It was the best of times; it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness”. The Minar-e-Pakistan has witnessed it all. It was there on October 30, 2011 that PTI emerged as a major political force mainly due to the relentless struggle of the Kaptaan together with his ‘Comrades of Change’. After scaling the peak of popularity, the party moved for another show of strength at the Mazar-e-Quaid on December 25, 2011. After a period of merely 56 days, the players on the main stage had been changed. Those who had struggled and scaled heights with the leader were relegated to a lower level. After another successful jalsa, the old and the new leadership got together for a dinner arranged by comrade Ahsan Rashid, the ‘Chou-En-Lai’ of the movement. It proved to be the proverbial last supper for the genuine ideologues. The party had been hijacked. While the Kaptaan was euphoric, the comrades were disappointed.
Unfortunately, Ahsan sb lost his battle with cancer. Naeem-Ul-Haq remained close to the Kaptaan but he too passed away, leaving the field open. Omer Cheema, an old party ideologue, boldly fought back, but his efforts were thwarted. President Arif Alvi is holding the fort well despite his limited powers. The nuts and bolts of the party were put together by comrade Ahsan sb, who was one of the six founding members of the movement. He was heading an oil company in Jeddah, he returned to lead the party in Punjab on the special invitation of the Kaptaan. He worked honestly, tirelessly and selflessly to build the much-needed infrastructure. It was under his leadership that think tanks were organised to formulate policies, and a sixteen-member shadow cabinet was announced. After day-long deliberations the first 100-day plan was also prepared. All the homework was in place to implement the much-needed change but then the pandemic of the electables hit the party. The old guard resisted, but their protests were overruled and muffled. Dr Shireen Mazari left the party in protest, to return later. The most prepared party of change after Bhutto’s People’s Party of the seventies was offered on a platter to the soldiers of the status-quo. While the chairman was spared, Ahsan sb came under attack. He was made to lose the elections of President Punjab and then a conspiracy was hatched to deny him the seat of the provincial assembly from Lahore to block his elevation as Chief Minister. The election tribunal under Justice Wahjudin recommended action against the violators; instead, the Judge was sent home. The Long March followed by the Dharna in August 2014 against alleged election rigging was too late.
In the decade of the seventies, Bhutto committed the same mistake of ignoring party loyalists for short-term gains and compromises. When the crunch time came, there was no one to fight for him or his cause. He never got a second chance to revive his party despite popular support. Kaptaan has not only survived the setback, he has fought back valiantly. It is an opportunity to revive the original movement together with its spirit. In the words of Hamid Khan, “It’s better late than never”. If real change is desired, the fences against the mafia of the status-quo have to be rebuilt and strengthened. The original party cadres have to be restored, those who were sidelined to accommodate the political mercenaries have to be brought back into the mainstream. Think tanks are required to formulate the way forward. No party can be effectively run without a full-time Secretary-General. Dr Mubashir Hasan stepped down from his cabinet position to run the political outfit. He sat long hours in the office and was available to the party rank and file.
Till the Lahore jalsa of October 2011, the party in Punjab was run by Comrade Ahsan Rashid while Dr Arif Alvi as Secretary-General ran the central office located in Islamabad. They had total commitment and loyalty to the party and its cause. In Karachi, the think tank was coordinated by Feroz Khan while Firdaus Shamim Naqvi and Najib Haroon were active participants with a host of other experts. There were three additional think tanks that operated in Lahore, Islamabad and overseas. The first 100-day plan was carefully formulated, it can be refreshed for implementation this time around. According to the plan, only locally assembled cars of 1300 cc capacity were to be used by the PM and his cabinet. A major focus was on education and health. To meet the energy needs of the nation, fast-track development of the Thar coal project was to be pursued. Expectations of the nation were raised. The masses still believe that the Kaptaan tried his best but his team did not. The Kaptaan, the 22nd PM of Pakistan, has an opportunity to come back as the 24th, but this time he has to deliver. The people want real ‘azadi’ which can only be delivered by the soldiers of change, not the champions of the status-quo.
Dr Farid A Malik
The writer is Ex-Chairman Pakistan Science Foundation, email: fmaliks@hotmail.com
Unfortunately, Ahsan sb lost his battle with cancer. Naeem-Ul-Haq remained close to the Kaptaan but he too passed away, leaving the field open. Omer Cheema, an old party ideologue, boldly fought back, but his efforts were thwarted. President Arif Alvi is holding the fort well despite his limited powers. The nuts and bolts of the party were put together by comrade Ahsan sb, who was one of the six founding members of the movement. He was heading an oil company in Jeddah, he returned to lead the party in Punjab on the special invitation of the Kaptaan. He worked honestly, tirelessly and selflessly to build the much-needed infrastructure. It was under his leadership that think tanks were organised to formulate policies, and a sixteen-member shadow cabinet was announced. After day-long deliberations the first 100-day plan was also prepared. All the homework was in place to implement the much-needed change but then the pandemic of the electables hit the party. The old guard resisted, but their protests were overruled and muffled. Dr Shireen Mazari left the party in protest, to return later. The most prepared party of change after Bhutto’s People’s Party of the seventies was offered on a platter to the soldiers of the status-quo. While the chairman was spared, Ahsan sb came under attack. He was made to lose the elections of President Punjab and then a conspiracy was hatched to deny him the seat of the provincial assembly from Lahore to block his elevation as Chief Minister. The election tribunal under Justice Wahjudin recommended action against the violators; instead, the Judge was sent home. The Long March followed by the Dharna in August 2014 against alleged election rigging was too late.
In the decade of the seventies, Bhutto committed the same mistake of ignoring party loyalists for short-term gains and compromises. When the crunch time came, there was no one to fight for him or his cause. He never got a second chance to revive his party despite popular support. Kaptaan has not only survived the setback, he has fought back valiantly. It is an opportunity to revive the original movement together with its spirit. In the words of Hamid Khan, “It’s better late than never”. If real change is desired, the fences against the mafia of the status-quo have to be rebuilt and strengthened. The original party cadres have to be restored, those who were sidelined to accommodate the political mercenaries have to be brought back into the mainstream. Think tanks are required to formulate the way forward. No party can be effectively run without a full-time Secretary-General. Dr Mubashir Hasan stepped down from his cabinet position to run the political outfit. He sat long hours in the office and was available to the party rank and file.
Till the Lahore jalsa of October 2011, the party in Punjab was run by Comrade Ahsan Rashid while Dr Arif Alvi as Secretary-General ran the central office located in Islamabad. They had total commitment and loyalty to the party and its cause. In Karachi, the think tank was coordinated by Feroz Khan while Firdaus Shamim Naqvi and Najib Haroon were active participants with a host of other experts. There were three additional think tanks that operated in Lahore, Islamabad and overseas. The first 100-day plan was carefully formulated, it can be refreshed for implementation this time around. According to the plan, only locally assembled cars of 1300 cc capacity were to be used by the PM and his cabinet. A major focus was on education and health. To meet the energy needs of the nation, fast-track development of the Thar coal project was to be pursued. Expectations of the nation were raised. The masses still believe that the Kaptaan tried his best but his team did not. The Kaptaan, the 22nd PM of Pakistan, has an opportunity to come back as the 24th, but this time he has to deliver. The people want real ‘azadi’ which can only be delivered by the soldiers of change, not the champions of the status-quo.
Dr Farid A Malik
The writer is Ex-Chairman Pakistan Science Foundation, email: fmaliks@hotmail.com
