On May 9, PTI Chairman Imran Khan was arrested by a team of the National Accountability Bureau, from the premises of the Islamabad High Court, in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case. Following which riots broke out especially in Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar.
Pakistan is not a simple and straight country to understand. The corruption case had been around for months. The Rangers were called out to arrest Khan, who was not responding to the notices of the NAB. Apparently, this was a simple case of arrest of an accused person on charges of corruption. The reality however is deeper. That is, Khan’s arrest would not have been possible if he had not nominated an army general in his murder attempt.
In short, the Peshawar-Lahore link to lodge a protest movement is unprecedented in recent history. The link augurs badly for the future– in the sense that when Lahore is calmed down by the security forces, the turn of Peshawar may be the next. The last ditch effort is to decide who rules the roost. Certainly, people do. Salaried class, thriving on people’s taxes, must go back to their confines, the barracks
Lahore is significant in the sense that it bore the major brunt of the protest. Lahore saw the burning down of the Corps’ Commander’s House, which was originally known as Jinnah House. The act of setting it on fire brought agitation into the ambit of law and order.
Looking at the situation from an angle other than that of civil unrest against the arrest of Khan, the episode is a telling reminder that realities on the ground have changed. The fear of the army being able to call shots is gone. The first recent manifestation was the public reaction to the murder of journalist Arshad Sharif, who fled Pakistan.
It simply means that, facilitated by the Army, Khan’s arrest will not let the unrest die down, quickly or effortlessly. The state machinery has to pay a further cost. Civil administration is under pressure. No doubt, by issuing press statements and conducting press conferences, the Army tried its best to prove its innocence in the Arshad Sharif murder, the Army has not come up with any alternative proof or evidence to prove its guiltlessness. The unsolved murder issue of Arshad Sharif is enough to offer requisite fuel to the proverbial fire. The same point was manipulated by Khan to beg favour of people at large and strengthen the ranks of the PTI. That is, the PTI is fighting against hidden hands who can exterminate without mercy any opponent. With raising the Arshad Sharif murder case, the PTI earned significant sympathy and made the wave of sympathy the strength of the party. Hence, behind the ferocity and fearlessness of vandalism lies not only the wrath of the PTI supporters on the arrest of Khan but also a hidden reaction to the departure of Arshad Sharif.
Civil unrest to ransack properties, private or public, is condemnable, but equally condemnable is the participation of the Army and its allied intelligence agencies in the sphere of politics. Setting on fire the House of Corps Commander Lahore is condemnable but equally contemptuous is the effort of this House to manipulate the civil system. It is in everybody’s knowledge that this House used to give directions to the civil system from the induction of lawyers in the Lahore High Court as judges to the transfer of police officers and executive magistrates in Punjab. The grooming of judges to be pro-Army and anti-civilian government starts from the day of induction. Has anybody condemned that imperious illegitimate role of the House?
If nobody has condemned the role or showed determination to end the role, the situation of dissatisfaction may not die down, whether or not the law enforcement agencies squash the protest in favour of peace and tranquillity.
In the civil unrest, whatever intensity it is having, one thing is certain: people want to take their future in their own hands, instead of certain offices behind closed doors deciding the country’s future. This call of the PTI has gathered strong backing.
The House was ransacked in Lahore and not in Peshawar, where there is more resentment against the Army in general. The situation indicates that hatred against the unconstitutional role of the Army is abhorred from Peshawar to Lahore. One solution could be to kill the protesters to suppress any turmoil, another solution could be to withdraw to the constitutional limits and earn respect.
With performing acts of vandalism, the assailants showed that the respect had vanished. Once it vanishes, it will always remain vanished. The reason is that the world around has changed. The world has gone more democratic and people-oriented compared to the past. One coloured revolution or the other has transformed the thoughts of people. Moreover, given the existing economic scenario, wherein people are paying the price of the mistakes of those who cannot be held accountable, people have to rule the roost.
From a different perspective, audio leaks of the PTI leaders have been aired to show they were admiring and promoting acts of vandalism in Lahore and Islamabad. The audio leaks are being made part of evidence to lodge FIRs against the perpetrators. The question is this: if these audio leaks are proof enough to implicate offenders, Pakistan’s sitting President Arif Alvi was also found discussing similar acts of vandalism when the then aggressors attacked the building of Pakistan Television Islamabad on 1st September 2014. The difference is that, at that time, today’s victim, the Army, was supportive of the PTI. The Army and the PTI were hand in glove to force the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign. Today, both the Army and the PTI are at daggers drawn with each other.
In short, the Peshawar-Lahore link to lodge a protest movement is unprecedented in recent history. The link augurs badlt for the future– in the sense that when Lahore is calmed down by the security forces, the turn of Peshawar may be the next. The last ditch effort is to decide who rules the roost. Certainly, people do. Salaried class, thriving on people’s taxes, must go back to their confines, the barracks.
