A sad tale

A lot has already been written and recorded about the sit-in that had crippled the federal capital for most of November, but the entire story can be summarised in a few video clips that started circulating on social media after the sit-in was over. In a way, these clips were not about the sit-in but about the 70-year history of independent Pakistan. They showed the helplessness of an outsmarted and outmanoeuvred civilian government, the priorities of the security apparatus and the aggressiveness of the religious lobby.

The first video is of a lonely policeman surrounded by dozens of bearded goons armed with batons. The young policeman was there at the government’s order, trying to protect the capital – the capital that belongs to 210 million Pakistanis. The capital that represents the Punjabi, Sindhi, Pakhtun, Baloch, Seraiki, Hindko, Hazara, Brahui, Shina, Brusheski, and countless other languages and nationalities that call Pakistan their homeland. These are people who want it to become a democratic, educated, healthy, and prosperous country. The policeman was there to protect his capital and the capital of his country’s people.

In the video, the policeman is attacked by heartless, senseless, and shameless religion-mongers. They attack him mercilessly; he tries to defend himself, his grace, his respect, and his pound of flesh. The volley of the baton-charge against him increases, he falls to the ground, and the attackers close in on him. Now, the bruised and battered son of the nation desperately attempts to protect his head which is constantly being pounded by the ‘strategic assets’. Profusely bleeding, he must have thought about his children, but there was no time for it; he must have missed his mother who was nowhere for his comfort.

In the last scenes of the video which must have been recorded by one of the attackers or by a ruthless onlooker, the man’s police uniform is drenched in blood, the poor victim is unable to save any inch of his skin. He lies flat on the ground, his arms stretched and eyes closed. Had his wife seen the video, she would have cried hoarse; had his father seen his son’s limp body, he would have collapsed with grief; but the so-called crusaders and preachers keep beating the policeman, and then the video is ends.

The next video is of a smiling high-ranking security officer. At ease with himself and with the surrounding ‘protestors’, he gives away envelops of currency notes. One of the men around asks him about the amount. ‘One thousand’, comes the response. There are selfies and broad grins.

This video clip is brief in comparison with the first one, but its message is clear. The so-called National Action Plan against terrorism and extremism is dead and buried. You come to paralyse the government? You are welcome. You come to make millions of people suffer for almost a month? You are welcome. You burned public and private property with impunity and prevented hundreds of thousands of children from attending schools? No matter, as long as you are pushing the civilian government to the brim.

The third video clip shows Khadim Rizvi, the leader of the sit-in, disclosing information about the agreement and the mediation. Perhaps there was nothing much to disclose, as most people already knew about it. He represented a reinvigorated religious right that is keen to take over the country. He is another brand of militancy in the making. You and I know this because we have seen the mujahideen and their off spring; only the blind can’t see and understand this.

These videos represent different states of mind, or strands of society. The first is not merely a policeman, he is the broken body and shattered soul of the civilian government – the government that was elected by the people to make decisions on their behalf for five years. The government that virtually became headless after the notorious minus-one formula was applied. Why minus-one? Because a strong head with popular support can call a spade a spade. A new, inexperienced prime minister cannot do that. He can be easily dictated and browbeaten.

The second video represents how leeches such as Rizvis and Saeeds are fed. It shows the failure to distinguish between friends and foes. This video shows how easy it is to come and besiege the capital and be sure to be rewarded. This video shows that Pakistan is a country where trouble-makers are compensated for their nuisance value. The third video represents a bleak future that may not be far away.

The writer holds a PhD from theUniversity of Birmingham, UK and works in Islamabad.

Email: Mnazir1964@yahoo.co.uk