ISLAMABAD - These are strange times. Just when everyone in the government machinery wanted us to believe that the recent American visit of premier Nawaz Sharif was a thumping success, it turned out to be a rude awakening for none else but the premier and his aides. The American drone in pursuit of a high profile target like Hakimullah Mahsud not only droned the elusive peace process the premier initiated with Pakistani Taliban, but has also put his government in a tight corner, more politically than governance wise. In-fact, since the last May elections, Sharif has been trying hard to fight his way out of the whirlwind of domestic problems, energy crisis and law and order on top of all. He took oath this June as summer season peaked. With no quick fix available, he devoted all his energies on devising near and distant future power projects, as critics started sarcastically pointing out that as premier foreign policy also needs his attention and focus. And just when he could find some respite from electricity management blues, mainly because of the weather change in October-November, he finds a quagmire of terrorism he must sail the country safely through to find the elusive peace and progress this land needs. But there are no short cuts at hand. Peace, Sharif, and his ilk know, will come when country’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan send no suicide bombers to settled areas of KPK in particular, and country in general. And that can only be achieved through uninterrupted peace talks with militants mainly languishing in tribal belt along Pak-Afghan border. And the peace talks have no future till the American CIA is happy with drones. Now this is tricky. The Yankees will keep on firing Hell Fire missiles at will in the days and weeks to come, and resultant casualties will be premier’s domestic and foreign policy initiatives, now directly linked with peace on country’s western border. So even when he is at the helm of affairs, Sharif finds little space to maneuver – in maters of governance and politics. With his power base in cities and towns of Punjab, and a following of largely lower middle class to poor religious minded masses, he cannot afford to erode his political base by resorting to tougher military means. His political adversary, Imran Khan, rose to prominence in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa owing to his relentless pursuit against American drones and PPP-ANP corruption and mismanagement in that province. At the national level, Imran struck the right chords as his appeal against the culture of uncontrollable corruption and mismanagement wooed a sizeable chuck of urbanite lower and middle class. Everyone in the PML-N top rank and file know, but they won’t admit openly, that Imran almost got them in May elections. He couldn’t defeat them in Punjab as a sizeable number of sympathetic voters wanted to give Sharif a third chance. A fourth term may be almost impossible to get, if the incumbent government fails to deliver within a year or so.
So Musharaf’s anti-terrorism recipe of yesteryears if applied in the present scenario, will bring disaster to the country, and the PML-N’s political base alike, many of his aides believe. So deep beneath the overwhelming slogans of national pride being damaged by the relentless and cruel American drones, politicking may be playing at its ruthless worse. National pride may overwhelm us, but when it comes to politics, everyone has his own axe to grind.
No one tends to disagree with Imran Khan, especially these days, those merciless drones, and even more ruthless and barbaric suicide attacks have played havoc with the national harmony and peace. Ch Nisar, how pragmatic he may look, seems very bold in his approach towards the Americans, even though he could act ‘wisely’ like his predecessors -- Rehman Maliks, Aftab Sherpaos and Faisal Saleh Hayats. And the list is long. Seeing performance of the Interior Minister during the last 48 hours one tends to believe premier Sharif’s wisdom why he didn’t made this Rajput from Chakri foreign minister of this country. One hopes the scheme works for now – a tough talking interior and a soft but firm elderly advisor on foreign affairs. But the big question for now is where do we go from here? We may become fans of his bravado and personality, but even Khan doesn’t offer long term solutions, for now. All he has in his mind a few days deadline, uptil November 20, for the government to act decisively. Pressurise the Yankees to back off or stop the Nato supplies that run through KPK and Balochistan provinces of the country. He echoed the same sentiments in the National Assembly in an unusually soft tone which was never music to the ears of saner ministers and their more experienced colleagues tucked safely in the treasury benches. His Aitchisonian friend (Ch Nisar) had already cooled Imran down as both seemed, and agreed on the National Assembly floor that they were on the same page since the September All Parties Conference. Both shared sensitivities and intricacies of negotiations with rag tag yet deadly Pakistani Taliban. But the post-Hakimullah Mehsud era will, in all likelihood, push them apart. All praise for the interior minister for his peace and talks efforts with TTP, Imran didn’t waste time is handing him a blunt message for the premier Monday evening as Nisar sought leave from the National Assembly colleagues to brief the in-session federal cabinet at that time. “Tell Sharif November 20 is the deadline to act and get the drones stopped, or I will block the Nato supply line in KPK,” he thundered amidst applause of his party legislators. On the treasury front rows, Maulana Fazlur Rehman could guess well what Imran was upto. With a meaningful smile on his face, the Maulana gestured sheepishly when Imran announced to visit him for consultations on the drone issue, and talks with TTP. For now, Khan seems to have made up his mind to adopt the agitation mode, and he is bent on sacrificing his thin majority provincial government in KPK. Will JUI-PML-N alliance want to rule KPK when Imran leaves the government riding a high moral cum political wave? On his part, Khan seems bent on playing his trump card, which can pay dividends, if proven politically correct.