It is turmoil in
our neighbourhood Nation that shows animosity all the time, a Nation that
shares land borders and chequered history !
..
Pakistan Prime
Minister Imran Khan is set to address the nation later tonight, Federal Minister for Information &
Broadcasting Fawad Hussain tweeted. This came shortly after he announced that
the National Security Committee (NSC) will be convening at the PM’s residence
Thursday afternoon. Khan had Wednesday cancelled his address to the nation, as
rumours flew he might step down and not face the vote, and the Army and ISI
chiefs paid a visit to his house. Khan’s address comes amid
allegations that a foreign conspiracy was afoot to remove him from power. These allegations are based on a “foreign conspiracy letter”,
which the PM shared with senior journalists and cabinet members Wednesday. The
United States has denied its involvement in the “conspiracy letter”, which
purportedly “threatened” to oust Khan. Meanwhile, the National Assembly is meeting
today to debate the no-confidence motion against Khan moved by Shahbaz Sharif,
Leader of the Opposition. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led coalition government
has already lost its majority in Parliament after Muttahida Qaumi
Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), with its seven members, Wednesday announced that it
has parted ways with the government during a joint press conference and joined
the Opposition parties.
Things are certainly
not good for Imran Khan who had been dallying with lies and propaganda against
India and now realizes, fuelling Kashmir issue alone will not keep him in
Office for long.
I remember
that Pongal Test in 1980 at Chepauk when Pakistan toured India.
The star Batsman Zaheer Abbas failed miserably, getting out to Roger
Binny; some Pakis claimed that to be
result of black magic ! .. .. Sandip Patil debuted and we so eagerly looked
forward to his making runs – glaring at him in the net practice before the
commencement of the Test. Sunil Gavaskar
was to make 166 and Kapil bowled so well – a 7 wicket haul in the 2nd essay ensured a comfortable 10 wicket victory
for India. Imran Khan ran in long and
hard and bowled fast – took 5 wickets too – those days there were rest days the
4th day - 18th
Jan was a rest day. Years later,
in Feb 1987, Imran captained Pakis and scored a ton, which was overshadowed by
a brilliant 123 laced with 18 fours and 2 sixers by local lad Krishnamachari
Srikkanth.
Imran Khan was a successful Cricketer before entering politics. One recalls that on that tour of 1983 –
Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Sikhandar Bakht, Jallaluddin – repeatedly
overstepped as Indian batsmen found the pace and swing too uncomfortable and
lost the series badly. After 2 decades of international cricket, Khan became a fulltime politician. In its
long political history, Pakistan
peppered with military coups and martial law, elections 2018 were to
be the second successive transition of
power through a constitutional process from one elected government to another.
However, political opponents, the independent Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan, and international observers such as the European Union alleged that
irregularities and election rigging occurred in many parts of the country,
particularly in rural and urban Sindh and Punjab provinces. Imran Khan
defeated their own system and became the PM of Pakistan .. and immediately spit
venom .. .. on twitter taking a potshot
at our Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji, over the cancellation of meeting between
India and Pakistan. “Disappointed at the arrogant & negative response by
India to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue,” he tweeted”. Not
so surprisingly some media in India started saying that India needs to learn
from Imran .. .. the reality as always is far different ! .. .
The wheel has
completed a circle and now Imran Khan is facing arguably the biggest challenge
of his political career, as the opposition seeks to remove him from office in a
vote of no confidence. In recent days there has been a flurry of
activity - and what some argue were tactics straight out of Machiavelli's
playbook - which resulted in several Khan allies deserting his Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, tilting the scales firmly in the opposition's
favour. A simple majority of 172 in the 342-seat National Assembly against the
former cricket legend would cut short his tenure as PM. On Wednesday, the magic
number was breached when his main coalition ally, the MQM, joined the
opposition. It means on paper the opposition now commands 175 votes to the
government's 164. Imran Khan, elected in July 2018 vowing to tackle corruption
and fix the economy, isn't going quietly. He hosted a massive rally on Sunday
in Islamabad to show he remains wildly popular with his supporters.
