News
Monday, January 14, 2013Whose ‘long march’ is this anyway?
By Muhammad Akram
LAHORE: Tahirul Qadri, a non-entity only three weeks ago but coming from nowhere to becoming a potent threat to the burgeoning democratic system, is on his way to Islamabad leading a ‘long march’ in the hunt for a prolonged rule by the caretakers; necessarily installed with a nod from the military establishment, already sidelined from the process constitutionally.
Treacherous demands as they were and rightly been rejected by all the political forces ahead of much desired general elections are being pressed in the most dangerous fashion by a political despondent with an unaccounted for millions in his pocket along with a return ticket to Toronto.
His embarking on the ‘long march’ to Islamabad with couple of thousands attending from all over the country by the time it reached Ravi bridge hours after departure from Lahore’s Model Town was reminiscent to the one launched by PML-N in March 2009 for the restoration of judges deposed by Gen (retd) Musharraf.
The PML-N long march that started with couple of hundred workers from Lahore snowballed to thousands of people by the time it reached Ravi Bridge on GT road and started sending threatening signals to Islamabad. What was being feared out of Tahirul Qadri-led long march like the one led by Nawaz Sharif three years ago was GHQ’s coming into play with a decisive interference, said to be the real motive behind the staging of the on going adventure.
An interference from GHQ this time around said to be not as soft as it was three years ago and may be availed as an ‘opportunity’ to do the needful for which Tahirul Qadri was unleashed from nowhere three weeks ago.
A near-perfect scenario for intervention may come anytime with Tahirul Qadri still on his way to Islamabad in his expensive bulletproof vehicles.
Will the intervention from Rawalpindi would remained confined to pressing the incumbents to act to the extent of conceding to the demand of the protestors as was the case during previous long march, said to be a remote possibility this time around since all democratic forces, the media and to some extent the judiciary have raised their voice against the unconstitutional tactics being applied by Tahirul Qadri.
With confusion all around and painting only a doomsday scenario for the struggling democratic process, the only silver lining was said to be the unique yearning for perpetuation of the democratic process and that too in adherence with the constitutional provisions for the completion of electoral process.
It was being said if a politically isolated Qadri can make the system hostage, a combine movement of all democratic forces already geared for general elections under a consensus chief election commissioner and an agreed mandate of the constitution would be far more powerful to put the system back on track, if derailed under pressure from a staged ‘long march’.
An unstated yet a formidable alliance of all democratic forces for general elections and a caretaker set up purely in accordance with the constitution provides the only silver lining on the political horizon.
What strengthened further the forces seeking general elections and rare democratic transition in the country was the coming out of Tahirul Qadri bandwagon by the ever-unpredictable Muthida Qaumi Movement.
The stubbornness with which Tahirul Qadri is pursuing his ‘agenda’, despite being emphatically defeated on the media and on the political front with his turning a ‘villain’ for acts of omission and commission in the past, was a real source of concern for the political observers.
The observers said he might not be as ‘politically’ isolated as appeared and even millions of rupees that may have been offered could not be a sources of attraction for him. His abrupt political moves and controversial sermons on sensitive religious matters had not deterred him in the past and points fingers at those who happened to be the source of strength to hand-picked characters in the past.
In their view, the alarming situation that has actually been created by Tahirul Qadri-led ‘long march’ could have been defused by the military establishment with the issuance of a press release by its media wing ISPR. The establishment, said the observer, was quite convenient when it issued a press release in the wake of formulation of Kerry-Lugar bill three years ago and publicly expressed dismay over the surfacing of Memo scandal last year without caring for the amount of destabilization these two acts could cause to the system.
The observers said the ISPR’s distancing from the Tahirul Qadri-led unconstitutional and undemocratic adventure has proved insufficient on the face of his getting adamant with the passage of time.
The growing uncertainty across the country because of unabated acts of terrorism and the ‘long march’ would be dangerous to sustain for a country facing existential threat, said observers. The observers opined that the military establishment doesn’t appeared to be on the same page as the democratic forces appeared to be on the question of general elections and democratic transition, hence the ever increasing uncertainty and chaos everywhere.Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk