On the road to nowhere: Where does the IK and TuQ revolution lead?

Secular and liberal folk have their own stories to tell

The road to change is not an easy one. The current Azadi and Inqilab marches are now more than a month old. While the dharnas continue to go in circles with no actual end in sight, the protestors are showing fatigue with the cause, with many wondering how soon they can go home.

People from different parts of our society were expecting different things from the “revolution” that is at play in Islamabad right now. The liberal and secular lot had its own ideas of where it was all headed. Some are now disillusioned while others think there’s more to the story than we can see.

“I was expecting very little from this, but only because I think Pakistan is a crowd, not a nation. The question is does Pakistan deserve Imran Khan? I think not. Imran Khan’s six demands are a game changer. If the five that have already been agreed upon are implemented, they will change Pakistan”, said Shahzaib Ali, a Karachi-based banker, who believes there’s a divorce between goals and human comprehension.

“For me, IK might not be the best decision maker, but I like his ideas. I like his vision. Critics of Imran Khan ask: Why is there music played at dharna? Why are girls dancing? Why does IK go to Bani Gala to sleep? Why is Sheikh Rasheed supporting him? And the latest, when is he planning to get married? Critics of Nawaz Sharif ask: Why was there rigging in the elections? Why were 14 people killed by the police in Model Town? Why does the CM of Punjab get special treatment? Why are all your relatives sitting at high positions in the government? Why was the son of ex-CJ living in the CM house? Why does PM’s son go with him to every foreign trade trip? Why is nothing done to improve energy sector? Why is corruption increasing within government institutions? Why are proven thugs together again and given influential positions? The difference is clear,” he exclaimed.

While on one hand people are still expecting something to be achieved through the protests, there are others who are not so sure anymore. Sundus Gul, a student from Lahore, is an Imran supporter and doesn’t see the dharnas achieving anything real.

“To be very honest, I was really hopeful when it started a month ago but what’s happening at the moment is really very disappointing… I don’t think it will go on to make any positive change”, she said.

“It’s been a month now but still everything is as same as it was initially. Although I am a big IK supporter who is supporting his agenda but by witnessing the current scenario as a citizen of Pakistan, I have lowered my hopes regarding this issue. I really appreciate IK’s effort but I don’t think that it would bring any positive change in the end. Perhaps we would be able to see some good changes but IK’s major demand will not be fulfilled. Despite all of this, I’m still with IK.”

While on one hand people are still expecting something to be achieved through the protests, there are others who are not so sure anymore.

The revolution may have meant a whole lot to many people, but there were others that never thought they would lead anywhere at all. Muniza Agha-Fawad, a Karachi based art commentator/sociologist, realised that rigging happened, but she still didn’t think a protest of this nature was going to bear fruit. Even then she believes some people are now more aware then before.

“The ‘comfort class’ has been awakened, politicised, and even mobilised. They are actually making it a point to attend the rallies, they are trying to be more responsible socially, and have become aware of the ways they have been or were supporting corruption — be it by bribing a traffic officer to get out of a ticket or greasing a few palms to get some work done on priority,” she observed.

Muniza is not as positive about how this will end as she is about the impact it has made. She also thinks the information available to the masses is skewed.

“Some nights I ignore and avoid watching local news, but some nights when I do, it’s interesting to watch, simply because one has to do a great deal of sifting: one channel will make it seem like the crowds are swelling and even more momentum was gained, while another media group will make it seem that everyone is about to pack up and leave. Viewers like myself have to form their opinion from several different sources for a balanced perspective”, she added.

It is obvious that both PAT and PTI entered the game with their own agendas. Those agendas were fused together into similar goals that were to be achieved through the marches. Saad Rizwan, a Lahore-based e-commerce analyst, believes that the goals may be noble, but the strategies employed were disastrous.

