By Agha Iqrar Haroon
The majority of cabinet members of the former prime minister Imran Khan are responsively indicating that Pakistan (God forbids) will face civil war soon if the multiparty government will try to use administrative power to stop Islamabad March announced by 69-year-old former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Former Minister of Information Fawad Ch, former Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed, and many more PTI leaders are not shy to threaten the State with awful consequences if any administrative action is taken against PTI leadership. It looks like this strategy is working well because PTI leadership, as well as followers, are nakedly threatening the state for civil war, abusing state institutions like the Pakistan Army, higher judiciary, and Election Commission of Pakistan but the sitting government is shy to take any substantial action against anybody.
On the media scene former military bureaucrats like retire Lt. Gen. Amjad Shuaib and Lt Gen Tariq, Lt Gen Haroon Aslam, and many more were placed in mainstream media in the last decade of the 21st century to protect the interests and cause of the uniform are also standing stiffly with PTI and indirectly fearing disastrous situation if former Prime minister Imran Khan will not be placed back in PM Office.
I believe PTI has already won the first phase of its strategy for terrorizing the state and its followers look so confident that no administrative action will ever be taken against them because an important stratum of society is standing with PTI and that is the family hood of serving and retired civil and military bureaucrats. Imran Khan knows that State cannot take administrative actions against his party till such time families of civil and military bureaucracy are standing with him because everybody knows stiff action is impossible for innocent children of these upper classes of our society. We must remember PTI is not PPP whose followers are downtrodden poor, powerless illiterate people nor it is PMLN whose followers are mostly businessmen. PTI is a “Crème de la crème” class and there are no such strong hands who can reach their necks, even their hands.
The most serious and dangerous dimension of the entire situation is that PTI has already campaigned that if ever Civil War starts in Pakistan, the military would be responsible. This is the first time that any political party is talking so casually about creating a civil war-like situation in the country and already blaming the Pakistan Army will be responsible for this. My 34 years of experience in journalism indicates that PTI has a firm strategy and strongly believes that Army would come forward soon or would be compelled by PTI to come forward and replace the multiparty government soon enough before cases of alleged corruption could be opened against PTI leadership.
By making the Election Commission of Pakistan controversial and stating that Chief Election Commission was sent by the military establishment, PTI has already dragged Army into the scene and the decision of the foreign funding case would not be accepted by PTI that would say this is also a plan of Army to throw PTI and Imran Khan out of the political arena of Pakistan. I remember ECP took already eight years to decide this case and now its decision would be considered “controversial”. I must appreciate the skill of PTI in handling everything that can go against its leadership. Moreover, PTI does not want to give time to a multiparty government for electoral reforms because EVM and overseas Pakistani voting are designed by PTI to favor its vote bank.
According to my understanding, PTI wants to build a dangerous burden on Pakistan Army by June 2022 so it forgets its apolitical stand and comes forward to remove the multiparty government or compel the multiparty government to announce fresh elections.
PTI believes that it is the only political party in the country and Imran Khan is the only leader available who can run the country. It forgets that it got around 32 percent of the votes while the members of the multiparty government got the rest of the votes. Actually, Imran Khan had been so lucky in the past that nobody dared to touch him even when he announced a movement of disobedience and even when he was allegedly involved in attacking parliament and the state-run PTV building. Even no action was taken against Imran Khan when he was sitting as Prime Minister and was ridiculing Pakistan’s foreign policy and diplomats by saying that India had a sovereign foreign policy but Pakistan had not and he was making Pakistan Army responsible for US-sponsored foreign policy while criticizing Gen Musharraf and even Gen Ziaul Haq for their pro-US stance.
PTI believes his luck remains with him and his removal from office through democratic and parliamentarian move would be reversed soon. Since PTI followers do not believe in parliament, therefore, voting out Imran Khan by the National Assembly is not acceptable for them. They accept parliament only when it can make Imran Khan the Prime Minister and Arif Alvi the President. Moreover, they have been told by their leader that the parliament has already lived its life and will soon be removed with the Presidential form of government in Pakistan under the new constitution. Why should they respect a parliament and the constitution that is already on their departing journey?
Unfortunate to say that PTI leadership is abusing and criticizing state institutions and pitching intemperate views against the judiciary, Pakistan Army, and Elections Commission of Pakistan that could have not been tolerated by the State if they could have come from other political parties like JWP, ANP, PPP, PMLN or separatist’s groups.
The PTI’s stiff head-on collision with state institutions is working well as it is still enjoying amnesty and this situation gives birth to a new political philosophy and provides a new survival kit for radical political minds. Political observers now believe that a radical political party can not only survive rather can flourish politically by threatening the state with civil war if the party is backed by strong strata of society from urban posh areas like Lalik Chowk, Defence Housing societies, Bharia towns, and cantonment areas.
I always thought that why did PTI have never work for establishing farmer or labor union groups like other conventional political parties have? Now I have started understanding a new political system introduced by PTI where there is no need for farmers or labor unions wings with you if you have harbored your support in posh urban areas and if you have worked on families of civil and military bureaucracy. It indicates to me if PTI wins in its strategy then we will have to accept that the country would always be run overtly or covertly by civil and military bureaucracy for all times to come.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this article/Opinion/Comment are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk (DND). Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk News Agency.
