Will the all-powerful army settle for peace with Pakistan Tehreeke-lnsaf (PTI) founder and former Prime Minister lmran Khan to repair a deeply fragmented political scenario? Will the evils of terrorism, extremism and intolerance be ever contained to foster social cohesion? Lurking beneath is a continuous sectarian divide, which, while dormant recently, remains a significant concern.
There is no definite answer to the political question involving the fate of lmran. The widely admired cricketer-turned-politician has been in jail since May 9, 2023 following his arrest on charges of corruption. His detention angered his supporters who went berserk and attacked the key military installations in protest on the same day. His political rivals, backed by the army, are apparently enjoying his discomfiture. They have shut their eyes to the popular verdict in the February 8, 2024 elections which was clearly in favour of lmran despite his party having been barred from directly contesting the polls apart from being deprived of its iconic election symbol bat.
At the same time, there are violent conflicts almost everywhere.
The border provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are frequently witnessing clashes between the security forces and terrorists on the one hand and uniformed personnel and militant nationalist forces on the other. Moreover, the Tehreek-e-Tali ban Pakistan (TTP), a conglomeration of the country's militant outfits, has become a serious headache bolstered by the patronage of the ruling Afghan Taliban in Afghanistan which it uses as a safe hideout.
The persecution of religious minorities continues unabated. Christians and members of the Ahmadi (also spelt as Ahmadiyyas) community are the sufferers in the latest incidents.
lmran is made a villain
May 9, 2024, marking the first anniversary of the May 9 violence, has been seized by the ruling establishment- often a euphemism for the army- and the politicians in power to spell out their unwillingness to reconcile with lmran Khan and the PTI. While they did not expectedly name lmran and his party, their allusions left little doubt about whom they were referring to. In a statement that day, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir clearly closed the door on any reconciliation, ruling out any “compromise or deal with the planners and architects of this dark chapter in our history”. He said that May 9, 2023 undoubtedly remains a black day in the history of Pakistan when deliberately indoctrinated and insidiously guided miscreants attacked the symbols of the state and national unity, disgracefully desecrating the martyrs' monuments”. He accused the “incident's schemers” for “brazenly and shamelessly trying to twist the narrative and implicate the state in this despicable endeavor”.
Displaying his firm resolve, the General hit hard saying the country's enemies were given the chance to mock the state and its people due to the “deplorable acts of criminally orchestrated violence” on the day.
He was relentless in depicting lmran as a villain even while subtly expressing sympathy for his supporters: “Those gullible elements who did not understand the real motive behind this criminal enterprise and were used as cannon fodder for the political ambitions of the masterminds have already been accorded reasonable benefit of doubt on the direction of Supreme Court of Pakistan. However, the real leaders who present themselves as victims now will be held accountable for their actions, particularly when there is irrefutable evidence of their involvement and complicity in organised violence and sabotage…Pianners, abettors, facilitators and culprits of May 9 will be brought to justice according to the law of the land and our patience not to respond to daily provocations in this regard made in brazen violation of the constitution has limits and it must never be misconstrued as weakness…The designs of all these forces will be defeated with the support of the nation”.
In what seemed to be a demonstration of his intentions Gen Munir inaugurated a library named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the Lahore Garrison, which was the target of the May 9, 2023 mob fury: “We being the constructive forces have rekindled the memory of Quaid by building this public library over the piles of ash and rubble created by the destructive forces.”
Uniform official narrative
The General's statement established the official narrative regarding lmran and the PTI. In few democracies is the army's political influence as overt as it is in Pakistan, where it sometimes functions as a well-organized political force despite denials of being a political party.
On the same day, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recalled that on May 9, 2023 “a politically instigated mob ran amok across the country, damaging public property and military installations”. Zardari condemned the incidents as an ‘'attempt to challenge the writ of the state, undermine the rule of law and weaken the institutions”. Shehbaz said: ‘There can absolutely be no soft-pedaling of what happened on May 9 and there can be no absolution for those who orchestrated, supported, and assisted the attempt to damage the foundations of our nation…not only were symbols of our national pride and honour attacked but the sanctity of our sacred homeland was also assaulted.” He convened a special meeting of his Cabinet to say, among other things: “The impure plan of May 9 was not just a rebellion against Pakistan but against the state, the Pakistan Army and army chief Gen Asim Munir”.
Down the line the same message was echoed. All provincial chief ministers and assemblies expressed a uniform sentiment. The sole exception was the PTI ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the Assembly and the Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur did not toe the line. Gandapur's stance has been consistent: “Our struggle will continue until lmran Khan is free. Despite all oppression, we stand with Khan and will remain steadfast. We will claim our rights just as we won freedom from the British.” Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari while aligning himself with the Government (his party is supporting it from outside) diverged slightly to back the PTI's demand for a judicial inquiry into the incident. He stipulated a condition though: “All parties, including the PTI, must commit to accepting whatever decision the judicial commission arrives at”.
Army demands apology, lmran says no
The army demanded “a sincere and public apology” from lmran, urging him to abandon what it described as the “politics of anarchy and hate.” During a press conference on May 7, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif stated in as many words that any dialogue with the PTI would only be possible if the party “earnestly apologizes publicly before the nation,” commits to “constructive politics,” and renounces the “politics of anarchy”. His language was emphatic: “some political mindset, leader or clique attacks its own army, causes rifts between the army and its people, insults the nation's martyrs and issues threats and hatches propaganda, then there can be no dialogue with them. There is only one way back for such political anarchists that it (PTI) asks for an earnest pardon in front of the nation and promises that it will forgo politics of hate and adopt constructive [style of] politics. In any case, such dialogue should take place between political parties. It is not appropriate for the army to be involved.”
Maj-Gen Sharif offered a somewhat amusing rationale to challenge the PTI's claim of winning the majority in the general elections. He noted that only 7.5 percent of the country's population voted for the ‘specific party'. According to his explanation, with a turnout of 47 percent and about 65 million votes cast, the “specific party” garnered 18.5 million votes, which represents 31 percent of the total votes. Maj-Gen Sharif emphasised that this meant 69 percent of voters did not support the PTI's narrative. He argued, “We live in a democracy, so the majority did not support this narrative… we consider the total population, it is just 7.5 percent, meaning 92-93 percent of the population did not stand with that narrative.”
He further added that it was incorrect to assume all 18.5 million voters fully endorsed the PTI's narrative, concluding, “The narrative has neither the numbers nor the thought behind it”.
He ignored the fact that the PTI-backed independents won the maximum number of seats. He did not apply his reasoning either to the other parties like the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz which despite securing fewer seats formed the Government.
Continuing his astounding theory he claimed that it was the army which was the most trusted institution in the country:”If you look at independent surveys, […] they ask which institution is the most trusted institution in the country. You can pick up any survey; which institute is number one [in the survey)?. There was a survey conducted in February where 74 percent people said that they trust the army the most”
On the other hand, lmran categorically refused to issue an apology. Instead, he countered that he was not guilty, asserting that as he was unaware of the protests due to his being detained at that time. The closest he came to making any form of concession was when he condemned the May 9 riots: “I only came to know about the events of May 9 when I was presented in the Supreme Court…I condemned the events of May 9 in front of the Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial.”
(To Continue…)
*P.S.*
(Article Courtesy: Border Affairs)