“The overall goal of these marches might be right, but what Imran Khan continuously fails to understand is that the method he has taken isn’t the best and that the strategy is flawed. From day one of the marches it’s pretty evident that Imran has wanted the government to be violent to help his cause, but the government played smartly and didn’t let that happen. Then out of nowhere he asks his followers to attack the PM house, drag PM out by his collar, etc. The bloody revolution he is talking about works in the United Kingdom but not in Pakistan, something he clearly fails to see and accept when he draws the comparison between two countries,” he said.

The system definitely needs changing, no one can deny that bit. But for that to happen the system needs to be allowed to exist in the first place. Saad believes it could be a problem with the timing.

“When the whole parliament is with the government, there is little you can do. Imran has made people realise that they need to stand up for themselves. Maybe the timing isn’t right and he should have done that a few months after elections or maybe before the 2018 elections. Either way people have started questioning, you can see that when people offload Rehman Malik, you can see that when 80 per cent media outlets openly support the marches. It would be naive to expect the PM to resign over this. And this in turn would hurt Imran badly as his work in KP has also suffered due to marches. Still, he should take what is on the table and make a safe exit which isn’t a political suicide because the revolution he was looking for isn’t happening”, he added.

It is obvious that both PAT and PTI entered the game with their own agendas. Those agendas were fused together into similar goals that were to be achieved through the marches.

A lot of people are wary of the situation, not for any reason other than the fact that they don’t want to see a coup coming into effect. Khurram Awan is one such person. “I think I was not expecting any positive thing out of these marches for the betterment of the democratic process. When the twin marches headed towards the parliament I feared a coup was on the horizon. Thankfully that has not happened. I do feel at one point the marches seemed to be in a position to pose a serious threat to the government, but gradually they have lost their potency. The two leaders were expecting the army to intervene which has not happened and now they are in a very difficult position, rather, an embarrassing one. As things stand, I do not see these marches result in either the resignation of the PM, or the early elections”, he said.

“I do fear PTI and PAT may try to become more violent in a desperate attempt at saving face. Which may result in army intervention. I see no other logical end to the whole crisis, given the inflexibility of the march leaders. Also, these marches have shown how partial our media can get. I see different channels with different scripts, which makes me wonder whether the media is really as free and without vested interests as it ought to be”.

Pakistanis abroad are also weighing in with their opinion. Awais Ali is a research analyst based in England and has been observing the current situation since the beginning.

“I think the goals were unrealistic and given Imran Khan’s penchant for wanting to negotiate with militants and insurgents, I don’t think he’s a viable option for leadership. Personally, I think the change should come from ballots and setting realistic goals before making bold promises. This so called revolution is pretty half basked, it only seems to be disrupting politicians and their working to a minimum degree. The whole concept of ‘naya’ Pakistan seems to be laughable with a demographic of middle class youths supporting/advocating it. I wasn’t expecting a positive effect out of this, but I appreciate the younger generation of Pakistanis being politically aware and concerned for the future of their country. I it will gradually fizzle out in the end,” he explained.

Zia Imran, CEO and founder of VahZay (Pvt) Ltd, a software and IT products and services company based in Lahore, hits the nail on the head by summing up the entire episode perfectly.

“The current dharnas, the methods employed, and statements issued by all sides, are typical of our national malaise of lack of intellectual depth. We don’t plan things in advance, don’t try to predict outcomes of our actions, don’t strategise — generally don’t think through anything. We the public do that, our leaders do that and the advisers to our leaders do that,” he said.

“Thus while IK and TuQ resonate with the larger sentiment in the nation that things need to change, the status quo needs to be smashed and a more just system put in place — they haven’t been able to translate into larger ideas and a mass movement. They acted in haste, did not plan things, defined the objectives in a convoluted way, insisting on childish demands like asking the PM to resigning without defining how that would lead to a just society. I mourn the lack of depth and intellect everywhere,” he solemnly added.

Despite creating citizens that want to take action the marches have failed to achieve by and large what they had set out to originally do. What remains to be seen, at this point, is what exit routes are left for TuQ and IK. The consensus seems to be that the road to revolution can only lead to nowhere.