Pakistan: A Failed Strategy – OpEd
The hooliganism that destroyed state entities and chaos on May 9 was a failed strategy to pressure institutions for petty political gains was a preplanned arrangement on the part of the PTI leadership whose delinquency has brought the PTI leadership on back steps and led them into a blind alley. The scheme of threat, violence, rumble, blackmailing, insane rhetoric, and huff have bulldozed.
Imran Khan has a history of piggybacking. From the start of his political career, he was launched by policy influencers. After the coup of Pervez Musharraf, he supported the referendum and demanded 100 National assembly seats from the then-dictator. Again, he was favored in the 2014 sit and now he is being alleged for getting support from ex_chief justice and ex_ COAS. He is again thriving for support from the current COAS. His political career testifies that he has never been a revolutionary leader but rather an opportunist who has been famous for his U-turns. During the preplanned violence, he schemed to pressurize state institutions for political gains.
The main pillar of the failed strategy of the PTI leadership on May 9 was the use of social media. The hype and camouflage that was created against the Armed forces further ignited some supporters of the PTI. The duplicity and hypocrisy on the part of the PTI leadership were exposed when the PTI members put their incited speeches against security forces. When law enforcement agencies arrest the perpetrators, the PTI leadership set aside those perpetrators who attacked the corps Commander’s house and another installment.
This fate of failed strategy was obvious when the narrative building was set up by the PTI leadership that Imran Khan is our red line. It was a threat that awoke the institutions. Personalities in democratic and heterogeneous societies never succeed in naming and shaming the institutions by blaming and threatening. The same happened with the mantra of the red line of the PTI.
The PTI leadership thought that blaming and pressuring institutions and their heads would be a gimmick to deceive the people and attain political interests. They failed to do so owing to the cemented setup of institutions. Imran Khan first blamed the incumbent chief justice of the supreme court of Pakistan during a non_confidence motion when the supreme court opened its doors before 12 PM at a time when the then PTI-led government was violating the orders of the supreme court. In addition, the PTI leadership started blaming and propagating against the election commission of Pakistan at a time when foreign funding case was under consideration there. When the current COAS refused to be part of PTI,s petty political interests, Imran Khan and his colleagues and followers again initiated a campaign against the army institution. The PTI policy of blaming and pressuring institutions has failed yet because of the strong setup of the institutions.
The violence on May 9 was preplanned in the sense that when Imran Khan was released on bail after the incidents he again threatened the state that if he was arrested there will be more such rehearsals. This threat testifies that the PTI leadership had already decided to confront the state in the case of the arrest of Imran Khan.
When a no-confidence move was filed against Imran Khan he threatened that if he was ousted he would be more dangerous in opposition rather as prime minister. This was alarming.
The Audio leaks of the PTI leadership further defaced their motive of violence to pressurize the state by inciting the people and advising the local-level leadership to take the law into their hands. That approach further cemented the reality that the violence of 9 May was pre_ planned when a Junta of PTI workers was ignited before Zaman Park who then threw petrol bombs on the police during an operation.
Imran Khan had implored his workers to stay in front of Zaman Park on Eid too.
In that gloomy scenario, the security forces remained calm and abstained from using the Iron hand against the perpetrators.
How can one justify attacking state institutions and security forces who stayed calm? Chauvinism on the part of a political party is pathetic, unacceptable, and insane.
The PTI strategy of creating violence and bloodshed, attacking state institutions, naming officials, threatening, and pressing state institutions have collapsed and been exposed with a bang. The preplanned stratagem of hooliganism by putschists has bulldozed and defaced without attaining its petty political interests.
Naseeb Ullah Achakzai has done M.Phil political science, MSC English literature and MA Pashto literature. He is a freelance columnist.