This is no Indian Press distorting facts – what you are about to read is more from Pak’s Dawn .. .. THE farce seems to have gone too far. It is neither a battle between ‘good and evil’, as Prime Minister Imran Khan would like us to believe, nor is it a struggle for democracy, as the combined opposition claims. We are witnessing a free play of political opportunists, fortune seekers and self-important hangers-on. It is a vicious power struggle, and for lack of alternatives we are all victims of it. With just a few days left for the vote on the no-confidence motion against the prime minister, political wheeling and dealing has hit a new low. Given the ever-shifting loyalties and alliances, the numbers game will go right down to the wire. The situation is now changing every hour, with no clear outcome of the unfolding power struggle in sight. A lot will also depend on the Supreme Court ruling on the presidential reference on the defection and disqualification clauses.
MUSICAL chairs
is a game designed for children but played by politicians. In the kindergarten
aka Islamabad, an oily cleric, a former president, untested aspirants, even a
former chief minister scramble in an unseemly melee to decide who should occupy
that last chair. Those who have sat in it know
that it exudes more symbolism than power. It is the modern equivalent of the
legendary Iron Throne, featured in the fantasy drama television series Game of
Thrones adapted from the novels by George R.R. Martin. Forged on the orders of
the mythical conqueror Aegon I Targaryen, the throne was welded from “the
swords of the vanquished, a thousand of them, melted together like so many
candles”.
One character
Stannis describes it as having “barbs along the back, the ribbons of twisted
steel, the jagged ends of swords and knives all tangled up”, and comments: “It
is not a seat where a man can rest at ease. Oft-times I wonder why my brothers
wanted it so desperately.” The embattled
prime minister seems closer though to Shakespeare’s King Richard III. The
king’s impassioned cry: “A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a
horse!” has become a synonym for desperation in a crisis. For the past three
years, that cry took on a less dignified meaning in Islamabad.
Called upon to
remove his selected Punjab chief minister Buzdar, Prime Minister Imran Khan
insisted that he was indispensable, irreplaceable. He ignored the demands of
his former ATM Mr Jehangir Tareen for Buzdar’s ouster. He refused to heed the
warnings of those who cautioned him against such blind loyalty to one whose
only virtue was obedience. Obdurate, he seemed determined to risk his kingdom,
not for a horse, but for a submissive beast. The reality of a no-confidence
motion in the National Assembly has made Imran Khan reconsider his tactics.
Forced to scavenge for allies, he is perceived as indulging in the same
horse-trading that he condemned in his opponents. His PML-Q ally Chaudhry
Pervaiz Elahi saw an opportunity and moved swiftly for the kill. Buzdar with
practised docility submitted his resignation.
PM Imran Khan,
like the actor Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars ceremony who reacted to perceived
taunts against his wife, has yet to control his ire. Another less personal
cause for concern is his contempt for organs of state that are not as pliable
as outgoing CM Buzdar. During a public meeting in Punjab’s Kamalia city on
Saturday, he warned “that if Nawaz returned to the country, he would divide the
judiciary”. He left it to his attorney general to placate the ruffled judges. Similarly,
his ill-considered accusation that “attempts are being made through foreign money
to change the government in Pakistan” has a stale flavour about it. Too many
beleaguered leaders in the past have used the same dog-eared gambit. The
Foreign Office will undoubtedly have to work overtime to explain away this
off-the-cuff tirade.
His suspicion of
the Election Commission of Pakistan remains too deep-seated to be cured by such
palliatives. No political party in Pakistan has ever accepted the independence
of the Election Commission. In power, they treat it as a handmaiden; out of
power, they regard it with mistrust. They should
remember the response given by Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to
M.S. Gill, then chief election commissioner of India. (Gill was responsible for
the introduction of electronic voting machines across India.) Gill asked the PM
whether he could invite leaders of the opposition parties to participate in the
golden jubilee celebrations of the ECI in 2001. PM Vajpayee’s sage reply was:
“You have to. You are there for all the political parties of India, not just the
one in government.”
Interesting !
– truth is stranger than fiction
31.3.2022.