Descent into chaos

For someone who says he is not afraid to go to jail, Imran Khan somehow manages to not only avoid jail but seeks to actively resist any arrest possibilities. One wonders if the Jail Bharo Movement – which is apparently ‘starting’ from Wednesday next – is for everyone but the captain of the PTI ship. Per Imran, the movement will be so intense that the government will find its jails overflowing with PTI supporters. Those that wonder what good that will do are cautioned by some political observers who believe that a movement like this will put additional political pressure on a government that is already facing unpopularity due to rising inflation. But there are few takers of the possibility that this could induce the PTI’s main wish: early elections. We have now seen the PTI try everything under the sun to force early elections, and yet the PDM government – bumbling though it may be – has not budged from its stance of completing its constitutionally mandated tenure.

This leaves an impatient Imran who is also facing some serious court cases – which he seems to carefully avoid appearing in. The reason given is his injury. Even the extended courtesy provided to him in the protective bail plea case did not prompt the former prime minister to appear in court. Legal experts have questioned the leeway given to Imran when the same courtesy has rarely if ever been provided to many politicians before him. It also leaves questions over just why Imran refuses to appear in court. And exactly what the PTI’s strategy is at the moment other than chaos – which in an already polarized society and with a government that is struggling to bring even a semblance of economic stability to an inflation-hit country borders on playing selfish politics in an ill-timed manner. The series of U-turns taken by Imran and his party too has been ceaseless, the new target now having shifted from the US to the former COAS.

The government, on the other hand, is hardly a source of inspiration for anyone in the country. From looking completely lost on the economic front to looking equally lost on how to deal with an Imran who just doesn’t back off, the government has little to add except another set of leaked audios. In another time perhaps the leaks would have – given the content – been used to utmost advantage but in this too there seems to be uncertainty. It is important to reiterate that such calls should never have been recorded in the first place but the leaks are instructive as far as political-institutional relations are concerned, and the interior minister’s suggestion that they be investigated on an institutional level makes sense. Meanwhile, the dream of a consensus being reached on matters political, economic and – dare one dream – social keeps slipping further and further away as the country descends into chaos generated not just by political forces but also by alarmingly rising terror and a devastatingly bad economic situation.