Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the evergreen and ambitious Vice-Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has complained that his own party conspired against him in the 2018 provincial assembly elections in his Multan constituency. This is an interesting accusation coming from him.
Historically speaking, the PTI remained clean of all foul play till the Lahore Jalsa of 30 October 2011 before the pandemic of electables hit the movement for change. Till that time, Comrade Ahsan Rashid, President Punjab and one of the six founding members, was the Chou-En-Lai of the party and a clear second after the Chairman. Ever since Nawaz Sharif as Chief Minister was able to corner the then Prime Minster, the position has become critical.
After the 18th Amendment the CMs have now become omnipotent. After 56 days the party had a power show at Mazar-e-Quaid on 25 December 2011, by that time new funny faces were seen sitting on the mainstage next to Imran Khan. There was a tussle to sit next to IK. The trio from Multan (Qureshi, Javed Hashmi, Jehangir Tareen) were most active followed by the duo from Kasur (Khurshid Kasuri, Sardar Asseff). Till that time Ahsan Sahibb was calling the shots, as the host had arranged a lavish dinner at a five-star hotel which proved to be the ‘Last Supper’ for the party ideologues.
The battle for control of the party had started. Ahsan Sb was the first target in 2013 elections as he was next in line to become the CM Punjab. First a conspiracy was hatched within the party by the newcomers to unseat him as PunjabPresident  in the Inter Party Elections (IPE). Votes were purchased to keep the old guard out. The Multan Trio was in as Vice Chairman, Party President and Secretary General (With their support).
Once they were in the saddle the struggle to control the party started. Everyone was eyeing for the coveted position of CM Punjab. After the 2014 Dharna, Javed Hashmi was expelled by the Chairman and now it was the ‘Multan Duo’ at work. PTI had been a party of change under able and honest leadership but with the entry of these ‘ambitious electables’ the purity of the party was seriously dented.
The PTI has to be revived to start the crusade of change from where it was hijacked by the traditional old players of status quo and vested self-interests. Like Jinnah, Imran too believes in merit but the ‘counterfeits’ come in the way through conspiracies of all kinds. Most of them have been shown the door while a few still remain, it is indeed curtain time for them as the script has been changed from ‘ Ghulami to Azadi ‘. The march for freedom has started in which the slaves have no role to play.
Ahsan Sb passed away before the 2018 elections, and his glorious innings came to an end. He had served his party with honesty and dedication. Till the last moment it was not sure whether IK would come for his final rites but he did. In line with the comrade traditions, and with the permission of his family, I draped his bier with the party flag as a final tribute for his services to the party and the change he desired for his motherland.
Now the ‘Multan Duo’ was all over. They even surrounded the Chairman. While the old guard was sidelined, some of the newcomers like the Leghari Brothers and Sardar Asseff left the party as they too were marginalized. Now it turned into a Multan-versus-Multan duel for the coveted slot of CM Punjab.
It may have been a ‘Multan Conspiracy’ to keep him out but certainly it was not the PTI which even till today remains a relatively clean political entity. Luck favoured Qureshi as Tareen was disqualified by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, leaving the political field open for him.
Tareen, despite his ouster from politics, continued to control the party affairs till he was shown the door after the ‘Sugar Scandal’. Comrade Naeem-ul-Haq, another founder member of the party, remained close to Imran till the end. Despite his battle with cancer, he provided an important link between the party rank and file and the leader whom the ‘Multan Duo’ had monopolized.
After his passing away, a tussle started between the bureaucracy led by the Principal Secretary and Tareen for the control of the PM Secretariat. As always, the bureaucrats have the final laugh as they control the files and the paperwork. The rest as they say, is history, members of the Tareen and Aleem Group have now lost their seats and are contesting by-elections on PML(N) tickets while Qureshi has fielded his son for the same seat that he lost in 2018. In his own words, “I did not suffer, as I became the Foreign Minister, you were made to suffer by my defeat “. He urged the voters to wake-up, I wish the voter are also able to break the spell of spiritual monopolization which has dominated the politics of Multan for centuries. After his great election triumph in 1970, Bhutto declared that he had finished the politics of ‘Pirs and Mirs’, but they are very much there.
Qureshi’s outburst against his own party should be taken seriously. If the Vice-Chairman feels cheated, how about the rank and file of the party? All is not well since 25 December 2011. Even the Father of the Nation complained about the ‘Counterfeit Coins’ in his pocket.
It is widely believed that what goes around comes around. Conspiracies take place when merit and transparency are missing. Openness is the most important ingredient of democracy which has been missing in the movement since the entry of electables.
The PTI has to be revived to start the crusade of change from where it was hijacked by the traditional old players of status quo and vested self-interests. Like Jinnah, Imran too believes in merit but the ‘counterfeits’ come in the way through conspiracies of all kinds. Most of them have been shown the door while a few still remain, it is indeed curtain time for them as the script has been changed from ‘ Ghulami to Azadi ‘. The march for freedom has started in which the slaves have no role to play.
