PTI chief and former PM Imran Khan showed at his Karachi rally that he was not abandoning the narrative of having been removed from office because he had an independent foreign policy. This was despite the DG ISPR’s statement about the National Security Committee meeting, that there was no mention of a conspiracy. Mr Khan has based his narrative on that letter, from the outgoing Pakistani Ambassador to the USA. The statement at the rally showed that he was not willing to abandon the claim, though it involved not just the armed forces, the Supreme Court and the opposition. The willingness of the PTI to confront the military was shown by former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari’s counterclaim that the military had originated three options for the opposition, in contradiction to the DG ISPR’s claim that the military leadership had merely passed on Mr Khan’s message.
Mr Khan has not shown sufficient signs of pulling back from a dangerous course. It is as if he still wants to drag the military into the political vortex, and the means he has chosen is to call out the military in any place where its narrative does not agree with his. This might make for catching crowd enthusiasm, but there is going to be a limit to how long he can attract attention this way. So far, his claims of a conspiracy are attracting attention, but if he were to leave the urban centres he is presently appearing in, he might find it difficult to gather so many people.
One reason why he finds people to hear him, is that people are in search of some post-fast activity during Ramzan. As temperatures creep up after Ramzan, and after the monsoons set in, he might find it difficult to get large crowds to listen to him. Another factor against him is that time will drag away attention from the conspiracy. As the new government is formed, and as the new government takes steps, the PTI will have to change its rhetoric to take account of the most immediate events. Critics of Mr Khan have already argued that he is beating a dead horse, and that he is irrelevant. He should fear the day when his supporters get the chase feeling. Worse, if the military finds any takers for the narrative that he was just plain wrong, he will not only be irrelevant, but even pathetic.
