Emergency : It Was Inevitable

Governor’s rule has been imposed. There are two fundamental points that need to be understood.

The first is that governor’s rule and an emergency are not such evils that one must adopt an apologetic attitude towards them. If circumstances demand it, an emergency and governor’s rule are entirely legitimate and constitutional measures.

The second point to understand is that we were facing precisely the circumstances and events considered necessary to justify governor’s rule. Beyond this, perhaps no other option remained.

If we have had to witness these days, it is because of the PTI’s recklessness, its provocative attitude, its lack of seriousness and responsibility, and its continuous follies.

Unfortunately, PTI has never been able to behave like a normal political party. It turned democracy into the tyranny of the majority, fascism and a cult.

Political parties find a way out of a dead end. PTI had walked itself into one.

Politics is about taking others along. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf denied the very existence of everyone except itself. It believed that it alone represented the ultimate truth. Everyone else was Raja Dahir.

Any thief or crook in the world who joined its party would become pious, pure, clean and a saintly man of God. But even an honourable person who belonged to any camp other than theirs would be branded a thief, a crook or a thug.

Politics is about coexistence. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf tried to establish its fascism by trampling over everyone else.

It tried to set up its own fielding in the judiciary and demanded the same submission from other institutions: they were to remain obedient to Imran Khan and serve him.

In other words, no individual or institution was, or is, safe unless it spends its time facilitating Imran Khan or acting as his admirer. Khan Sahib’s dictum was that only animals were neutral. To live in this country, one was apparently required to be an Imran Khan tiger. There was no room for anything else.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf tried to exploit every weakness of the state and twist its arm. When the economy ran into trouble, the party sometimes wrote to overseas Pakistanis, asking them not to send money to Pakistan. At other times, it approached the IMF, asking it not to deal with Pakistan. Whenever an important foreign dignitary was about to visit the country, its people would sit on the streets and disrupt the visit. Whenever an important appointment was due to be made, they would take to the streets, flex their political muscle, paralyse normal life and try to force their demands on the system.

It tried to set up its own fielding in the judiciary, and whenever it came across a judge it was not satisfied with, it filed a reference against him to have him removed from its path.

When the country became entangled in terrorism, the party put the state itself in the dock.

The PTI’s problem was not one that could not have been resolved. There had merely been a vote of no-confidence. Such votes had been held before and would continue to be held in the future. People had been removed from office without even the formality of a vote of no-confidence, while Imran Khan Sahib had continued to rub his and others’ noses in their own humiliation. But when a vote of no-confidence came against him, he turned it into an apocalypse. We need to understand why.

The real demand was that just as they had been carried into power in someone’s lap, and just as legislation had been passed for them while they were being carried in that lap, the same arrangement should continue. Even if someone had to grant them a lifetime extension, the facilitation of their rule should continue for life.

Even when they were in government and major legislation was being considered, they did not bother to speak to any political ally or rival. They sat in Bani Gala, detached from everything like Ottoman emperors, while things continued to be done for them.

Their expectation now was that institutions would once again hold their hand, carry them in their laps and remove the obstacles standing in the way of their return to power. When that did not happen, they erupted in anger.

Their conduct was unpolitical, and so was their narrative. Even when they set out on a long march, they made no attempt to take any of their political rivals into confidence. Instead of reaching out to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Jamaat-e-Islami or other such parties and working out an understanding with them, they handed the office of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly to a nationalist, and the same office in the Senate to a man belonging to a particular school of thought. Both are respectable figures and were certainly qualified for these positions. But the point is that when you engage in national politics, its temperament and requirements are different.

Well-wishers like me repeatedly warned that the PTI was heading towards a blind abyss, but in its frenzy, it paid no heed to anyone. It believed that by creating chaos in the state and holding it hostage, it could dictate terms to it and blackmail it.

This time, however, it had already been decided on the other side that the era of such blackmail was over. There was no room for another May 9.

