Those red lines

While large parts of Pakistan remain under water, as people in Balochistan and southern Punjab wait for some love and attention from state, government and the media, all eyes seem to be firmly on the political drama unfolding in the country. At the heart of it is former prime minister Imran Khan’s recent public speech. On Sunday night, the PDM government decided a strategy of threat-of-arrest may work, with rumours running wild regarding Imran Khan’s imminent arrest. The arrest didn't happen and Monday morning Imran got transit bail for three days but he now faces contempt of court charges for his comments on Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry. The case will be heard by a larger bench of the Islamabad High Court. There will be few to deny that in both tone and language, the way the PTI chairman went after Justice Zeba Chaudhry was not just unbecoming but also threatening. Gunning for the judiciary if you dont like its decisions has become somewhat of a norm for the PTI, but this time Imran crossed a red line.

Sensible people have argued that, apart from the glaring misogyny at work in Imran’s comments regarding the judge, politicians have previously been charged with contempt for much lighter transgressions than Imran’s. At that time, the PTI had hailed the contempt findings. But as its fortunes change, so do its politics. While the government’s terrorism case against Imran sounds like a stretch, the contempt proceedings have also been appreciated by the SCBA in a public statement. Part of the concern over Imran’s statement on Justice Zeba comes from the inherent misogyny on display and part of the concern is just how easily the PTI has decided it can bully its way through making everyone – including institutions – succumb to whatever the party thinks should happen. This time though Imran may have cornered himself in a sticky situation.

The PTI has been riding a wave of populism, having normalized disruptive politics in the country over the years. There is good argument to be made against the terrorism charges drawn up over Imran’s F9 speech. The contempt issue though may be different: even if Imran has no stakes in the system and would rather burn the house down than accept defeat, political and institutional responsibility would dictate otherwise. Will attacking a judge merely because she allowed for a PTI member to be sent to remand be the hill that finally gets Imran?