By
Qamar Bashir
Former Press Secretary to the President
Former Press Minister to the Embassy of Pakistan to France
Former MD, SRBC
All patriotic Pakistanis, from common laborers to highly accomplished individuals, are deeply worried and scared by the current state of conflicts within the government, among various governmental entities, among institutions, within institutions, and between the government and these institutions. This pervasive distrust is escalating at a breakneck pace, causing significant concern across the nation.
The federal government and the KP government are embroiled in a bitter blame game, each accusing the other of inefficiency, corruption, incompetence, and mismanagement of the law and order situation.
The political party PTI is accusing the federal and Punjab governments of stealing their mandate, exacerbating the political turmoil. In response, the federal and Punjab governments are threatening to ban the PTI and charge its leaders with high treason and rebellion.
The Federal, Punjab and Sindh governments are accusing the superior judiciary of re-writing the constitution and providing unconstitutional and unlawful relief to PTI, while threatening both the judiciary and PTI with dire consequences and vowing to teach them a bitter lesson.
JUI leader Moulana Fazal Rehman is openly claiming that the army wants to seize the mineral wealth of the FATA regions under the guise of launching military operations.
The army is blaming the federal and provincial governments for failing to register the madrasas and mosques, a task assigned to the civilian government in 2014, which remains unaccomplished.
The KP government and PTI are accusing the army of fomenting unrest in the KP province, while the army blames the KP government for its failure to manage the participants of a peace march. According to the army, after holding a rally and chanting objectionable slogans, some participants attacked Bannu Cantt, breached the wall of its storage facility, and stole flour and other supplies. When the crowd became too unruly, the army unit deployed at Bannu Cantt resorted to aerial firing as an SOP to prevent further damage to the state installation. The army also accused the KP government of failing to trace and arrest those participants of the peace march who were carrying firearms.
The army also blamed social media activists sympathetic to PTI for committing digital terrorism, alleging that they had established a nexus with terrorists to carry out attacks on the ground. These activists are accused of doctoring old pictures and images of wounded and injured persons from other countries, presenting them as victims of the Pakistani army. While the army spokesperson was accusing PTI activists of digital terrorism, a heavy police contingent invaded the PTI party office and arrested PTI spokesperson Mr. Raouf Hassan and media coordinator, confiscating computers, digital disks, files, and documents.
The army also criticized the judiciary for failing to impart exemplary punishments to the masterminds, planners, abettors, and facilitators of these acts, instead providing them with relief. The army spokesperson warned that if this trend of rewarding perpetrators of violence continues, it would lead the country to unimaginable consequences.
Furthermore, the army blamed all opposition parties for resisting and politicizing a comprehensive, robust, and all-encompassing operation, Azm-e-Istehkam. The army accused these parties of misconstruing and misreading the operation, making it controversial from the very beginning and undermining its efficacy, despite its conception for the greater national interest.
The army complained that when it closed the borders to stop smuggling from Afghanistan, a propaganda campaign was launched by politicians to spread hatred against the army. This campaign instigated people, especially at the Chaman Border in Balochistan, to chant slogans against the army.
During an hour-long press conference, the army spokesperson frequently used the terms “digital terrorism” and “anarchist group.” The term “anarchist group” was often attributed by the audience, rightly or wrongly, to PTI, while “digital terrorists” is perceived rightly or wrongly by the audience referring to PTI activists who were allegedly targeting the army on the digital media for all the wrong reasons and on false premises.
The conflict among all stakeholders escalated to its highest level after the Supreme Court’s decision to restore PTI as a party in the National Assembly and allocate reserved seats to it. This decision enraged both the government and the establishment.
All indications point to a prolonged conflict between the Supreme Court on one side and the Federal, Punjab and Sindh governments and PML(N), PPP, establishment, and parliament on the other. How the Supreme Court will face this coordinated attack remains to be seen, but logically, the Supreme Court has very few power pieces compared to its opponents on this political chessboard.
The judiciary faced a similar situation in March 2023 when a massive rally organized by JUI, PML(N), and PPP, backed by the establishment and parliament, took place right in front of the Supreme Court. This rally threatened Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, urging him to desist from pressing for the holding of general elections on May 14, 2023. Sensing his helplessness, the Chief Justice caved in, though he did not reverse his order; he did not press for its implementation either.
This state of affairs also reflects a bitter reality: the judiciary may be mocked globally if the government, the establishment, and the parliament do not support it. Similarly, the army and the government are vulnerable without the people’s support.
All stakeholders have become so entrenched in their egoistic pursuits that they have entered a blind alley, seeing only one option: to fight and use force to resolve issues. They are forgetting the maxim that when the use of force fails, applying more force often leads to an even greater failure.
The volatile situation is causing widespread anxiety among the populace, as persistent conflicts and mutual recriminations undermine the stability and progress of the country.
All stakeholders must step back from their deeply entrenched positions and realize that in this country, which is our home, we must live together, whether willingly or unwillingly, happily or gloomily. We need to start respecting each other, address the underlying issues and conflicts, provide justice to each other, and grant the rights that lawfully belong to others. It is imperative to stop name-calling and labeling each other as anarchists, rebels, or usurpers of rights. We must understand that the only solution to our woes is to establish and respect the rule of law, which is more applicable to state operatives than any private entity. All stakeholders should have mercy on the people of Pakistan, who are like grass being trampled by the fights of elephants.
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