Who is Calling the Shots in Islamabad?
By Karamatullah K. Ghori
Toronto, Canada

 

It was a rare moment of collective, national, delight when the Pakistan Cricket Team thrashed India in their encounter in the T-20 World Cup match in Dubai, on October 24.

The on and off-field rivalry between these two traditional South Asian adversaries has been so intense, for decades, that humiliating a boastful India—literally trouncing it with a thumping 10-wicket victory—instantly became a cause of national celebrations. Imran Khan (IK), on a visit to Saudi Arabia, himself took a dig at India by quipping—when asked about chances of mending torn fences between the two countries—that it was not the best of time to engage an India smarting under such humiliation.

But where IK was, apparently, sensitive to India’s feelings of hurt, his loud-mouthed Interior Minister—known for his pungent vocabulary and embarrassing gaffes—showed no such sensitivity for the people of Pakistan’s great moment of national rejoicing and pride.

Sheikh Rashid literally doused cold water on the nation’s jubilations by announcing, the same afternoon, that IK’s government was setting free 350 aficionadosof the banned Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) who, only a day before had brutally lynched three policemen in Lahore.

When asked how he could order the release of partisans of an outfit which had been declared a ‘terrorist’ organization by his own government, earlier in April this year, the Sheikh, with a straight face denied that TLP was a terrorist body. Instead, according to his Delphic wisdom, it had only been ‘proscribed’ but not banned, and was still “free” to take part in elections.

Had it been a personal flip-flop of the man known for his notoriety—he has been regularly co-sharing power with military dictators and faux-democrats of all stripes in his ‘illustrious’ career—people may have just accepted his noxious verbal volley with a smirk.

However, this Sheikh Rashid is the most stentorian tribune of IK’s ruling setup, from the day IK was catapulted to political power, three years ago. Though not from IK’s ruling PTI, the Sheikh, with his typical swagger, has been in the limelight of those defending IK on every occasion when doubt on his leadership has been cast. Sheikh Rashid’s unswerving loyalty to Imran may have endeared him to Pakistan’s current ‘man-of-destiny' to such an extent that he forgot what he used to say about the likes of the Sheikh when on the hustings. IK is on record for having said—on more than one occasion at public meetings—that Sheikh Rashid was one that wouldn’t even merit the job of a chaprasi ( a peon or page boy) in a PTI government.

IK proves the dictum that every politico in power thinks that his people’s memory is short. It may be so, but it isn’t all that short for the people of Pakistan to suffer a collective amnesia of what Sheikh Rashid said, last April, when TLP had paralyzed Islamabad and was making a mockery of the writ of the state over the arrest of their leader.

IK’s government, on prompting from the Sheikh, in his capacity, as Interior Minister, had issued a notification which said the government believed that the “TLP is engaged in terror” and was threatening the country’s security. Sheikh Rashid was the one who had said that a reference would be made to the apex court to dissolve the TLP.

But, now, the same security-alert, vigilante, Sheikh Rashid says, in what clearly is a baffling statement, that TLP isn’t a banned outfit. Not only does he make this verbal volte-face but dignifies the TLP to the level of an interlocutor, holding negotiations with its leaders, releasing 350 protesters and promising to set free more aficionados.

The Sheikh’s jugglery doesn’t stop there: he promises TLP to honor what his government had pledged to them, last year in November. When Islamabad had been besieged by its raucous brigades demanding the expulsion of France’s ambassador from Pakistan. France was the place where caricatures of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had been published.

Knowing his checkered past, one would be naïve to expect the brash Sheikh Rashid to be coy or apologetic about his latest antics. He has long been a loose cannon in Pakistan’s familiar political landscape where soldiers of fortune—be they in khaki or mufti—regularly are on the prowl looking for booty. He’s too thick-skinned to be shamed by reminding him that he’s, now, eating his own words.

But the question, why this astounding somersault, certainly begs an answer from the Kaptan of the ruling team in Islamabad. Much as he may be known for his political gymnastics, Sheikh Rashid couldn’t have lobbed this shot off his own bat without the PM throwing in the towel too on TLP.

The timing of this surprising cozying up to TLP is all the more baffling. Only days before the Sheikh pulled his annoying rabbit out of his hat, FATF—the global watchdog on financing of terrorist outfits—had unveiled its decision to keep Pakistan on its ‘Grey List’ for another six months. Pakistan has been on this unwelcome and pesky list for years on suspicion that its financial and banking checks and balances aren’t adequate to keep the terrorist organizations at a safe distance.

Of course, FATF’s decisions are a product of political engineering. India is at the epicenter of FATF’s decision-making that has kept Pakistan out in the cold.

But, then, knowing so well that its detractors and enemies—closer home and overseas—are breathing down Pakistan’s neck and keeping a hawk’s eye out on its policy on terrorism, what godly wisdom should explain IK’s government according a ‘second-coming’ to TLP?

(The author is a former ambassador and career diplomat)