The prevailing groundswell of support in Pakistan for the PTI is exclusively commanded by Khan and the other party leaders are only basking in his glory. Source: Getty Images
Similar to the fluctuations in its cricket team’s performance, Pakistan exhibits a volatile, unstable, and unpredictable nature
THE first thought that springs to mind when thinking about the Pakistani cricket team is its unpredictability. This is a squad that is turbulent, aggressive, hard-charging and yet gives up occasionally without much fight. That is why, on its day the team can defeat the strongest opponent in the game but lose to a minnow the following day. And it is a familiar fact. The point of repeating it is to wonder aloud whether sports behaviour of a national team somehow also echoes the character of a nation. The question becomes particularly relevant in view of the ongoing turmoil in Pakistan. The country is going through a deeply uncertain and vulnerable phase. And incidentally, the nation’s most legendary cricketer Imran Khan is at the centre of it.
We are witness to an unremitting war of attrition between Khan on one hand and the combined might of the Pakistani establishment – read Army – and its coalition government on the other. However, it is the establishment which is believed to be the power behind the throne, so essentially the fight is between Khan and the Army chief. Khan himself framed it as one upon his release from the prison earlier in June. The fight has now become a zero sum game, as is apparent from the way Khan framed it and from the way it has developed over the past year. One party’s survival means the decimation of the other; either Khan or the Army Chief General Asim Munir will win. As things stand, it is the latter who seems to have come out trumps.
Past few weeks have witnessed Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) disintegrate. Senior leaders have left Khan in what is said to be under duress. He was also arrested, but only to be let off by Supreme Court a few days later. During the three days that Khan was in custody, protesters in Pakistan went on a rampage and some of them even attacked defence installations, something unheard of in Pakistan. Scores of cases have been filed against the PTI chief ostensibly to keep him busy with court appearances.
Going forward, the situation doesn’t look promising for the PTI, more so, with the entire might of the establishment and Pakistani government aligned against Khan. With leaders also deserting him and the structure of the PTI being dismantled, Khan’s ability to contest future national elections is being undermined.
That said, it is necessary to draw a distinction between Khan and the other senior leaders of his party: The prevailing groundswell of support in Pakistan for the PTI is exclusively commanded by Khan and the other party leaders are only basking in his glory. It is, in a sense, similar to the following for the prime minister Narendra Modi in India: votes are largely cast in his favour than the candidates contesting the election on behalf of the BJP. So,Khan would still have a clear advantage if fair elections were held.
But as the last one year and the years before this make it amply clear, this is not how things play out in Pakistan. Democracy for all its trappings isn’t organic. The establishment is widely believed to have a role in who rules Pakistan. Khan himself was accused of being propped by the Army and now the current rulers are also facing the same accusation.
That said, this is not the concern that is at the heart of the current turmoil in Pakistan. The question is a larger one: What constitutes a nation and who does it essentially belong to? A no-brainer answer to this is that people make up a nation. And by that definition, the legitimacy or otherwise of any action can be gauged by how many of its decisions are taken with reference to its people. To put it in another, what should matter in a nation? Is it the will of a large majority of its people or just that of a powerful elite who act largely to perpetuate themselves? In Pakistan it is this contest that is currently playing out, a tug of war between its people and its elite. Truth is imran Khan is arguably the most popular leader of Pakistan now in the country, something that is also borne out by an overwhelming public groundswell in his favour and also by the recent by-polls.
It is true that elites rule everywhere. Every ruling arrangement begets its own network of elites who, in turn, act in their self-interest. But in Pakistan we have a variation on this power mantra: The elites are not entirely responsible for electing and replacing themselves. The establishment, more often than not, is an influential factor.
There are two solutions to the current crisis in the country: one, the establishment rules directly than behind a democratic facade. Another is that a true democracy is allowed to take root and a free and fair election is held at the appointed time. But as of now, the country seems working towards neither. As a result, the current turmoil looks set to continue for some more time. Like its cricket team, Pakistan will remain volatile, unstable and unpredictable. But this may not necessarily mean down and out. Things may eventually fall into place as happens in many of the matches of the country’s cricket team. At the same time, they might even unravel further if the people at the helm continue to pursue a zero sum game than work for a win-win solution.
- Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer
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