Belligerent politics

If nothing else, Pakistan’s politicians can never be accused of boring their electorate. This is especially so with former prime minister Imran Khan whose public appearances seem to only be getting more belligerent, perhaps as a result of the corner the PTI seems to have painted itself into. The only thing the party sounds sure of at the moment is its irrational demand for an early election and a seemingly obsessive need to be back in power – no matter the cost. Imran has for the past many months now gone back and forth on the country’s institutions – at times exhorting the ‘neutrals’ to help, at times accusing them of being ‘neutral’; the judiciary too has taken its fair share of flak from the PTI quarters.

But the former PM went a step ahead in his charged speech on Saturday evening, openly naming Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and castigating her – some say the naming in itself counts as a threat – for giving Shahbaz Gill’s two-day physical remand, IG Islamabad and DIG Islamabad. This is not the first time the PTI has gone after state officials, but it is the first time Imran has openly named a member of the judiciary. The fact that the judge in question is a woman is not a trivial matter either; neither is calling her ‘Zeba’ and alluding to ‘coming after her’. But then again the PTI hardly has a stellar record when it comes to the nuances of how to deal with women in the public sphere; we remember all too well Imran’s comments about Maryam Nawaz at a rally. The speech has led to Pemra imposing a ban with immediate effect on the live telecast of Khan’s speeches, and government ministers talking about taking action against the PTI chairman for his provocative speech. While free speech is enshrined in the constitution, threats of violence are in no way justified – and the tone adopted by Imran when talking about the judge, a woman, was unsavoury to say the least. It remains to be seen how the judiciary will react to Khan’s threat to one of their own.

The government and the PTI are on a warpath that doesn’t seem to be abating. On the government’s side, arresting Shahbaz Gill was the first sign that the gloves were off. Now there are rumours that more arrests are on the cards. Needless to say, none of this bodes well for a country that had barely come out of the politics of the 90s. In fact, with the rise of social media, the 90s may seem almost innocent now. Pakistan’s political class seems to suffer from a perpetual case of amnesia when it comes to dealing with power games. The tit-for-tat dance of vengeance only leads to weakening politics and politicians. And yet they continue on the same path no matter what their travails may have been only recently, with the sole purpose of getting a nod of approval from the only power centre they are infatuated with. The PTI’s tenure was one of the worst when it came to putting every other opponent behind bars and trying to register fake cases. The PDM government was expected to be different, but has gone right back to short-term, petty politics. Ideally, the constitution and the law should take their course – without resorting to colonial-era tools of suppression like threats of treason or sedition. Unfortunately, idealism has little space in today’s politics in Pakistan. Till now, Imran’s Teflon-man status has sustained him and his party. He may do well to remember though that nothing lasts forever, especially in politics of patronage.