Time for apology

PTI chief Imran Khan has conceded that his catchy slogan – 35 punctures – was mere political rhetoric after all. He said this after his party stalwart Dr Arif Alvi suggested apologising for the punctures’ story.
Khan had seized upon the ‘punctures’ idea based on tweets between some wise men in Islamabad. On mere hearsay he maligned Najam Sethi on this issue for months. He still hasn’t apologised to the alleged architect of the mysterious punctures. Needless to say, apology comes with humility and not with brimming arrogance.
Imran Khan delivers self-righteous sermons everywhere but at the right forums. For instance, he hardly spoke before the judicial commission, which was to hear the litany of PTI charges of rigging in the last general elections. His legal counsel Hafeez Peerzada neither quizzed the Returning Officers nor Najam Sethi, whom Khan had accused of stealing away the election from him. Why weren’t they questioned in the court?
Similarly, Imran blamed former CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudry and Justice (r) Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday for conspiring to rig the election – but again, he never mentioned their names before the judicial commission. Justice Ramday is one of the most upright judges this country has had. He is remembered for his quick understanding and witty repartees during the court proceedings. Khan owes an apology to both.
The PTI chief remained tight-lipped when he and his party lawmakers returned to parliament after the prolonged dharna festival. And when Khawaja Asif lambasted them for returning to the very house they had disdainfully condemned as illegal and fake, Khan chose to sit back and smile embarrassingly instead of embarking on his fiery oratory.
When PTI lawmakers resigned, they knew it was a safe bet for them, and that their resignations wouldn’t be accepted. Rightly so; they have now been paid salaries for the period they didn’t even set foot in parliament. It’s a win-win situation for them; but the national economy suffered huge financial losses due to PTI dharna. But why didn’t Sheikh Rashid, who stood by Imran Khan on the dharna container and incited the crowd to rebellion and arson, hand in his resignation along with the PTI lawmakers? Sheikh is too clever a politician to take such a risk. He feared his resignation would be instantly accepted and he would be on the roadside.
As Imran Khan continues to assail the government for the alleged rigging in general elections, the elections of local bodies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were marred by protests by the opposition parties, accusing the PTI government of rigging the polls. The death toll and anarchy, followed by the brazen act of a PTI minister running away with the ballot boxes, seriously eroded Imran Khan’s stand on rigging in the general elections.
To defend his party’s position against the opposition’s outcry of rigging, the PTI chief could only muster to say: ‘If the people thought there was rigging, there might have been rigging’. And that ‘we’re ready to hold new elections under the military’. The opposition parties in KP have collectively blamed Chief Minister Khattak for rigging local bodies elections and demanded his resignation.
When Imran Khan thundered from atop his dharna container to bring the government down, it appeared a new icon of leadership had risen on the political horizon. And a new Pakistan, as he claimed amid the drumbeats by DJ Butt, was in the making. That all eventually fizzled out.
Within earshot of the musical evenings, there operated another fiery icon – Sheikhul Islam Prof Dr Tahirul Qadri. The professor pulled bigger crowds than did Khan, yet both had a common agenda: remove the government by all means. The professor is back in town but without fanfare. Luckily, he didn’t ask this time for the governor or the corps commander to receive him from the airport and escort him to his Model Town headquarters. The professor has a sharp sense of timing and knows when to demand what.
Politics aside, propriety demands that the PTI chief should tender unconditional apologies to former CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice (r) Ramday, and Najam Sethi for any damage to their reputations his allegations may have caused. Lastly, the PTI would do well to clear the bills owed its DJ for enthralling the fans and warming up the evenings during the days of the dharna.
The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore.
Email: pinecity@gmail.com