I know we shouldn’t hit a man when he is down, but if that down is of someone who is in the public eye, can one help it?
Like the PTI, for instance. Or rather the leaders of the PTI. After all, it is the party which gave them prominence, brought them into the public eye. I know of people who support the PTI vigorously, but have never figured in any list. They have been to some PTI activities, though not all, but are not in the public eye. They may have been in Islamabad, and at any time decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and done a moonlight flit, or, humming Insha’s poem, made immortal by Ustad Amanat Ali Khan’s rendition, Utho Inshaaji ab kooch karo, is shehr main dil lagaana kya/Vehshi ko sukoon sey matlab kya, jogi ka nagar main thikana kya” (Arise, Inshaji and get out, why bother attaching yourself to this city/What does the savage have to do with comfort, what place does the ascetic have in the town?) joined KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur in putting as much space between himself and D-Chowk
That couplet fits Ali Amin in referring to a ‘Savage’, but ‘ascetic’ is not the first word that comes to mind when he is mentioned. Such a PTI supporter is these days depressed, and depending largely on the ‘last card’. There are two jokers in the pack, and he may have already played one, in the shape of Ali Amin. So what or who will be the second? Civil disobedience is being spoken of. Watch out for the Salt March call. Oh yes, and for surrendering government titles like Khan Bahadur and all knighthoods. Can we expect another Swadeshi movement, in which we are exhorted to abjure wearing foreign clothes. And in the end a ‘Quit India movement’?
Of course, Ali Amin has come out with the most impressive defence of his conduct possible: he didn’t run away. That cloud of dust on the horizon was neither him nor Bushra Bibi. It was Shehbaz Sharif. It didn’t happen. In fact, he is an optical illusion, and actually he’s at D-Chowk, where he is using the same deep-fake technology to remain invisible as he uses to seem to appear elsewhere.
What I’ve been getting at is the fact that all the leaders of the PTI, whether it be Ali Amin or anyone else, are staying put. There have not even been any resignations, even where one expected people to fall on their swords, or ritual performances of harakiri. I wonder where the expectation came from. After all, after May 9, there were no resignations. Sure, a lot of people left the PTI altogether, but I think only Asad Umar resigned as Secretary-General, while staying in the party.
Of course, now it’s more complicated. Look at Gohar Ayub. He succeeded Asad Umar as Secretary General, and because of that, became Leader of the Opposition. He resigned this September, but only as Secretary-General, remaining Opposition Leader. Was he to have resigned from that position this time?
We see that his successor, Salman Akram Raja, has submitted his resignation, but it has been rejected. Those who were not sure their resignations would not be rejected have kept their hands firmly in their pockets and are not even signing cheques. Collectively, the PTI is showing the same attitude that Shan Masud showed after captaining the worst defeat in148 years of Test cricket: stay your ground. Maybe the series will be yours, if the Bombay Bookies have so decided.
Imran is fully on board with this idea of not resigning. He didn’t resign or retire after the 1992 World Cup victory. He was dropped for the next tour, which was a tour of England. Of course there was dirty work at the crossroads, or rather in the dressing room, but the fact remind that Imran is still the only World Cup winning captain to be sacked, not just from the captaincy, but the team as a whole.
Staying with cricket, Bangladesh beat the West Indies at home in the 2nd Test, after losing the First. Only in Pakistan did they succeed in managing a clean sweep. They had lost to India.
India has said it won’t come to Pakistan for the Champions ‘Trophy, using the security excuse. Pakistan has agreed so far to India playing at neutral venues, though it has said this must be reciprocal for three years. But India is not agreeing even to this. It doesn’t want to lose the TV revenue it would otherwise earn. With Amit Shah taking over as ICC President… need I say more?
