Popularity myth exploded

The much hyped PTI campaign for release of Imran Khan and triggering a revolution for real independence through the participation of millions of people has proven to be only a confrontation between CM KPK Ali Amin Gandapur and the federal government. He has twice marched on the capital bringing ten to fifteen armed individuals from KPK using official resources of the province which should not be a difficult task considering the fact that the province is being ruled by PTI.

He attacked the capital on the eve of the SCO conference which fizzled out without achievement of declared goals though the protestors, all from KPK, damaged many properties and even killed two policemen during the confrontation between them and the law enforcing agencies. The CM vanished from the venue and made his appearance two days later in the KPK assembly telling a bizarre story about his escape and return to the provincial capital.

However, after the fizzling out of the revolution, Gandapur, while speaking in the KP assembly, with a view to cover the embarrassment and humiliation that he and his followers had to suffer, has said that the party would again march on the capital and it will be a bullet-for-bullet adventure. Some assembly members have also made provocative speeches against the federation and the Army. I am afraid they are sadly mistaken about the resolve of the federation to allow the repeat of any such mishap. The CM KPK and the party needs to adopt a legal course for the release of Imran Khan. They also have to conform to the political and democratic culture to resolve the contentious issues. Any approach to the contrary will have serious consequences for the party

In response to the final ‘do or die’ call by Imran Khan it was again CM KPK Ali Amin Gandapur who led the crowd of 10,000-15,000 gathered from KPK only armed with guns and tear gas shells to attack the capital.

None of the party leaders from other provinces and party supporters responded to the call of the leader whom the social media as well as certain sections of the mainstream media billed as the most popular leader in the country. The lack of response from other provinces has adequately exploded the myth of Imran enjoying the back of the majority of the people throughout the country.

Before the protestors reached the Blue Area one of them  ran a vehicle over Rangers personnel, killing three of them and inuring many others. They also killed one policeman on their way to D-Chowk besides inflicting injuries on more than 200 of them.

 

Before the march actually started some armchair gladiators and media analysts had started predicting development of a very alarming situation as a result of the ensuing confrontation. One of the media stalwarts even went to the extent of saying that it could trigger a civil war in the country. Their naivety was amazing in making such exaggerated predictions without bothering to check the ground realities regarding their make-belief and uncontrolled propensity to create commotion and despair within the society.

Revolutions are spontaneous mass movements and not the marches on the state capital by 10,000-15,000 hired and coerced individuals. Those who predicted a revolution are advised to study the history of American Revolution, French Revolution, Chinese communist revolution, communist revolution in USSR, Iranian revolution in 1979 and Arab Spring in the early 2010s.

 

Any anodyne observer and student of politics would not deny the fact that Imran Khan has a considerable following in the country. But that popularity is not to the extent of catapulting him in the position of a revolutionary. The touchstone for judging the myth of his popularity were the by-elections on four seats in Punjab where the party lost by big margins, including the daughter of Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Multan. Further recounting in two national assembly constituencies also led to reversing the results that had announced victory of PTI-supported candidates. It indicated the fact that the officials supervising the election in those constituencies might have played a dirty role in changing the actual vote count.

The latest march on Islamabad was not only a political blunder but also a rebellion against the federation without the required support of the masses. The response of the federation to defeat the self-styled revolutionaries was quite legitimate and justifiable because when the writ of the state is challenged the way it was, it becomes incumbent upon it to restore its writ by all means. Let us not forget that the Islamabad High Court had declared the march as illegal and instructed the government to take all possible measures to stop it.

Now in the backdrop of the operation carried out by the federal government to flush out the violent mob from the Red Zone, a sustained campaign has been unleashed by the social media warriors of the party as well as the party leaders dubbing the action as unprecedented persecution against workers of the party.

To reinforce that claim the party is drumming up the propaganda of deaths of the PTO workers. The figure started from 278 claimed by Lateef Khosa. It came down to 25 and then 12 as stated by different leaders of the party.  In spite of insistence by the government to provide corroborative evidence, none has been given. It tells how the party is trying to dish out fake news about the deaths of its workers without any concrete proof of its claims.

However an investigative report by Geo Fact Check confirms the death of only three individuals with gun shots. But it is not clear whether they were hit by the bullets fired by the protestors or the law enforcing agencies. The government denies having used live ammunition.

The death of any human being for whatever reason is very regrettable. But the dilemma is when there is a question of quelling a rebellion or attack on the state such deaths are not something out of this world.

When people charge the capital with guns and tear gas shells with the intention to topple the government, it cannot be supposed they will be welcomed with garlands. We have recent examples from European countries and the USA, where law enforcing agencies have fired at the violent mobs to restore peace, resulting in casualties.

However, after the fizzling out of the revolution, Gandapur, while speaking in the KP assembly, with a view to cover the embarrassment and humiliation that he and his followers had to suffer, has said that the party would again march on the capital and it will be a bullet-for-bullet adventure. Some assembly members have also made provocative speeches against the federation and the Army. I am afraid they are sadly mistaken about the resolve of the federation to allow the repeat of any such mishap. The CM KPK and the party needs to adopt a legal course for the release of Imran Khan. They also have to conform to the political and democratic culture to resolve the contentious issues. Any approach to the contrary will have serious consequences for the party.