As inauspicious as the day may be, Mian Nawaz has announced he will be landing in Pakistan on Friday the thirteenth.
The former prime minister is defiant, and to his credit, the return is a week after the verdict. That is exactly the amount of time he had asked the court for. While the courts won’t regret it, they will be thinking what could have been if Mian Nawaz had actually been there.
For now, however, the League is amping up the pressure at home. Captain Safdar, still strolling free, has offered himself up for arrest. Mian Shehbaz Sharif has also woken up from his stupor of passivity. While he refrained from poking the bear as Mian Nawaz is, understandable since he has a lot more on the line, he did call a party meeting and has already asked ticket holders and party leaders to start preparing groups of people to go recieve Mian Nawaz at the airport.
The NAB is planning to pick Mian Nawaz up as soon as he lands. But just imagine the airport surrounded by a sea of PML-N supporters from all over the country. And if they are blocked off, there could be riots. The League has been peddling the nefarious-forces-out-to-get-us narrative for long now, and their followers seem to be absolutely on board.
One thing is for sure, this won’t be a measly Musharraf return. It might not exactly be massive as it was when Benazir Bhutto came back, but it’ll still be pretty big.
LEVEL PLAYING FIELD:
Speaking of the late Mohtarma, her party is also feeling pressured by the nefarious-forces-that-be. As Bilawal Bhutto made his way up the Sindh, his south Punjab campaign was apparently hindered. Now that is the one part of Punjab where the PPP might be hoping to pull off an upset in a couple of constituencies, and that is where they say the odds have been slated against them.
Strange, but Imran Khan is the only one that doesn’t seem to be having any problems. But nothing to do with him being the recipient of any perks. Right?
This isn’t even the first time that something like this is happening. Remember the time when PPP, and ANP leaders were turned back from Parachinar and only Imran was allowed to go through last year after the twin bombings that killed 43 people? That was when Nawaz Sharif was still prime minister. Says a lot about how level the playing field has been for a long time now.
IMRAN AND BLASPHEMY:
Imran Khan recently defended the blasphemy laws speaking at an Ulema and Mashaikh Conference. As nauseating as it may be for liberals, it is a constitutional provision and the PTI chairman has the full right to defend it. It will also get him nothing but love from the rising Barelvi political activism we have seen. What is dangerous is him claiming the League tried to wipe the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat ordinance. We all remember how playing politics on this turned out last time circa Faizabad. Imran would also be wise to remember his party was signatory to that particular legislation.
