After being deposed as Prime Minister for the third time, Nawaz Sharif started a campaign for ‘Vote ki Izzat‘ (Respect for the vote). He travelled with his caravan of supporters on the GT Road which was considered to be his strong area of support. Despite the theatrics of Marvi Memon, it was a lacklustre performance by the three-time PM.
On reaching Lahore he offered Fatiha at the shrine of Sufi Saint Data Gunj Buksh RA and went home to his princely state at Jatti Umra. Shahid Khaqan Abbassi replaced him as PM. After the 2018 elections Imran Khan came to power. While Abbassi Sahib is of the opinion that every election after 1970 has been rigged, the PML(N) as a party claims it was denied power through establishment manipulation of the electoral process. As Nawaz was himself launched by the establishment, he does not know the history of Pakistan Muslim League (PML), the political outfit that falsely claims to be the founding party of Pakistan.
The All India Muslim League (AIML) was founded at Decca in 1906. In order to come into the mainstream of politics as the sole representative voice of the Muslims of the Indian Subcontinent, it moved its headquarter to Lucknow. Allama Muhamamd Iqbal led the party (1930 to 1934) followed by the brilliant barrister Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1934 to 1947) who finally won freedom for his people.
On 14 August 1947, the AIML ceased to exist. A new party had to be raised called Pakistan Muslim League (PML). The Quaid-e-Azam as President and first Governor General wanted to set the course for the new political entity. He even presented a constitution to the Executive Committee. Unfortunately the new country inherited political leadership that did not have roots in this part of India.
Notably the first Prime Minister, Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, and PML President, Chaudhry Khaliq-uz-Zaman, had both migrated leaving their support behind. Hussain Shaheed Suharwardy was the sitting Chief Minister of the undivided state of Bengal and decided to stay on to keep his province together.
Jinnah’s efforts to build a formal structure were thwarted, finally he decided to quit the party and sever all links with his former fellow party members. Khaliq-uz-Zaman was elected the first party President and an organizing committee was also formed. My father’s political mentor Mehboob Ahmed Qureshi, a rich businessman of Ludhiana who at one time rose to be the Joint Secretary of the AIML. was a member of this committee that travelled the new land including East Pakistan. There were serious complaints that only the favourites were being given party membership and positions. Several disgruntled stalwarts decided to leave; that included heavyweights like Suharwardy, G.M. Syed and Mian Ifthikar-ud-Din. Qureshi Sb also decided to step down when he realised that in the new party ‘Vote ki Izzat‘ had been seriously compromised.
A new name has been suggested this time for another ‘ Vote Ki Be-Izaati ‘ party. It has been named IPP (Isthekam-e- Pakistan Party) with Aleem Khan as its President and Aamir Kiani as its Secretary General. There is a silver lining in this move for the genuine Muslim Leaguers. Committed soldiers of the freedom movement like Qureshi Sahib, my father Nazir Ahmed Malik, Qayyum Khan, Khawaja Nazimuddin, and others, who never joined any other party can now rest in peace as the misuse of their party platform has finally ended with a new ‘Tota (parrot) Party ‘. Hopefully, what is left of the PML will vanish in another free and fair election in 2023, thus restoring the much needed ‘Vote ki Izzat‘. PML, being a rootless party, will be cut to size.
As a Muslim League child it is a painful reality to accept that PML has played a very negative role in the politics of the country. It has acted as the mistress of the establishment always siding and supporting dictators. PML (Convention) was the first King’s Party with its headquarter on Davis Road. Since then several brands have surfaced from this launching pad, PML (Pagara), PML (Nawaz), PML (Quaid), to name a few. In the over 75 years of our chequered political history only one free and fair election has been held which resulted in the break-up of Jinnah’s Pakistan. It was this legislature, that came out of the 1970 electoral contest, that succeeded in formulating the 1973 consensual constitution. Despite being a constitutional democracy for half a century the democratic order remains hijacked by the powerful establishment. The PML has lived up to its design of Vote Ki Beizzati (Dishonouring the vote) by repeatedly siding with the establishment.
2023 is poised to be an election year where votes will be cast and then counted for the public representatives to hold office. In the last free and fair election held in 1970, the PML could not win a single seat; however the Qayyum League did emerge as a force to be reckoned with. Awami League won big in the Eastern Wing while People’s Party prevailed in the Western part.
Leadership is earned through service to the people, not bestowed, as has been the case in the land of the pure. The PML(N) has been in power three times, twice with an absolute majority, yet they have nothing worthwhile to show. Several personal empires have been built at the cost of the nation. The M-2 Motorway is a prime example that has increased the distance between Lahore and Islmabad by over 100 km. The gradiant of the Chakri Loop is a killer for heavy traffic due ro brake failures. The CPEC-financed Orange Train cannot even pay its electricity bills. The Sahiwal Coal-fired plant is another disaster. In the words of President Farooq Leghari, the Sharifs indulge only in ‘Kickback’ projects.
A new name has been suggested this time for another ‘ Vote Ki Be-Izaati ‘ party. It has been named IPP ( Isthekam-e- Pakistan Party ) with Aleem Khan as its President and Aamir Kiani as its Secretary General. There is a silver lining in this move for the genuine Muslim Leaguers. Committed soldiers of the freedom movement like Qureshi Sahib, my father Nazir Ahmed Malik, Qayyum Khan, Khawaja Nazimuddin, and others, who never joined any other party can now rest in peace as the misuse of their party platform has finally ended with a new ‘Tota (parrot) Party ‘. Hopefully, what is left of the PML will vanish in another free and fair election in 2023, thus restoring the much needed ‘Vote ki Izzat‘. PML, being a rootless party, will be cut to size.
