Is interior minister galloping in different directions?

Head of PPP Media Cell

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, seemingly, is an unpredictable and enigmatic Cabinet Minister like our cricket team that is best and the worst at the same time as beautifully commented by London Times many years ago. His track record as Minister for Interior during this tenure gives credence to this assertion. His confirmation of understanding, muk maka, between the PML-N and the PPP suggested that he would speak his mind no matter how cutting it may be politically for the party he represented. His latest press conference was perceived as analogous to shooting into his party government’s feet with his own gun. The clarification on the following day by the Ministry of Interior could not control the damage because it was done. It heightened the tension between the two parties those signed the Charter of Democracy in May 2006 committing not to pull the rug from under the each other’s feet.

Syed Khurshid Shah, Opposition leader, had castigated the minister by describing him as the “fifth columnist” that stabbed the prime minister and his government at the back. He had created a tailspin situation between the ruling party and the PPP that was already bitter due to the Karachi operation considered against the PPP’s government and its leaders. PPP was convinced of the vindictive role being played by the interior minister in Karachi leading tothe arrests of PPP leaders by the Rangers on allegations of terrorism. It was a bad decision because no one believed that PPP leaders could be terrorists or in collusion with them. Their arrest was widely held as political victimisation as prosecutor had failed to make a case against Dr Asim Hussain even after the months of interrogations. Rangers had to transfer the case to NAB to proceed further. The arrest of Uzair Baloch has given news ammunition to fire on the PPP on the basis of allegations and rumor- mongering.

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto had also echoed his reservations on dubious role of the federal agencies in the province of Sindh where they had tried to paralyse the government by stepping in to its domain by flouting the provincial autonomy given under the Constitution. The National Action Plan (NAP), he maintained, was being implemented in the province of Sindh while sparing the Punjab where terrorists had found safe havens to carry out their activities in other parts of the country. The NAP was a PML-N Action Plan to victimise the PPP tantamounting to revisiting the politics of nineties. PPP leadership was convinced that the interior minister was behind this politics of viciousness and mendaciousness because Rangers were directly under the control of the Ministry of Interior. But, prime minister’s silence and inaction was disturbing. It was dishing out the notion of method in madness. If so, it was not good thinking that might hurt the democracy and the federation in the final analysis. The PML-N was advised not to bite the bait.

Interior minister’s anti-PPP obsession even forgot the timely and decisive support extended by the PPP to the PML-N government when undertakers of sit-in politics were hell bound to get them out of the corridor of power by kicking, intimidation and unconstitutional means. His unpredictability had been limitless. He picked up fight with PPP Senator Aitzaz Ahsan at a crucial time like the joint session of Parliament held to support the democratic government of Nawaz Sharif. His obstinacy did not care for the timing of throwing down the gauntlet. However, PPP despite his egregious ways stood by democracy declaring in no uncertain terms that political change only acceptable through the constitutional means.

PPP successfully resisted the bellicose of PTI and PAT and got the steam from out of the sails of the sit-in politics thus bailing out the government. Had the PPP taken the narrow view of the acrimony of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan the government would have been in serious trouble with serious repercussions for the government and the political system alike?

But, one failed to understand as whose cause the minister was serving by picking up the fight with the second largest political force of the country when the government needed the all-out support from whatever quarter it would come from? He was indeed instrumental of adding worries for the prime minister and the government. Opposition leader, Syed Khursheed Shah, had repeatedly blown the whistle when he stated that the Chaudhry was a danger man for the prime minister and he should be on his guard and pre-empt his trivial advances.

The enigmatic Chaudhry seems careless of the imperatives of the collective responsibility as his actions and inactions had repeatedly reneged the fundamentals of the Cabinet government of the parliamentary system. The prime minister directed the interior minister in public to visit Karachi and resolved the issues between the Sindh government and Rangers that were creating tension between the federation and the provincial government over the question of mandate of the Rangers. But to no avail so far. He did not bother to go to Karachi despite the specific direction of the prime minister to address the issue on pro-active basis. The question that immediately agitated in the mind was as why he had resorted to open recalcitrance. Also, why the prime minister was not reining him to behave because he had increasingly becoming liability for the government? Today’s news is that he has contacted the Sindh chief minister and resolved the issue of extension of powers of Rangers. But, he did not go to Karachi.

Another point of contention between the PML-N and the PPP had been as how to deal with the scourge of extremism and terrorism? PPP had been consistent to take the monster of terrorism head on but PML-N, mainly led by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, was initially doggedly supported negotiations with TTP. He brought his party leadership around his stance. It was perhaps his crafty persuasion that the government decided to go for negotiations with the Taliban instead of confronting them on their turf.

His reaction on the killing of Taliban leader Hakeemullha Mehsood in a US drone attack was stunning describing it as an attack on peace. It spoke volumes as how strongly he was pushing the negotiations with terrorists despite the fact that their pre-conditions for the talks were characteristically outlandish and tantamount to total surrender of the state? The Zarb-e- Azb, military operation was launched by the Security Establishment because they decided to nip the evil sooner than later.

Pakistan People’s Party was against the negotiations with TTP because it was convinced that they had to be defeated with the full force of the state as they were averse to civility and reason and were determined to overtake the state at the gun point.

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto had been urging all along to take TTP head on because they were neither Muslim nor Pakistani or human beings and therefore should be ruthlessly followed to the final abode- pushing them to the gates of hell by using the brute force. The Zarb-e- Azb military operation vindicated the stance of the chairman and the PPP. The success of the ongoing military operation against extremism and terrorism justified the indispensability of such operation.

It may be mentioned here that the PPP previous government also authorised the launching of military operation against TTP in Waziristan but the then army chief General Kiyani argued to hold on by articulating that the timing of such operation should be left with the army generals. He never went after the terrorists due to his misplaced apprehensions of violent blowback by the terrorists. The same PPP government earlier launched Sawat Military Operation against TTP that met with resounding success as terrorists were flushed out from the Valley. They were contemplating to occupy the federal capital. The three million IDPs were sent back to their homes with honor and dignity within three months as peace was restored there. Ever since, the normalcy was holding on sustainable basis and people had been leading normal life there.

It will be unfair if due credit is not given to incumbent interior minister for his courage and superb articulation when he as Opposition Leader criticised the ISPR press release that highlighted the differences between the elected government of PPP and the military leadership on Kerry-Lugar US aid Package. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan stood by the democratic best practices and maintained that the institution had no business to fiddle with the affairs those were out of its domain.

It was not easy to go for frontal attack against the stance of the most powerful institution like army. That was his best performance as opposition leader and as a politician of substance who stood for principled politics. He is advised to repeat such practices of the highest caliber on and on reinforcing the democratic best traditions. God may guide and help him.

muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com