PAKISTANS TEHRIR SQUARE. So far not a single bullet has been fired from the police or any other security agency upon the crowd for violating the red zone, thanks to the good sense prevailing over those in the government who are taking decisions regarding the situation. However both Imran Khan and Tahir ul Qadri have been able to successfully lead their crowd to the parliament building, stage a sit-in there and are increasing pressure upon the prime minister to resign. Much to his agony, Nawaz Sharif must have come to realize now that it is too big a price that he is being forced to pay for initiating a court trial against the former military dictator Pervaiz Musharraf for violating the constitution and putting his name into ECL. For the moment, there is a silence from the government side. Perhaps they wish to take their time and let the protesters continue to stage sit-in in front of the parliament until a middle way comes to rescue them or the crowd turns into a violent mob. If our past experience is any guide, this prime minister is not going to say goodbye to the corridors of power without inflicting a price at least upon those who became tools in initiating this whole scuffle against his government. It seems to be less agonizing to handover power to those who masterminded the project instead of presenting it in the platter to those who executed the plan in such a terrible way. Irony is that, unlike that of Tehrir Square, both Azadi and Inquilab marches are being staged against an elected government that still enjoys a predominating majority in the parliament and has hardly completed one year of her coming into power since May last year. Vendetta a characteristic of our tribal mindset and paternalistic culture has turned Imran Khans corruption free Nia Pakistan Azadi march into Nawaz Sharif free Nia Pakistan Azadi sit-in. Both of the marches seem more of a show of hatred against Sharif brothers and less of an attempt to bringing about a revolution or giving birth to a Nia Pakistan. Tahir ul Qadris revolution march rightfully dreams of a new constitution where the parliament, executive and an interpretation of the constitution are placed under the sacred authority of a supreme Sunni cleric, who happens to be none other than himself in this case to take a start following the Iranian model. However it will be interesting to see if this spiritually based political model will be acceptable to this diverse ethno-linguistic and multi-sectarian castle of Islam. Unless a no confidence move is passed in the parliament or prime minister himself decides to resign, any measure to dislodge a democratically elected government will constitute to be illegal or unconstitutional notwithstanding the fact that you have successfully mobilized thousands of people in front of the parliament to ask for his resignation. However it will also be interesting to see if our elected prime minister has both will and capacity to stand up to the pressure generated by the heat of these marches and sits-in until the emotions subside or he succumbs to their demand and choose to resign in the next few hours?
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 04:28:24 +0000
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