By Agha Iqrar Haroon
Islamabad, Pakistan: Once again the Federal government confirmed that PTI used Afghan nationals to disrupt law and order in Pakistan, once again the public experienced the chaos and disorder PTI injected when the Belarusian President was in Islamabad and once again it has been confirmed that PTI and Pakistan cannot move on together. The last one-week melodrama testified that PTI does the politics of corpses then why this group of miscreants is not being banned in Pakistan. Pakistan recently banned a political party whose impact on the law and order situation was limited to one area while PTI spreads anarchy all over the country.
In October 2024, the government banned the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), citing security concerns. A government notification labeled the PTM as a “proscribed organization,” for engaging in activities deemed prejudicial to the peace and stability of the country. PTM was not involved in attacking military installations as PTI did on May 9, 2023. PTM was not involved in killing Rangers and policemen as PTI had been and again did it on November 24-25-26, 2024. PTM had no known links with the Zionist lobby as PTI has and PTM did not run a huge campaign against the state of Pakistan as PTI did while writing letters to the UN to penalize the country on human rights issues, writing letters to IMF to stop payments to Pakistan, writing letters to US Congressmen and UK lawmakers to ask their countries to take punitive actions against Pakistan. PTM had no huge resources for running campaigns against the Pakistan Army and the State of Pakistan as the PTI has and runs such campaigns.
I understand that the state of Pakistan had reasons to ban PTM then the whole nation has reasons to believe that PTI is more dangerous than PTM and not banning this party would not serve anything good to the country. Like PTM, recently PTI has started playing the card of ethnicity and provincialism and all speeches of former First Lady Bushra Bibi categorically stated that Pushtuns are brave and they must stand with her to attack the capital city of Islamabad. She had been indicating that except for Pushtuns nobody is brave in Pakistan. What else does the state of Pakistan need to ban this party? In July 2024, Federal Minister for Information Atta Tarar indicated that PTI would be banned soon but this soon is yet to be realized.
Would we wait for something more dangerous than May 9, 2023, and November 24 before taking punitive action against the Cult of PTI?
Former prime minister Imran Khan since he was voted out from power in April 2022, is pitching his followers against the State of Pakistan and creating a gap between the State and the Public. This situation remembers what happened in East Pakistan and he had been citing the “East Pakistan Model” his party launched a massive campaign in the past to incite the public to stand against Pakistan as was done by Bangalis in 1971. November 24-25-26 events such as crushing Rangers to death confirm that his attempt to create a divide between the State and his followers is successful and his followers consider State symbols (Rangers/Police/monuments of martyrs etc) as ‘enemies”.
PTI slur brigade had been targeting military and law enforcement agencies by abusing them with unimaginable diction even during the November 24 protest but no such action has ever taken place against Imran Khan or his party leaders and workers. Today the majority of Pakistanis believe that Imran Khan and his party leaders are enjoying the greatest respect and leniency from State institutions that have never been enjoyed by any political leader and any political party in the entire history of Pakistan. Is this leniency is a strategic move of the government that needs the survival of PTI that threatens state institutions or is it a failure of the government to ban PTI due to foreign pressures or political compromises, these questions need answers from the government.
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.
