It can happen only in Pakistan. Imran Khan has once again threatened to start a protest sit in (Dharna as popularly known) from August 30 in Islamabad in front of the Election Commission of Pakistan. Interestingly his previous sit ins were prompted by what he alleged to be judiciary’s failure to provide relief in his party’s court cases against the alleged rigging in 2013 general elections. But ironically this time round he is restarting his protest campaign because the election tribunals have provided him with relief by de-seating three important members of the National Assembly (MNAs) from the ruling party. Very intriguingly this has not led IK to adopt the legal and constitutional course that is working and delivering. On the contrary it has galvanized his appetite for more mob action aimed at showing the door to four members of the Election Commission who according to him are responsible for the irregularities, which became basis for the unseating of the aforementioned MNAs. IK refuses to be held to any logic or reason otherwise there are some very legitimate questions, which he should have answered. For example some of his MPs were also de-seated by the election tribunals for irregularities but he did not demand a similar action against the Elections Commission on that ground. Similarly some parliament members belonging to his party were disqualified for submitting fake academic degrees to the Election Commission. Did he penalize members of his party’s parliamentary board for issuing tickets to fake degree holders for contesting elections? The most notorious fraud case is that of a PTI sitting MNA who “managed” to get a university degree from Peshawar University by violating rules and without going through the due academic procedure. To top it all IK refused to consider and act upon the report of Justice (r) Wajihuddin, the head of PTI’s election commission for the party elections, about the blatant irregularities in the intra party elections. More conveniently he was sacked by IK and threatened to keep quite by the more militant elements in the party. That is more than enough to expose the level of IK’s commitment to free and fair elections.

But IK’s plans for fresh sit in raises more sensitive questions about the real purpose and intent of the proposed agitation in light of the debate about his 2014 sit in. Even if we ignore numerous press reports and analysis of TV anchors about an alleged military coup plan by certain elements in the armed forces at that time, the country’s sitting defense minister has on record pointed out that the then head of the country’s premier intelligence agency was involved in choreographing the agitation and it was aimed at toppling the sitting elected government. That was to be the “umpire’s finger” famously claimed by IK which was to be raised to send the government packing. Now this revelation has never been withdrawn or contradicted by any credible state authority. We know that the government survived the agitation but it was considerably weekend and it had to cede a wide area of policy making and execution to the military establishment. In Sindh and Balochistan in particular it is not just policy making that has been taken over but even today the unelected institutions of the state largely determine the governance.

But will it not be logical to ask questions about the nature of the new sit in and its ultimate aim in view of the credible revelations about the previous one? Before looking for an answer to this question it is important to clarify that the purpose of this analysis. It is not at all meant to justify or cover up the failures of the elected civilian governments. The present government and opposition have failed in fulfilling their promise for bringing a law to create a credible, transparent and effective institution to fight the menace of corruption. Corruption has been eating up into the vitals of the governance system. The present multiple anti corruption government institutions have failed to do accountability without indulging in political victimization. But the impression that corruption is confined to political elites is incorrect. Unfortunately the cancer of corruption has spread to all sections of ruling classes including generals, judges and the business community. It is also true that the later ones for obvious reasons have escaped accountability. Similarly despite the tall government claims about the implementation of NAP there is much to be desired. Bulldozing draconian laws through parliament is not the solution. Mustering political will to take on terrorism and extremism in all its forms is the correct path for tackling the problem. Foreign policy is in shambles. Peace process in Afghanistan is on the verge of collapse with serious consequences for Pakistan. We also cannot be proud of our handling of the issue of proposed NSAs meeting with India on the basis of the Wufa Declaration, the hawkish stand of the Modi government on the issue notwithstanding.
Be that as it may, IK’s fresh sit in can lead to the total unraveling of present constitutional system and in all probability it may be aimed at that. It is particularly so if we note the vicious campaign by IK of attacking all state institutions (obviously except the military) for delegitimizing them. If PTI is not a vanguard of undemocratic forces to dismantle the system then why would it demonize and delegitimize the very state institutions through which it intends to rule the country in the future? Again is it a coincidence that political parties targeted by terrorists during the 2013 elections like ANP and PPP are coming under a new political onslaught? No one will defend corrupt individuals if the courts convict them after due process but media trails of the political parties as a whole and the use of rangers for the arrests to generate fear for arm twisting and bullying political parties reveal other designs. We have seen and experienced political adventures and quick fix solutions of the undemocratic forces in the past. They have invariably created new problems apart from aggravating the old ones. Who can forget 1971? The ruling establishment should realize that Pakistan is facing grave internal and external challenges and it can’t afford misadventures. There is strong feeling in the smaller provinces that the post 18th amendment constitution of the country has become a thorn in the side of the vested interests. It is obvious that all democratic forces, particularly people of smaller provinces will defend the rights that they have achieved after great sacrifices by more than one generation. It is time for political parties to rise to the occasion to foil the conspiracies of the undemocratic forces. History will not absolve any one who will conspire against democratic rights of the people.