PTI chairman Imran Khan must see the arrest of his nephew Hassaan Niazi as another step bringing him closer to trial by a military court for the events of May 9. Though he is already in jail serving a sentence after one conviction, he faces a number of other charges. However, the prospect of a military court trial is daunting. Though one Prime Minister was hanged after a military trial, and another convicted for hijacking, not since Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy appeared before an Elected Bodies Disqualification Order tribunal after the 1968 coup, would an ex-PM appear before an Army officer as an accused. Indeed, it would be the first time one would appear before a purely military tribunal. However, it is not just the tightening of the noose that Mr Khan has to face, but also the knowledge that the change of government has brought no change in his fortunes. It also symbolises how the many PTI workers behind bars are likely to fare. Though the Supreme Court had initially taken up the matter, it now has adjourned the case and the statement to the Lahore High Court that Mr Niazi had been handed over to a military court showed which way the wind was blowing.
There is now every likelihood that this arrest will be followed by a new wave of people abandoning the PTI, much as there was an exodus after May 9. At this point, those who might desert the ship are those who, like Mr Niazi, have been evading arrest. Once such figures are in custody, some might choose to sing like the proverbial canaries in the hope of getting some relief.
These death-throes of the PTI are painful to watch, and must be so even for those who oppose it. Of course, with Mr Khan in jail and unable to lead his party’s campaign, disqualified and thus unable to contest himself, the PTI is crippled to the point of not being able to contest the coming election, delayed though it might be. It would seem to appear that the PTI is going to dissolve in much the way it emerged. Where it was given strategic support, now it seems to be getting strategic hurdles in its way. The process is not a pretty one, but while political forces might have been expected to find some wriggle-room over the May 9 incidents, to expect the current caretakers to show the least flexibility would be to live in a fool’s paradise. And that is very bad politics indeed.
