‘Game changer’ Imran Khan is not out yet!

SALEEM SAMAD

Pakistan’s cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan did not hesitate to admit that the “establishment” (the Pakistan military) gave him three options.

The first option was to face a no-confidence vote in parliament. The second one was to dissolve parliament and hold snap elections and the third one was to resign as prime minister and forget about patronage of the military.

Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) swept into power in 2018, albeit with the blessings of the military, pulling strings to ensure that PTI has 121 seats in the assembly, thus making it a minority government.

The military denied the claims of giving Khan three options and backing him in the election, but he successfully dodged the ouster by following one of the three pieces of advice after consulting his cronies and advisers.

Pakistan’s former celebrity cricketer Wasim Akram wrote on Twitter: “The Game Changer #ImranKhan #Skipper #NotOutYet #Surprise”.

The tweet of the former captain and international sports commentator has earned 72.3K likes and 10.2K Retweets in a day.

What Akram and other supporters of Khan have not mentioned is that Khan remained loyal to “His Master’s Voice” – the military bigwigs who continued to interfere in foreign policy, civil administration and political affairs.

For nearly half of the 75 years of Pakistan’s birth, the country was ruled by the military which caused immense harm to the national economy, and sustainable development goals, blocking the capacity building of democratic institutions and freedom of expression.

As a result, the news organisations that were critical of the PTI government fell prey to Inter-Services Intelligence, the military’s spy agency. The dreaded agency has long been accused of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and torture of journalists in custody, especially in restive Balochistan and Waziristan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Several prominent journalists were killed. Journalists critical of the military establishment were forced to go into exile. The owners of several private news organisations were stopped by the ISI from employing these journalists.

The opposition moved to oust Khan accusing him of failing to revive the economy and crackdown on corruption. Now he is blamed for “burning down democratic order” as the minority government dissolved parliament to avoid the vote of no-confidence that he claims is backed by the United States because he visited Moscow on the day Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine.

After the chaos in parliament before its dissolution, Pakistan’s independent newspaper Dawn in an editorial wrote: “The nation is stunned. Ahead of the vote of no-confidence, the prime minister had repeatedly hinted that he had a ‘trump card’ up his sleeve. There were indications all along that something might be amiss: even as political pundits and the media confidently predicted Mr Imran Khan’s defeat in the vote of no-confidence, he seemed unperturbed. No one could have guessed that his last ploy would involve having the democratic order burnt down by a democratically empowered party.”

Maleeha Lodhi, a Pakistani diplomat and political scientist wrote in the Dawn: “The Imran Khan government’s denouement raises the question of how he ended up facing a vote of no-confidence. Although that parliamentary process was subverted and a constitutional crisis ensued it will still mark an end to his rule. Few governments in Pakistan’s recent history began their term with Khan’s advantages. He had unqualified support from the military, widespread public goodwill, control of Punjab, a divided and demoralised opposition and a popular yearning for change.”

The country’s political landscape has recently been abuzz with political activity as parties and individuals changed alliances and the PTI and the opposition were seen trading barbs and allegations alongside intensifying efforts to ensure their success in the no-confidence contest.

Zaigham Khan, a leading political analyst told Al Jazeera: “[The dissolution is] a blatant violation of the constitution and can lead to a very serious crisis.” If the apex court of Pakistan orders the speaker to go ahead with the no-confidence motion, the dissolution of parliament will become invalid, the analyst said.

Former prime minister Muhammad Khan Junejo appealed to the Supreme Court in 1988 after the assembly had been dissolved by former president General Zia-ul-Haq, who had taken power in a military coup years earlier.

The court agreed his government had been dissolved unconstitutionally but ruled that since elections had been announced anyway it was best to move on.

The fate of Khan’s political future now rests upon the Supreme Court’s decision. Although opposition leaders seemed confident to win a vote of no-confidence against Khan, chances are weak to get a proactive verdict. It’s highly unlikely the Supreme Court will overrule the decision to hold the vote at all.

First published in the news portal bdnews24, 5 April 2022

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, defender of media rights, and the recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award

Butcher Quader is the ‘angel’ of Mirpur

D ASGHAR

Mr Molla was a Bangladeshi citizen — had he loved Pakistan so much, he would have renounced his citizenship and migrated to the Islamic citadel, after the creation of the so-called Indian-sponsored Bangladesh

The sovereign state of Bangladesh decided to punish a Bangladeshi citizen named Abdul Qauder Molla for 1971 war-related crimes. Mr Molla was hanged according to Bangladeshi laws (right or wrong, which is of course debatable) after the review of their Supreme Court. A foreign office ‘babu’ (bureaucrat) in Islamabad drafted a vague and vain (in essence) statement, advising Bangladesh that, “Though it is not the norms of our state to interfere in the business of other countries, but the world is watching the developments that are shaping in Bangladesh ‘very closely’, as a result of this sentencing.” The ‘babu’ must have missed his morning tea or perhaps overslept, as the statement clearly was not very diplomatic at all. However, as they say, we are the ones in deep slumber, unwilling to learn anything from the past. Each year, around this month we do the usual chest thumping, a bit of sloganeering, point fingers towards edgy neighbours and rarely focus on the remaining four fingers that all point towards us. The grand state of delusion, which once engulfed former President Yahya Khan, still runs through our veins like blood and no matter what facts or evidence are brought forward, we simply will not relent and abandon our state of denial.

