“I will let you go come what may, I will not give NRO at any cost”. These stock phrases ring hollow, with Nawaz Sharif going to London. However, this does not prevent the Prime Minister from reiterating them with more vigour and force. Or perhaps, he seems to have lost touch with political realities that have undergone a paradigm shift.
Not a single day goes without IK getting on his hobbyhorses of corruption, and political vengeance. With his minions, Mirza Shahzad Akbar and Farogh Naseem, he leaves no stone unturned in selling this narrative to the nation, blithely ignoring every other thing. They say, revenge is sweeter. The modus operandi is simple enough: throw all the blame on previous governments, clamour about their alleged corruption and get away with your shockingly poor performance. It goes without saying, when the foundation is shaky, the superstructure built thereon would come crashing down with it. No longer are people buying this narrative.
Voice cracked with emotions, anger and frustration writ large on his face, Imran Khan was seen making a frontal assault on all of his political rivals, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, Shahbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in the speech he made at the inauguration of the Hazara Motorway. He mimicked Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and made a mockery of Shahbaz Sharif. It was unbecoming of him to stoop so low. But if anything, given his disposition, it was by no means unexpected. He lamented in so many words that there was one law for the mighty and another for the weak and that some were more equal than others, given the fact that Lahore High Court allowed Mian Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad. In the same breath, he said that it was he who took pity on Nawaz while other cabinet members were opposing it.
It is high time Imran Khan set his own house in order and put his finger on the pulse of the fast-changing political landscape. Arguably, Imran Khan’s grip on power has been undermined by Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Azadi March and Nawaz’s departure abroad. This is not all. Tongues are wagging that the deep state is not happy with the disappointing performance being put in by the ruling party and it may not stomach it for a longer tenure.
He asked the incumbent Chief Justice, Mr Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa and the incoming CJP, Mr Justice Gulzar Ahmed, to take steps to dispel this impression, disregarding the crucial facts that the High Courts of this country are not subordinate to the Supreme Court, and it was the government that had decided not to prefer an appeal against the Lahore High Court’s judgment. This statement came at a critical juncture when the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was to decide the application to hear the matter pertaining to foreign funding of the PTI on a day-to-day basis. The application was allowed afterward.
In a scathing reply, the CJP came down hard on him that it was the Apex Court that had sent three Prime Ministers packing and it was the government that allowed Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad.
It was reported that Nawaz Shari’s health was in a critical condition. He was suffering from life-threatening diseases. His life was hanging by a proverbial thread. The medical board constituted by the government and doctors of Nawaz Sharif recommended that he get his treatment abroad. In the wake of six weeks bail granted by the Islamabad High Court and subsequently by the Lahore High Court’s interim order, he was allowed to travel abroad with his name not taken off the ECL (exit control list). Doctors gave him a high dose of steroids so that his blood platelets level be increased and stabilised during traveling. He was seen wearing a suit and appeared to be physically fit, contrary to the reports that his body was swollen with 80 percent of his arteries blocked. Another photo from the plane showed him sitting with a large bowl of grapes placed before him. Yet another video showed him walking comfortably when he landed in London. It defies comprehension that a person, who was reported to have suffered from life-threatening diseases and was on the verge of death, could miraculously have been so fit. No matter what the actual situation is, it is a bitter reality that those who fall from grace and power, often fall victim to mysterious diseases. Needless to remind, the trademark slogan, “Mujhe Kyun Nikala“, pithily captured the pain suffered by Nawaz Sharif.
This brings us to the gross incompetence, abject failure, and countless U-turns that mark the rule of the present government. Rampant inflation and poverty have become a byword for this government. Electricity, gas and water bills and petrol prices have really broken the back of the common man. The ruling party has made their lives a living nightmare.
Corruption, instead of being controlled or uprooted, it has taken firm root. Needless to mention, the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) pointed out irregularities of more than Rs15.67 trillion by the federal ministries and divisions during the audit year 2018-19.
It was claimed that the reforms would be introduced in the police. Far from it. The horrendous and gut-wrenching incidents like Sahiwal have failed to move the government out of its lethargy and inaction.
As for the Cabinet of Imran Khan, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, the PM’s Finance Adviser, made himself a laughingstock when he said tomatoes were available for Rs 17 a kilio. To say the least, it was downright ludicrous, baffling and comical. An economic minister is not supposed to make statements far removed from reality. But then again, this is not unusual given the PTI’s track record. At this juncture, one is reminded of an utterance attributed to Marie Antoinette, the French queen: “If they have no bread, let them eat cake”! Needless to say, oblivious to ground realities, rulers often live in ivory towers.
Sheikh Rasheed, the Railways Minister, dug his heels in and refused to throw in the towel in the face of a heart-wrenching railway accident where 74 passengers became the victims of the conflagration.
Imran Khan does not tire of harping on the same chord about Riyasat-e-Madina, for all the wrong reasons. Deplorable as it is, every step he takes and everything he speaks are offensive to the very idea of the Riyasat-e-Madina. The state of Madina was not supposed to make the lives of the common men miserable. With the price of everything going up on a weekly basis, it is hard for them to keep their heads above the water. It was not the custom of the Riyasat-e-Madina to breathe down political enemies’ necks and to persecute them by witch-hunting in sham trials. It was a welfare state where the lives of the common men were highly valued. Imran Khan should stop abusing the name of Riyasat-e-Madina. It is no laughing matter. He should stop seeking refuge in religion to cover up the fiascos.
Last but by no means least, it is high time that Imran Khan set his own house in order and put his finger on the pulse of the fast-changing political landscape. Arguably, Imran Khan’s grip on power has been undermined by Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Azadi March and Nawaz’s departure abroad. This is not all. Tongues are wagging that the deep state is not happy with the disappointing performance being put in by the ruling party and it may not stomach it for a longer tenure.
