Is the party over?

ISLAMABAD: Has the objective of the estranged Jahangir Tareen faction within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) —to serve as a pressure group and get relief for the main force behind it — been achieved?

It seems that its primary purpose --forcing concessions for Tareen from the government in his criminal cases -- has been accomplished. That is why its principal sponsor has maintained a complete silence over the official actions against some of his group’s vocal leaders while its members are shying away from coming into the open to speak their mind the way they had assertively done in the past.

The group, which at one time comprised 33 federal and Punjab lawmakers of the PTI, including some members of the provincial cabinet, had been formed with the sole, publicly declared aim of securing ‘justice’ for Tareen. When the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told a Lahore court that it was not interested in arresting Tareen, not an iota of doubt was left that some sort of a rapprochement had been worked out and ‘justice’ had been delivered to the ‘victim’. After that, the activities of the faction drastically waned, and a time came when it was almost forgotten as an entity working against the government.

There is no denying that the goal of setting up the Tareen group stood achieved when the FIA cases against the faction head became dormant. Prior to this, it appeared at one point that the government was extremely serious in pursuing the cases against Tareen. That enthusiasm evaporated into thin air after the ‘deal’ was hammered out. As a result, the group fully supported the passage of the federal and Punjab budgets; without its support, such approval was impossible.

The apparent taming of the Tareen group for whatever reason has emboldened the government to forcefully proceed against some of its members to break them away from the faction.

It appears that the government is sure that the group will no longer react against whatever actions it takes against some of its members. That is because Tareen has got the desired ‘relief’ and will not incite any trouble against the PTI government.

Barring one exception, Raja Riaz, the National Assembly member from Faisalabad, no one from the group is picking up the courage to even issue a statement criticising the official actions against its associates. Earlier, members of the group had been assailing the government on TV channels night after night.

The latest casualty of the government’s drive is Aun Chaudhry, once a very close confidant of Imran Khan when he was in opposition. Chaudhry has admitted that he was asked to resign as an aide to Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, but he refused. Then, his resignation was sought, and he tendered it instantly.

Apparently, Chaudhry had become aware that during his meeting with Buzdar he would be asked to step down. Therefore, he carried his typed resignation letter with him to the meeting. He minced no words in stating what prompted his ouster when he wrote: “I was asked by the chief minister office to dissociate myself from the Tareen group or resign from the position of the special coordinator to the chief minister on political affairs. Everyone knows that Tareen is the person who played a pivotal role in the struggle of PTI and keeping in view his efforts for its success in 2018 elections and formation of its government in the Centre and Punjab my conscience does not allow me to abandon my affiliation with the loyal party member who served selflessly as I have. I prefer to submit my resignation from the official post to stand by Tareen and his group.”

Nazir Chohan, once a fiery part of the Tareen group, committed a monumental blunder by hurling a vile allegation at Prime Minister’s Adviser on Accountability Barrister Shehzad Akbar. However, when the case was registered against him on Shehzad Akbar’s request, Chohan was not arrested although he had even gone to the police station daring the force to arrest him. Those were the days when the Tareen group was openly challenging and rattling the government. As the aggressive stance was toned down, Chohan was not only taken into custody by the police, but another case was registered against him by the FIA when he was about to walk out of prison after he had earned bail in the first case.

This action served as the proverbial last straw that broke the camel’s back, and Chohan submitted. He not only dissociated himself from the dissident group but slammed Tareen for being self-seeking, using him for his personal ends and then dumping him. His clan-mate, Punjab Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, seemingly played an important role in breaking him away from the Tareen group and attacking its chief. Or at least, Fayyazul Hassan gave this impression to all and sundry by conspicuously standing with Nazir Chohan when the latter gave vent to his anger against Tareen. Just a week-long incarceration seems to have totally transformed or reformed Chohan.