By Staff Reporter
There was a mighty downswing. No lofted drive. Bails take wing. The middle stump rattled. Clean bowled! What?
The bamboozled all-rounder, who was a hard-hitting bazooka bowler of his long-gone playboy times, first guns his sight up in the sky to catch a glimpse of the blip of a ball as he thought it’s a monstrous sixer, but is unable to place it anywhere. He couldn’t believe his eyes, when he turned his head to stare down at the wicket he had had the whole nation believe was unassailable.
It was taken hands down, literally.
That’s exactly what happened on the night of 27th February 2022 in a political nail-biter.
The struggling batting team lost not because they were sloppy, but because their nemesis was not only in a league of its own, but also in the good books of the deep state. Enemy of my enemy is my friend. This googly- hurler has the resources to spin any ball to his advantage, no matter whose court it’s in, whenever it wants to. Also, the well-grounded spinner has an experience of over 70 odd years of taking stubborn wickets like his. However there was a gambit up the batsman’s sleeve, which the spinner couldn’t see coming.
The spinner had no inkling this fired-up batsman, despite being clean bowled, would raise his finger at the umpire’s finger and question his ‘neutrality’.
The match, thought to be over in the stadium, has actually just broken out in the streets, and the players have only started getting warmed up.
People have never been tired of discoursing about the role of civil-military relations in Pakistan’s politics since the latter first crossed the line opening a gateway for themselves perhaps for good. As the powers that be, they remotely rule, drive, put brakes on, step in, and often override democracies.
Then, what’s different this time?
Their polished, shiny, and decorated public image is at stake, this time around.
Military establishment that sits at the most powerful seat in the politics of the country had never been hammered out in public space.
Military’s image was neither attacked nor tarnished until recently.
The civilians used to register their disapproval of the institution’s frequent infringement of the space of elected political governments respectfully until not very long ago.
They were called Mehakma-e-Zaraat (agriculture department), cricket umpire, Khalai Makhlooq (extraterrestrial beings), and now their new names are ‘neutral’ and ‘Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq’.
The credit should be given where it’s due, they say! Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had never been able to complete his term as the chief executive. Twice his government was thrown away through a coup d’état. The highest court of the country removed him as PM in his third turn, which Nawaz Sharif believes was done at the behest of the military establishment.
Soon after his ouster, Nawaz ran a campaign ‘Vote Ko Izzat Do’ (respect the vote). He addressed large public rallies raising questions why elected governments were overthrown. He demanded that voters’ right to elect should be respected. This narrative sold well, but its shelf life turned out to be shorter than expected.
With Nawaz’s departure to London on the pretext of his deteriorating health the ‘Vote Ko Izzat Do’ campaign fizzled out. It may have brought a sigh of relief in the power quarters, who believed the PMLN supremo’s departure would control the damage to their image and also provide Imran Khan, the then prime minister, with a favourable pitch to play.
But this time, Nawaz unleashed the tiger inside and roared at his old masters!
The public rally that Nawaz addressed in Gujranwala under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (a joint venture of the opposition parties) was a final blow to the image of the military establishment.
Nawaz openly mentioned the names of the army chief and the then and former DG ISI, tying them to his ouster and Imran Khan’s entry.
It was the first-ever direct attack at the sacred cow! The institution felt dressed down and debate on its role found space in the public domain.
Nawaz’s speeches and discourses were banned from mainstream media.
A virtual Nawaz became far mightier than a physical one. His attack opened doors to diplomacy with the power quarters. The dividends were now apparent.
Probably the establishment didn’t realise that match fixing would set a precedent that would one day blow up in its face.
Imran Khan seems bolder than his predecessor! He went on a spree of public rallies when he found his power support slipping away. In all public rallies before his ouster, Imran was loud and clear. He warned of becoming dangerous if he was thrown out of office. He would address the establishment as Neutrals and would demand them to be partisan saying ‘Neutral Janwar Hota Hai’, which literally means ‘only animals are neutral’.
After his ouster through the vote of no confidence, Imran is becoming lethal by the day. A great crowd puller as he is, he has now broken free from the shackles of his creators.
His attacks on the institution in public rallies compelled the establishment to try to save its image from Imran Khan’s scalding remarks.
Through a presser and a handout, DG ISPR, Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, reiterated the institution was apolitical and that it should not be dragged by politicians, civil society members or journalists in the current politics into politics. The handout that seemed more of a warning stated: “Armed forces take strong exception to such unethical and unlawful practice and expect all to abide by law and keep the armed forces out of political discourse in the best interest of the country”.
It was assumed this would tone down Imran Khan and he would practice restraint in his future speeches.
This too proved wrong!
Instead, Khan upped the ante. This time he and his party members were seen accusing the military establishment for supporting the alleged US conspiracy that Khan trusts orchestrated his ouster as PM.
His recent meeting with journalists was a bounty of revelations.
Khan accused the military for not helping him save his premiership, for not punishing the Sharifs and Zardaris through judiciary and NAB that in his view was not a problem for them.
Not agreeing to remove his confidant Usman Buzdar from the position of Chief Minister Punjab and the appointment of DG ISI in October 2021 was the breaking point of his love relation with establishment, he told reporters.
Lately, Khan has recorded a video, which he said had all the names in it that conspired against him, which he terms as traitors.
Another conspiracy is being brewed to kill me, hence in the event of any such mishap the video shall be released, Khan said.
Imran Khan is certainly becoming a unique adversary to the institution. With his narrative selling like hot cakes, he is drawing huge crowds and it looks like the old tricks of the engineer won’t work this time.
Now it’s the umpire that has to reset the game, before the match and much more is lost!
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