Special Article
SULTAN M HALI
Acricket-baron—whose favourite pastime is spew ing venom against former cricket hero Imran Khan, elected to the corridors of power by his zillions of fans—is on the warpath again. His vitriolic antistate editorial ‘’Silence no option’’ published in Weekly Friday Times dated (06-12 March), rich in point scoring but penurious in substance is as usual outdated because events are moving too rapidly for the grasp of the opinion maker. An informed analyst should have the capacity to look ahead and pass judgement after interpolating events so that the scrutiny they present is realistic and not farfetched or archaic. The “informed” commentatorlamentsthat Imran Khan is thundering as usual about nothing in particular and everything in general. He couldn’t be further than the truth. Imran Khan has been thundering but regarding the onset of COVID-19,the pandemic,which has struck Pakistan.While the opposition, ensconced in its sanctuaries has been demanding immediate lockdown, the Prime Minister has responded with a graduated approach. Much fault can be found with the PTI’s governance, especially because it has only been muddling through the myriad problems, which would have tested the governing skills of even Süleyman the Magnificent because of the enormity of the task. Shattered economy, terror attacks, hostile states to the east and west and a very intimidating opposition coupled with the inexperience of the current dispensation in the seat of governance, has tested Pakistan to the hilt. Matters were aggravated by the Corona Virus pandemic, which knows no borders.Most advanced states like the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain are reeling under the impact of COVID-19. Pakistan neither has the medical infrastructure to treat the thousands expected to be afflicted, nor does it have the means to feed the teeming millionslaid off owingto a completelockdown. Nearly seventy percent of the population is below the threshold of poverty. If Imran Khan had locked down the country with one stroke ofthe pen,the same opposition would be screaming murder at the “callousness” of the government towards the underprivileged masses. By enforcing the lockdown in gradual steps, preparingthe people forthe hardtimes ahead, planning relief packages for the needy and preparing quarantine centres, has given a chance to the state to come to grips with the unprecedented tribulation. The hard-hitting editorial, finds the “Sharifs hibernating in London due to great hardship heaped upon them by the Military Establishment and the PTI Government.” He should remember that the corruption cases against them were conjured during the PML (N) rule and the judiciary in Pakistan remains independent. Najam Sethi comments that Bilawal Bhutto has landed in the Punjab and is frenetically wooing every disgruntled group in sight. He has decided to flog the old “progressive” formula of his grandfather and mother. In fact, young Bilawal is displaying unprecedented maturity in curbing the temptation of firing broadsides at the government and is instead gearing his Party in Sindh to meet the onslaught of COVID-19 head on. The columnist highlights that PML-N leaders are now demanding mid-term elections preceded by a new “Charter of the Constitution” signed by core stakeholders including military establishment, judiciary, parliament and political parties. PML-N strategy is based on the ‘live-tofight-another-day” assumption that the people will revolt against PTI Government. Mr Sethi’s observation that the Sharifs have been deliberately dealt a very bad hand is at best myopic. He claims that Miltablishment conspiracies were mounted against the PML (N) from their second year in office – Imran’s record-breaking dharna, Dawnleaks, “Modi ka jo Yaar Hai, Ghaddar Hai, Ghaddar hai”, etc. – until the Supreme Court clutched at the opening provided by Panamagate and struck down Nawaz Sharif in the fourth year. Come 2018 and election day, the Election Commission of Pakistan was mysteriously afflicted by the RTS virus that knocked out the PML-N from any reckoning. Then NAB was unleashed to sic the leadership that had managed to scrape through. Hindsight is 20/20. Events have proved the PTI charge sheet against PML (N) to be true. Again, the political “expert” is commenting on developments which have been overtaken by events. The Opposition knows that COVID-19 does not show any distinction of race, colour, creed or political leaning. It is a global crisis and if Pakistan has to combat this assault, it will have to be through a united and concerted effort. The “erudite scholar” is raising the bogey of India’s extremist leader Narendra Modi, predicting that he will initiate a military conflict with Pakistan resulting in a national calamity leading to the demise of the PTI government and a chance to draw up the proposed” rules of the game” with the military establishment. This milieu may have been true four weeks earlier. India too is afflicted by the COVID-19 and has locked down its people to insulate them from the virus. In an unprecedented move, Narendra Modi invited SAARC leadersin alive video conferenceto pool resourcesto combat the global challenge. The conscientious objector comments: “Whatever fate has in store for Pakistan’s core stakeholders, silence and inaction is not an option for the PML-N. Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum. And the old adage that nothing risked, nothing gained, still rings true, no less than the one that says power only recognizes countervailing power. Silence and inaction is not an option for the PML-N. Power only recognizes countervailing power.” The fact is that if one does not have any relevant criticism to contribute, “silence” is indeed an option. —The writer is retired PAF Group Captain and a TV talk show host.