Instagram X-twitter Whatsapp Linkedin Leave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Governor’s rule has been imposed. There are two fundamental points that need to be understood.

The first is that governor’s rule and an emergency are not such evils that one must adopt an apologetic attitude towards them. If circumstances demand it, an emergency and governor’s rule are entirely legitimate and constitutional measures.

The second point to understand is that we were facing precisely the circumstances and events considered necessary to justify governor’s rule. Beyond this, perhaps no other option remained.

If we have had to witness these days, it is because of the PTI’s recklessness, its provocative attitude, its lack of seriousness and responsibility, and its continuous follies.

Unfortunately, PTI has never been able to behave like a normal political party. It turned democracy into the tyranny of the majority, fascism and a cult.

Political parties find a way out of a dead end. PTI had walked itself into one.

Politics is about taking others along. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf denied the very existence of everyone except itself. It believed that it alone represented the ultimate truth. Everyone else was Raja Dahir.

Any thief or crook in the world who joined its party would become pious, pure, clean and a saintly man of God. But even an honourable person who belonged to any camp other than theirs would be branded a thief, a crook or a thug.

Politics is about coexistence. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf tried to establish its fascism by trampling over everyone else.

It tried to set up its own fielding in the judiciary and demanded the same submission from other institutions: they were to remain obedient to Imran Khan and serve him.

In other words, no individual or institution was, or is, safe unless it spends its time facilitating Imran Khan or acting as his admirer. Khan Sahib’s dictum was that only animals were neutral. To live in this country, one was apparently required to be an Imran Khan tiger. There was no room for anything else.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf tried to exploit every weakness of the state and twist its arm. When the economy ran into trouble, the party sometimes wrote to overseas Pakistanis, asking them not to send money to Pakistan. At other times, it approached the IMF, asking it not to deal with Pakistan. Whenever an important foreign dignitary was about to visit the country, its people would sit on the streets and disrupt the visit. Whenever an important appointment was due to be made, they would take to the streets, flex their political muscle, paralyse normal life and try to force their demands on the system.

It tried to set up its own fielding in the judiciary, and whenever it came across a judge it was not satisfied with, it filed a reference against him to have him removed from its path.

When the country became entangled in terrorism, the party put the state itself in the dock.

The PTI’s problem was not one that could not have been resolved. There had merely been a vote of no-confidence. Such votes had been held before and would continue to be held in the future. People had been removed from office without even the formality of a vote of no-confidence, while Imran Khan Sahib had continued to rub his and others’ noses in their own humiliation. But when a vote of no-confidence came against him, he turned it into an apocalypse. We need to understand why.

The real demand was that just as they had been carried into power in someone’s lap, and just as legislation had been passed for them while they were being carried in that lap, the same arrangement should continue. Even if someone had to grant them a lifetime extension, the facilitation of their rule should continue for life.

Even when they were in government and major legislation was being considered, they did not bother to speak to any political ally or rival. They sat in Bani Gala, detached from everything like Ottoman emperors, while things continued to be done for them.

Their expectation now was that institutions would once again hold their hand, carry them in their laps and remove the obstacles standing in the way of their return to power. When that did not happen, they erupted in anger.

Their conduct was unpolitical, and so was their narrative. Even when they set out on a long march, they made no attempt to take any of their political rivals into confidence. Instead of reaching out to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Jamaat-e-Islami or other such parties and working out an understanding with them, they handed the office of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly to a nationalist, and the same office in the Senate to a man belonging to a particular school of thought. Both are respectable figures and were certainly qualified for these positions. But the point is that when you engage in national politics, its temperament and requirements are different.

Well-wishers like me repeatedly warned that the PTI was heading towards a blind abyss, but in its frenzy, it paid no heed to anyone. It believed that by creating chaos in the state and holding it hostage, it could dictate terms to it and blackmail it.

This time, however, it had already been decided on the other side that the era of such blackmail was over. There was no room for another May 9.

Instagram X-twitter Whatsapp Linkedin Leave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.