What shoves Imran to take desperate measures?

ISLAMABAD: The baffling riddle as to what primarily prompted, nudged and even compelled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to hastily tee off extreme moves like boycott of the joint parliament continues to be unsolved.

There was no provocation from the government that might have impelled Imran Khan to go for a stroke that turned out to be a bombshell even for senior leaders of his own party. Everyone is stuck in this puzzle that is yet to unfold.

Similarly, the enigma about the PTI chairman’s call to lock down Islamabad on October 30 has also not been solved by his own key aides and associates. What they have been saying publicly to justify sweeping measures is just rhetoric, lacking reasoning and logic.

It is no secret that a predominant majority of the senior leaders of the PTI is sick and tired of the never-ending agitation Imran Khan is obsessed with. The dissenting voices, raised behind closed door discussions, are arrogantly snubbed and rebuked.

Hardly any top PTI leader is able to make out what in reality tempted Imran Khan to boycott the parliamentary session that had taken up the non-controversial agenda of Kashmir cause and Indian brutalities in the occupied valley. The PTI chairman’s own explanations are unconvincing, unimpressive and untenable even to the common sense.

Not only the top PTI hierarchy (excluding the captain and Jehangir Tareen) but all discerning people have no doubt that Imran Khan has been unquestionably coerced into opting for radical moves otherwise it would be too late to show the exit door to the Nawaz Sharif government. It is anybody’s guess who has pushed him to this scenario and who is constantly thrusting him to adopt this trajectory. But pressure is certainly too strong for him to resist.

The PTI chairman’s initiatives clearly show that he has a clear perception that he has a very short time to ditch Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and if he could not do it very hurriedly in a few weeks, his politics would be doomed and the premier would be able to complete his five-year term. Undeniably, the 2018 general elections, if held as per the schedule, may not be less than a nightmare for him as well as for several people.

Cynical element feels that excessive dose of agitation infused in our politics by the PTI has marred the overall political environment of Pakistan, that always shows it in a great turmoil, which is not the fact in reality. There is hardly any break in politics of turmoil since the PTI’s devastating defeat in the 2013 polls. 

Every time Imran Khan has given a call for disproportionate protest, he has taken pains to make all and sundry believe that this is his last assault and that the Nawaz Sharif government would not survive. He always spoke exceedingly high of the end result of his blow. Same expectations were attached to the 2014 sit-in. Similar hopes were pinned on the Raiwind March that actually transpired to be another public meeting.

There is not an iota of doubt that the government in general and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in particular will take inclusive measures to scuttle the shutdown of the federal capital and rendering of the federal administration dysfunctional by the PTI protesters. Islamabad will once again see barricades put up by a convoy of containers.

If it will be a great test of the federal government to annihilate the siege of Islamabad in a peaceful manner, it will of course be an uphill task for Imran Khan to make this round of agitation successful. In 2014, the followers of Allama Tahirul Qadri of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were well-equipped to throw away the containers, placed on roads leading to the sensitive prohibited area. They had brought with them cordless bolt cutters and cranes to make their way into the Red Zone. They slashed the chains, binding containers together, and used cranes to lift them.

Now when Imran Khan wants to bring the life in the capital to a grinding halt for an indefinite time till his demands are accepted, his workers may have to be equipped with the same kinds of tools even to enter Islamabad. Everyone is well aware that there is hell of difference between the commitment, perseverance and preparations of the PTI activists and PAT devotees.

In Qadri’s frenzied following the PTI chairman found a readymade violent crowd that can do anything, regardless of its illegality and illegitimacy, on the orders of the cult leader. Imran Khan’s workers could storm into the Red Zone mainly because of the violence perpetrated by the PAT activists. Their permanent presence in the D-Chowk was a great boon for Imran Khan to keep his show on. This time, this advantage would not be available, a scenario that will judge the stamina, strength, staying power and preparations of the PTI lot.

In 2014, the government was immensely scared of Qadri’s disciples because of their militant proclivity. It was also under tremendous pressure because of the Model Town Lahore tragedy which was then not very old but had taken place just two months back. These factors tied the hands of the administration from taking any stern action to thwart the unprecedented physical attacks of the PAT and PTI on the state institutions as it did not want to give any dead bodies to the protesters’ leaders, deeply desired by them.

But this time, the government is not very fearful and feels that it can handle the PTI well through necessary administrative measures. It is quite possible that the administration may not be as lenient, spineless, as it was two years ago. No government worth the name can allow mob rule.