When Imran Khan came knocking
Imran Khan has concluded that whoever wins Punjab rules Pakistan. The PTI has received the second largest number of votes in the bye-elections held in the province. The PTI chief believes that the PML-N’s lead in the bye-elections is gradually diminishing and with a little more effort the PTI can turn the tables on the PML-N. The way to bridge the gap is to convince the voters that Nawaz Sharif is untrustworthy for being corrupt. The Panama leaks have provided an opportunity to Imran Khan to drive home the point. He is using all venues available to him to expose the PML-N leadership. Imran Khan being a crowd puller thinks public rallies are an important way to approach the voters.
No other political party – with the exception of Sheikh Rashid’s Awami Muslim League – agreed to join Imran Khan’s march despite the fact that the entire opposition is united on demanding enquiry into the Panama leaks. Even PAT and PML-Q who were with PTI during the August 2014 Islamabad sit-in and Jamaat-e- Islami who is still a coalition partner in KP have shunned the march thus making the march only a PTI affair.
Imran Khan dilated on the Panama leaks to charge Nawaz Sharif with corruption. He challenged the integrity of NAB, FBI, FIA and Election Commission which he said continued to ignore the corruption evidence. He called upon the Supreme Court to take note of the ample evidence available. His critics would say Imran Khan wants to pressurise the state institutions through rallies to have results of his choice.
Imran Khan was criticised for holding the rally despite the rising threshold of tension between India and Pakistan. He strongly supported the Kashmiris’ struggle for self-determination, paid tribute to the Pakistan army and condemned Modi government in the strongest terms. It goes to Imran Khan’s credit that he supported resolution of disputes through talks and opposed recourse to war, a policy supported by the government also.