THE post May 09 political landscape has little space for Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) and there is no doubt in it. In the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa however, if any other mainstream political party is there at par with the PTI, it is the Pakistan Muslim League (N). The party, that over a decade or so, has been in disarray and thus badly suffered, was once a strong political force in almost every nook and corner of the province. The entire Hazara division and Swat district of Malak and Division in particular were the party’s strongholds where, almost in every election, it would embrace its cap with the feather of clean-sweeping. It was only when the party’s affairs were handled by the genuine ideological workers for whom nothing other than the party’s interests did matter.
Keep aside rest of the province, let me talk of my home district Swat where, till a decade back, was visible a well organised political party in the guise of PML (N). It was the time the party’s affairs were handled by a team of dedicated and inspiring persons like Miangul Aurangzeb, his son Adnan Aurangzeb, Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha lala, Qaimoos Khan, etc. They understood the traditional psyche of the local diaspora and, in turn, the political dynamics of the area. So long as they dealt with the party’s affairs, it enjoyed an overwhelming popularity. Bacha lala’s commitment to the party and, of course, his polite and gentle manners were what had caused him to get elected for five consecutive tenures. But, all of a sudden, one is really at a loss to understand, what charisma of the current provincial leadership caught sight of the central leadership that forced them to gift not only the district but also the entire province to it. Consequently, all the old and tested ideological workers as named above were completely sidelined. And exactly similar situation emerged at gross-rout level too. Since then, no proper organisational structure is visible at any tier right up to the village council level and the decision powers rest with hand-picked blue-eyed who treat the party as house-maid and nothing more. It is pertinent to mention that Muslim League has been traditionally the party of notable families who solicit mere reverence as quid-pro-quo for the services they render for the party. Izzatmand Khan is a hypothetical party activist who has been taking pride in contributing to the party in terms of both the manpower and money for the last many years. He however comes across a situation like the current one where he ceases to get reverence he had during erstwhile leadership. To spell out the same, he is already out of the decision-making process and the party’s tickets are issued for the local bodies elections without his taking on board. Yes, if any counselling is done with him, it is only when a power-show is to be arranged in the divisional or provincial or federal metropolis and he is asked how many vehicles he could arrange for the event. Even his close relative in the family dies and political figures from other parties are present either in the funeral or for Fatiha but if any is absent it is ironically from his own party. He even doesn’t know who is who in his party. And so on. In short, Izzat (respect) is no more there for him in the party and, in turn, he is no more Izzatmand Khan . Now, he feels in a fix what to do and thus keeps disgruntled aside for years. But look at the leadership; no one is there to woo him and thus is eventually forced to leave the party he had inherited from his father. Tell me how many lzzatmand Khans would be there in this land of the respectable Pashtuns? Of course, countless a dozen of whom I do know in my native area. Now, it is easy to comprehend the reasons behind the dismal performance the PML(N) has in KPK. In the traditional stronghold of the Muslim League like Hazara Division, the party lost ground to the PTI not only in the 2018’s general elections but also in the last local bodies elections. And what to speak of the rest of the province. The constituency in Swat district that late Bachalala got elected from for five consecutive times yields results for the party’s ticket-holder shameful enough to keep him at the bottom of the contenders. During the last local bodies elections, I myself had witnessed a single vote in the count for the PML(N)’s candidate for the Tehsil chairman slot at one of the polling stations in my native village. Such a poor show in the area where, quite back from now, the same party’s candidate always used to be the winner, was really surprising. What however even more surprising was that none did ever take notice of the single-vote-show just as if there existed no leadership at all either in the district or in the province.
These are exactly what have provoked some of the ideological leaders like Sardar Mehtab, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Abdul Subhan Khan, etc. to raise hues and cries through press-conferences every now and then. And, these are all what the party’s central leadership should have been in the know of and taken cognisance of. The upshot is that the once-the-largest party is in tatters in KPK while the next general elections are around the corner. Hence, if the central leadership wants to see the party in its earlier shape, then it should essentially rise to the occasion on the score. Though much water has passed through the river, yet it is never late to row the boat to the right direction before it is wrecked.
The writer is contributing columnist, based in Swat.
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