Wrong then, wrong now

The recent visuals of former foreign minister and PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s rearrest from Adiala Jail. And not just by the usual human rights voices in the country. These optics should have no place in a democracy – even a flawd, ‘hybrid’ democracy. 

That there has been little regard for rule of law, human rights or individual dignity during the ‘Dismantle PTI project is hardly up for debate. Qureshi has also alleged that he was tortured in police custody. Rearrests have now become the new normal in Pakistan where the courts uphold the law on merit but these verdicts are ignored in such a blatant and obtuse way that political observers are now asking whether anything has been achieved through this entire process except for keeping Imran Khan behind bars. And even keeping Imran in jail has not by and large achieved what seemed to be the actual plan. In part, credit goes to Pakistan’s superior judiciary for insisting that there be some sanity in what has become a chaotic meltdown of democratic norms.

Our politicians, however, still seem to be looking at these developments with their usual sense of conspiracy. Maulana Fazlur Rehman has alluded to a conspiracy theory that the PTI’s travails being projected publicly is part of some ‘plan’. Apart from the obvious loopholes in this theory, some would also say that perhaps in-favour politicians would prefer the PTI be treated the same way as the PML-N was back in 2018. Fortunately for the PTI, the current judicial setup is different from the one in 2018 and some time later as well which is why taking away the PTI’s election symbol and other such measures have only backfired with the judiciary ensuring that the PTI was able to file record number of nomination papers, and almost regain its party symbol.

Just because the PTI was a beneficiary and a cheerleader when injustice was being done to other political parties does not mean that the same should be done to the PTI today. When is Pakistan going to finally see an end to this vicious cycle of persecution? A cycle in which the ultimate winner is never the politicians and always the one one pulling all the strings. There is a simple enough explanation for why the media is discussing the PTI in its headlines, talk shows, editorials or columns: the sheer mockery of the overall ‘system’ has become so glaring that it would take wilful blindness to not comment on it. If the PTI is able to project itself on social media much more vociferously than other parties, if it is able to fight back on social media unlike other parties, it is because it has been given enough reasons to make a strong case for the party. If the Peshawar High Court gave quick relief to the PTI in giving back its bat symbol, it is because most legal experts agree that the PTI should have gotten back its symbol on merit. The difference between 2018 and now is stark in many ways though. Project Imran had many takers in the media, judiciary and establishment. The way the media back then celebrated the treatment meted out to the PML-N and its leadership is in stark contrast to how even the PTI’s worst critics in the media are speaking out against the injustices being meted out to the PTI today. Human rights activists and the media had spoken up back when politicians from the PML-N were roughed up during arrest and detention. They do that now when a former foreign minister is going through the same ordeal. We keep hoping that, at some point, Pakistan’s political class will say: enough, no more. Unfortunately for the country, that day doesn’t look too close though.