PTI Chairman Imran Khan has no match as far as conjuring up false narratives and propagating them with unrivaled consistency is concerned. His entire politics is premised on the philosophy that one should speak lies with such consistency and intensity that people start believing in their legitimacy. Who in the country is not aware of his narrative of 35 punctures on which based his agitation against the government and when the judicial commission as a result of inquiry into alleged rigging repudiated his claim, he admitted in an interview with a private TV channel that it was only a political talk. Somebody had told him about it.
Since his ouster from power through a constitutional process he has been hurling unsubstantiated allegations against state institutions including establishment, particularly targeting his benefactor, former COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, whom he holds responsible not only for his removal from power but also the current state of affairs in the country. He however has not come up with any undeniable or circumstantial evidence to prove that as far as his downfall from power is concerned. The interesting thing is that he himself negates his propagated narrative after some time.
He concocted a conspiracy theory against his government by the PDM with the help of the USA and establishment, which was based on a cipher message sent by our ambassador to the USA. In more than 70 public rallies across the country he tried to sell this narrative. However in the end he withdrew from his rhetoric regarding involvement of the USA and establishment in the much-trumpeted conspiracy against his government. He stated that if the establishment was not involved in removing him it at least could have stopped the impending eventuality. Yet another statement, that he had sent Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen to General Bajwa six month before the no-confidence move to urge upon him the desirability of stopping the PDM from going ahead with its no-confidence move, contending that the change would destroy whatever had been achieved in the domain of economy, also falsifies his conspiracy theory which he invented later on.
However when he came under criticism by media and the intellectual circles for his somersault on the issue, he reverted to the old narrative in regards to the role of the establishment in his down-fall. He is now relentlessly pressing the narrative of political engineering by the establishment irrespective of the fact that it has repeatedly announced to remain apolitical which it proved during the no-confidence motion by not taking sides and the reiteration by the new COAS to this effect.
It is a good augury that the establishment has itself realized its folly and decided to remain apolitical in the future. That should be welcome. The politicians must learn from history and try to resolve the contentious political issues themselves through Parliament, which is the true forum for such undertakings.
Addressing a women workers convention in Karachi via video link Imran Khan remarked “I fear that unfortunately, our establishment has not learnt from the past. Today we are seeing political engineering being carried out. The merger of MQM factions and BAP members from Balochistan joining PPP testifies to this reality. Similar efforts are afoot to bring PML into power in Punjab while a different game is being played in KPK in order to weaken PTI. Look at the past and see how much Pakistan has lost out on because of the establishment’s political engineering. We have seen long-term disasters for short-term gains because of this.” He also reiterated the stance of his party for immediate elections to winch the country out of the quagmire that it is stuck in.
What Imran is trying to say is that not only General Bajwa was responsible for the prevailing situation but the new COAS is also following the footsteps of his predecessor. The establishment is continuously in the line of fire from the PTI Chairman and his cohorts notwithstanding the fact that the former made an institutional decision in February 2021 to stay apolitical and, as General Bajwa revealed, to end the Army’s intervention in politics which it has been doing in the last 70 years.
Nobody in his right mind appreciates the intervention of the establishment in the political domain and its playing a role in the making and breaking of governments. There is also no denying the fact that the country has suffered enormously due to the establishment encroaching upon civilian territory. But what Imran is saying now is nothing but hypocrisy of the first order. The question arises that if he thought that political engineering by the establishment was harmful, then why did he accept it when it was done to catapult him in the corridors of power?
Is it not mind-boggling to note that while he castigates the establishment for political engineering he still wants the new COAS to ensure free and fair elections in the country? It actually is tantamount to inviting intervention of the establishment in the political affairs of the country irrespective of the fact that it no longer intends to do so.
Well, if the establishment has played a negative role, the politicians are also equally responsible for the state of affairs the country is faced with at the moment. Their failure to put the country on the path envisioned by the founder of the country and to perpetuate their vested interests by not changing the archaic colonial system of governance and building their fortunes through in-built avenues of corruption, has been instrumental to the intervention of the Generals in the political domain.
It is a good augury that the establishment has itself realized its folly and decided to remain apolitical in the future. That should be welcome. The politicians must learn from history and try to resolve the contentious political issues themselves through Parliament, which is the true forum for such undertakings.