The social media went ablaze as soon as the hanging was confirmed by credible news sources around the globe. Mr Molla was remembered as the ‘Butcher of Mirpur’ and, of course, our folk quickly transformed him into an angel, making him the poor soul who was victimised by the Bangladeshis for his love for Pakistan. All right, let us assume that our patriots have something that carries any weight for a moment. The Awami League-led government in Bangladesh decided to try war criminals after 42 years as a campaign ploy to win the hearts of the potential voters in the upcoming elections in their country. In a country of millions, Mr Molla was the easiest victim and hence they picked on him to demonstrate their disdain towards their former tormentors. Never mind the people who gathered at Shahbagh and protested there. Of course, they must have been some foreign agents, perhaps fielded by our archrival, inciting and stirring up an unwanted controversy. 

Social media activists high on emotions and low on reasoning were calling it a “judicial murder”. Ah the irony — a citizen of their own country was in fact “judicially murdered” and proved as such by our dark history. Yet he is still dogged, to this day, and made the punching bag for this sorry episode. The great lawyers of our great nation want the government to raise the issue of Mr Molla’s hanging at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Our politicos went a step ahead and passed a resolution in the National Assembly condemning the aforementioned event. Some right-wing mouthpieces also awarded Mr Molla the title of Shaheed-e-Pakistan (martyr of Pakistan). The equally deranged Imran Khan declared Mr Molla innocent. The man is multi-talented and can definitely play a firebrand attorney too. I believe when all the hue and cry was being raised on the floor of the National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the people’s representatives perhaps overlooked their own foreign office’s statement. Needless to say, this was direct involvement in a sovereign state’s internal affairs. The proponents of such an ill-intended move were desperately trying to find a relationship between Mr Molla and Pakistan.

Let us put some reason into these arguments, shall we? Mr Molla was a Bangladeshi citizen — had he loved Pakistan so much, he would have renounced his citizenship and migrated to the Islamic citadel, after the creation of the so-called Indian-sponsored Bangladesh. Nor did Mr Molla leave a final message for Imran Khan, the ‘rebellious’ Javed Hashmi or their Jamaati cohorts of Pakistan, citing his patriotic fervour for the Islamic Republic.

Next, where were our patriots when Mr Molla needed them the most? At the beginning of this year, when he was convicted, why did the boiling politicos, the so prudent lawyers and the Jamaati leadership of Pakistan not reach out to the ICJ at that juncture? So, once it is said and done, all and sundry wag their tongues to demonstrate their hollow worth, much like the poster child for their hue and cry, Dr Afia Siddiqui, who is languishing in a prison over here. All these right-wingers beat her piñata to death but I very humbly request all of these, including Mr Khan and his cohorts, to set the record straight in both Brother Molla and Sister Afia’s cases, for the sake of our unblemished history. Gather enough evidence and challenge their convictions; after all it is a matter of our ‘honour’. 

Speaking of a leg to stand on, let me say that Mr Khan and his Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) of the Islamic Republic’s cohorts do not even have that. If you look at the resolution, it is advising the sovereign state of Bangladesh to not reopen wounds that are 42-years-old. I humbly ask, why not? Does the act of rape or murder get downgraded or less heinous with the passage of time? Let the criminals be punished on both sides. You bring your evidence against the Mukti Bahini and let them present the evidence against al Shams, al Badar and the soldiers involved. If that is unacceptable, then please have the courage to face those people and seek forgiveness and apologies. Yes, it cuts both ways but it is rather silly of me to hope for any such possibility. Please do not get me started on the enlightened generation of 42 years or younger, or the ones who are much older, with their blinders on. Some are regretfully so ignorant about the real history of the land that they claim to love so much and some deliberately obfuscate to avoid any blame at any cost. The sheer arrogance in the demeanour of our folk is downright revolting and repulsive. Looking at these people vent on the idiot box, social media and on the floor of the National Assembly, one can easily sum everything up in this sentence: “Zinda hai Yahya, Zinda hai” (Yahya is alive, he is alive).

First published in the Daily Times, Pakistan on December 21, 2013

D Asghar is a Pakistani-American mortgage banker. He blogs at dasghar.blogspot.com and can be reached at dasghar@aol.com. He tweets at dasghar