to help the government. A safe guess is that the US asked Canada to pressurise Qadri, a Canadian citizen, to abandon the struggle for revolution. This raises the question regarding the divided loyalty of the leaders with dual nationality. Many think that if Qadri wants to take part in Pakistan’s politics he must abandon his Canadian citizenship first. Further, he must himself contest the elections instead of remote controlling his parliamentarians from a foreign country. While considering electoral reforms the Parliament should consider if it is safe for the country to allow leaders with dual nationality to pull the strings of political parties in Pakistan from abroad.