Imran Khan is not a person to veer off-script. Since the PML-N won the 2013 general elections, he has pounded on similar themes of corruption and rigging. His speech from Bani Gala on Sunday, given in lieu of the official address to the nation that he had demanded from PTV, hit those same points over and over again. Imran lambasted Nawaz Sharif for his alleged corruption, saying the leaked Panama Papers proved beyond doubt that he was guilty of money laundering and tax evasion. He called for a truly independent judicial investigation headed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court rather than one hand-picked by the government. He also, as is his wont, targeted specific individuals – this time Saeed Ahmed, claiming he was made deputy head of the State Bank for helping Nawaz launder his money. Most predictably, he issued yet another call for a mass dharna, issuing a deadline of April 24 for Nawaz Sharif to either resign or form the independent judicial commission. Failing that, warned Imran, he and his followers would stage a sit-in outside the Sharif estate in Raiwind. This time, he vowed, he would not abandon the protest till his demands were met. Imran’s threats do not carry the potency they once did. His last dharna brought the capital to a standstill for months and he was unable to achieve any of his aims. On top of that, the aura around the PTI has faded as well. The party is in a crisis as shown by the debacle in the recent Karachi by-election where its candidate alleged a lack of interest from the party leadership and withdrew in favour of the MQM. That leadership is also in disarray with Shah Mehmood Qureshi publicly criticising Chaudhry Sarwar and saying he would not accept party tickets from him or Jahangir Tareen. On his part, Imran dismisses this as intra-party moves before party elections, and his party will be strengthened when the process is over. But interestingly he has also put off the party polls.
The PTI’s dharna politics have been destructive both for the party and the country and we do not need a repeat of it. Still, neither should the government shrug off the very serious issues raised by the Panama Papers. At a press conference on Monday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said he would not allow any protest to be staged at D-Chowk or F-9 Park. Since Imran had already announced that the PTI’s 20th anniversary celebrations would be held at the park, which is nowhere near the Red Zone, this seems needlessly provocative and was obviously dismissed by Imran in his response. Nisar also offered Imran an FIA investigation into the names in the Panama Papers and even said the PTI leader could name the investigating officer, something Imran has not yet commented on. However, it is not for Imran that any such investigation has to be conducted, but for clarity and transparent and democratic accountability which is not tainted by any signs of an eyewash and cover-ups. The need right now is for a thorough examination of every individual whose name has appeared in the Panama Papers. Imran is calling for a partisan witch-hunt but the problem of tax evasion transcends party identity. It is not just the PML-N but our entire elite which stands accused. Punishment for those found guilty is appropriate but, even more, we need to reform a broken system where the rich can squirrel their wealth in offshore nests without anyone blinking an eye.
