The Culture of Sit-ins
By Syed Kamran Hashmi
Westfield, IN
I am not sure what would be the situation in Islamabad by the time these lines appear before you. The speed with which the political scenario changes there can be mind-boggling as if you are driving down the road from the top of a mountain without any brakes losing more control with every twist and gaining momentum with every turn. In a matter of just few hours, a hero can be converted into a zero, thanks to the hyperactive media and a zero can rise up to be recognized as the savior of the nation. In short,anything is possible: the Prime Minister can end up in jail, his cabinet under house arrest or the protestors are put behind the bars and their leaders tried under high treason as a result of a major crackdown.
Nonetheless, I will try to concentrate my discussion on the latest trend of organizing prolonged sit-ins against an elected government instead of going into the details of its sponsors, the objectives, the players, the actors and the beneficiaries. All I can say at the present moment is that we do not have direct evidence to blame anyone. And in the absence of a proof, I just do not want to make any assumption or hold anyone responsible that may in fact further confuse the situation. Although, after the testimony of Javed Hashmi, it is not very hard to speculate.
In that regards, my first question to any Pakistani is this: How difficult is it for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to gather a few thousand people in Islamabad? True, it did not win as many seats in the elections of 2013 as it should have, but it faced the most brutal pre-poll rigging too. They could not even launch a proper campaign under the threat posed by the Taliban during the season. Despite that, PPP still has, everyone can agree, thousands of resilient and committed workers who can endure all kinds of hardship including unpredictable weather or lack of food and housing to make any protest successful. History also tells us that the PPP workers are far more experienced in handling an oppressive regime than the evening crowd that goes to attend a music concert in the name of change and comes home after dancing for few hours thinking of themselves as revolutionaries and saviors of Pakistan.
What do they do in those few hours besides enjoying themselves? It is not rocket science to figure out: Just listen to them for a few minutes and you will realize that the whole party and its supporters, without any shame or regret, abuse, malign or denigrate our national institutions while making ‘sensual’ moves on the beat. Our parliament, judiciary, our media, bureaucracy, politicians, our police and all the supporters of other parties, no one is spared from the venomous language of the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The same rule holds true for his followers, anyone who dares to disagree with them is slandered and reviled in the worst possible way. Is this how we are going to build a new and better Pakistan? By demolishing our heritage, the culture of respect and honor!
Now tell me, who can underestimate the street power of Mian Nawaz Sharif(MNS)? His popularity, even after more than one year in office, remains more than sixty percent according the recent Pew Research poll. He too was able to regain and maintain his popularity after the martial law of General Musharraf, who, we know, abused all state resources and tried his best to keep the leader of Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) out of politics. The former dictator wanted Nawaz Sharif away from Pakistan for the longest period assuming that one day MNS would become irrelevant, but the General could not succeed in his plans. On the contrary, Nawaz Sharif was able to galvanize a large crowd, much bigger than the current group of protestors, to restore the former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary through public pressure against the whims of the establishment.
Does each one of them not possess enough power to choke the Constitutional Avenue or keep it blocked for few weeks, if he wants to? I am sure they can also build an unrealistic narrative of change while keeping the old mafia from Musharraf’s regime on their sides. Isn’t it the easiest principle to follow for anyone too? To say one thing and do just the opposite. All they have to do is to provide it a different color every time from reforms, injustice, crime, education, health or corruption to equality, peace and Islam.
If the protesters win once, my argument is that every government will have a few months to rule because after that there will be a group from Sahiwal, Nowshera or Dadu, or even a banned religious organization from Jhang which would arrive in twenty buses to do a sit-in for an indefinite period of time and demand the resignation of the Prime Minister through televised hate speeches. That, in itself, is a recipe for disaster in which Pakistan has no future as a functional state. Also remember, once you are in a sit-in, the validity of your claims do not matter anymore, what matters is the modus operandi to get your point across. If that included attacking the state symbols like the Parliament or Supreme Court, it is going to haunt you for a long time. Why is that so hard to understand? Imran, after the crisis is over, will have to reap what he is sowing today if he ever comes into power. I am not sure if Tahir-Ul- Qadri will ever be politically relevant enough to win a majority in the parliament and take an oath under the constitution as the Prime Minster, but I am confident that Imran could have become the head of the government, had he been more serious to serve the people in KPK.
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