Yes, we know that the bar for an interior minister’s threat of resignation has been set very low by Chaudhry Nisar but Ahsan Iqbal isn’t given to dramatics like his predecessor. His resignation threat was perhaps the most significant event of the week. More than the League’s reelection of Nawaz Sharif as party chief.
Though there was much discussion on the event in the media (he attempted to enter the NAB courtroom where Sharif was appearing and was prevented from doing so by the Rangers) , few channels bothered to take into account his own words. He was more than articulate on the episode on Hamid Mir’s Capital Talk (3rd September) ,which online readers can see below. Just another example of how the Pakistani commentariate is more in love with the sounds of their voices rather than getting to the bottom of a matter.
Here is how it all went down:
On the 29th of September, the court’s Registrar had a meeting with the civil administration and a security protocol was decided upon regarding the former prime minister’s appearance at the court. It was a detailed protocol, describing how many journalists would be allowed in, how big an entourage could accompany Sharif. There was no mention of the Rangers in this protocol, says Iqbal.
At one point, the SSP proposed to the DC that perhaps the services of around 200 Rangers could be requisitioned. These would not be dealing with the public and would be to a side and would become active only in case there was any untoward incident in this high profile appearance. The DC and the IGP, however, did not agree to the proposal and thought that the Islamabad Police and the Frontier Constabulary would be enough to take care of the situation. (Because of the constant media speculation, both the Islamabad DC and Chief Commissioner have formally communicated that this was, indeed, what had transpired.)
When he called the Chief Commissioner in the morning to enquire whether all was well, says Iqbal, he was informed that the Rangers had taken over the premises. The Rangers were stopping everyone from entering the premises, including the journalists who had been given the passes to attend the proceedings.
Court proceedings in democracies are meant to be open and transparent, he said. When the authorities asked the Rangers why they were doing this, they replied that they were acting under “operational orders.”
As interior minister, he said, I was bound to go there and get to the bottom of the matter.
Ahsen Iqbal’s explanation was presumably a response to all the questions by the Media Brigade as to what he was doing at the venue.
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Even by the most conservative of interpretations of the duties and powers of the interior minister, his case here is more than acceptable.
What makes this situation even more stark is that this isn’t, say, the Triple One Brigade that is under discussion. (Though even then, the interior minister would have been well within his right to do what he did.) What makes it stark that it is the Rangers that is under discussion.
Though officered by the Pakistan Army, the Rangers are a civil armed militia that comes squarely under the Interior Division. The Rangers were stopping their boss from his legal rights.
Though he had cooled down a bit by the time his tete a tete with Hamid Mir was recorded, Ahsan Iqbal did blurt out the state-within-a-state line in the heat of the moment. There is an eerie similarity to former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who said something when perturbed by the alleged machinations of the deep state.
Post-script: In a much awaited presser, top military spindoctor Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor seemed to suggest there is more utility in mystique than in clarity was the mantra of the day.
For instance, when it was pointed out that the Rangers had no orders to go to the premises of the court, he said not all directives are clear “written orders.”
When asked why the Corps Commanders Conference did not issue a press release, he said “Silence is a language unto itself.”
One has the impression that the good general is in love. For such is the verbiage of eastern poets when their hearts are aflutter.