Has the Long March proven to be the PTI’s Waterloo? It is too early to say anything on this question at this moment. However, without any shadow of doubt, the Long March has cruelly exposed two myths about the PTI at both the level of leadership and of workers or supporters. For several years, Imran Khan has been diligently nurturing two myths about PTI; one, the PTI supporters and workers are truly revolutionary– inqilabi– and would create a “tsunami” of millions on his call whenever needed, and two, PTI has an honest, mature, courageous, educated and well-disciplined leadership structure that can sail the party through any crisis. Both the myths were palpably shattered on May 25 and 26. The Haqiqi Azadi March was the first real test for the PTI leadership and supporters to register their metamorphosis from a bunch of like-minded emotional individuals into a genuine political party that can face all kinds of challenges. Ever since his departure from the Prime Minister House on April 9, Imran Khan had generated a fabulous momentum through his daily massive gatherings, video messages and press conferences. The fiery speeches, catchy slogans and highly-charged crowds were apparently all the right ingredients to motivate Imran Khan to announce the Long March with a hope to give a climatic final push to the fragile ruling alliance to force early elections announcement.
But the fiasco of the much-touted Haqiqi Azadi March has certainly exhorted Imran Khan to re-evaluate the capabilities and commitment of his core team. The misanthropic tone of Imran Khan’s speech in the morning of May 26, while announcing the re-scheduling of his protest campaign, is a reflection of the disappointment that has suddenly enveloped Bani Gala.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan had resorted to all traditional and non-traditional methods to quash the Azadi March. He had made it clear from the very beginning that the government would not let the PTI have a free run this time. Expectations of high-handedness by the government had actually demoralized the PTI leadership and its supporters from the very outset.
Though the PTI has been in existence for more than 26 years, it has never faced such a tough situation in the past. The vulnerability of the PTI, despite being a populist outfit, must be the most troubling point for Imran Khan, who is hoping to generate a massive public pressure to force the powerful circles and government to yield to his demand of early elections.
With the exception of Dr. Yasmin Rashid, very few leaders of the core team of Imran Khan were seen physically leading the crowds. Instead of mobilizing the crowds from their base towns, all the stalwarts of PTI preferred to join the king’s party from Mardan in the comfort of the air conditioned container. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Ali Zaidi and Imran Ismail did not play any physical role to lead the processions from their respective constituencies. They preferred the safe havens of the air conditioned container in the shadow of their leader. None of them was ready to face the tear gas and batons.
In the absence of the main leadership, the people from other parts of the country kept themselves showing the similar enthusiasm as the PTI supporters from the KPK. This was one of the key factors that seriously discouraged the participation from Sind, Balochistan and the Punjab. Shaikh Rasheed was also conspicuously absent from the scene. Fawad Chaudhry joined a small procession from his town and then preferred to be the guest of his friends in AJK, instead of moving towards the “unsafe” GT road towards Islamabad. Murad Saeed and Fayazul Hassan Chohan’s videos of running in the streets to escape the police batons were the subject memes on the social media. The same horrorstruck attitude was evident among the general workers and supporters of PTI. Although there were small protest gatherings in almost every town, they could not produce the kind of impact that Imran Khan was expecting from his supporters.
This was perhaps the first time that PTI had to stage a protest campaign on its own, without the support of the ‘powerful’ quarters. And it exposed the vulnerability of the PTI in the face of real challenge– the blatant usage of formidable state machinery by Rana Sanaullah. So far, the PTI supporters had been attending jalsas of their party without any resistance or restriction by the government. All the PTI jalsas had more the flavour of a musical concert than of a political gathering.
Particularly, the supporters from the urban middle class had started the trend of family participation in the PTI gatherings. This trend was initiated during the 2014 dharna, when the PTI was enjoying patronization and financial support from the “friends”. This time, however, the preventive crackdown by the government on the PTI office-bearers and local leaders– and the unfortunate incident of death of a police constable in Lahore– had literally scared the leadership and supporters of PTI. Some families tried to participate in the Long March, but the tear gas, batons and the resultant chaos was a big shock for them who were used to having musical evenings and family galas at the PTI gatherings in the past.
All other political parties, including the PPP, PML(N), ANP, MQM(P), JUI(F) and JI, have routinely faced such state machinery at various times in the past. Their workers are well acquainted with such tactics by the law enforcement agencies. For the PTI supporters, the bulk of which comprises middle class families and educated professionals, the tear gas, batons, fire and arrests are a totally new ball game. These PTI supporters have suddenly realized the bitter difference between the social media politics on the mobile phones and the tough realities of street politics.
This is a learning point for Imran Khan to rethink about the actual strength of his power base and to have a thorough appraisal of the capabilities and commitment of his core team and his supporters. Realpolitik has its own perils and pitfalls, and every political party passes through evolutionary phases while facing intense adversities to become a mature political force.
Though the PTI has been in existence for more than 26 years, it has never faced such a tough situation in the past. The vulnerability of the PTI, despite being a populist outfit, must be the most troubling point for Imran Khan, who is hoping to generate a massive public pressure to force the powerful circles and government to yield to his demand of early elections.
