” The military was quick to distance itself from the sit-ins after Javed Hashmi's claims. I personally think the top men in the military, including General Raheel, were not quite in the loop of what some of his former colleagues might have been cooking in this regard,” says Nadeem Farooq Paracha, in an interview with Viewpoint, while commenting on dharnas (sit-ins) staged by the PTI and PAT in Islamabad since mid-August.
A columnist for the daily Dawn, Nadeem Farooq Paracha is a noted cultural critic and political commentator. Read on:
How will the PTI-PAT twin dharnas (sit-in) going to end? And when will it all come to an end?
It's already ended. Or in other words, the main thrust of the sit-in ended when Javed Hashmi spilt the beans regarding the alleged backing and support Imran Khan and Tahir –ul-Qadr (TUQ) were getting from certain retired military men and maybe even from some serving officers. So that was that. What is happening now is the aftermath of the collapse of the so-called script that was given to the two men. But what is more interesting now is how, especially Imran Khan, it seems has decided to carry on. He's exhibited resiliance and is now geared to go it alone. The situation has changed and so will its consequences. I'm not sure what these consequences would be like.
While we have heard time and again that Nawaz government has suffered in many ways but has not PTI/Imran Khan also lost appeal/popularity during the dharna-epsode?
It has lost some appeal, but as I said, since now it seems that Imran Khan is all on his own but still willing to hang on, this aspect has actually regenerated some of the credibility that he lost during the first few weeks of the sit-in. It's not over yet. The fat lady has still not arrived.
How has Pakistan Army gained/tarnished its image during the course of dharna episode?
The military was quick to distance itself from the sit-ins after Javed Hashmi's claims. I personally think the top men in the military, including General Raheel, were not quite in the loop of what some of his former colleagues might have been cooking in this regard.
While masses have stayed away from the PTI-PAT dharnas, but there was a counter demonstration by the renamed Sipah-e-Sahaba (i.e ASWJ). Since ASWJ is considered in bed with PMLN, one could suspect PMLN ploy behind ASWJ manifestation. Or is it the case that ‘militablishemnt’ is replacing Deobandis with Brelvis?
Interesting observation. But I think it's just too early to comment on such a supposition. One isn't quite sure who is in bed with who anymore.
Presence of women at these dharnas has also generated some debate in the social media. While reactionary sections have criticized PTI’s women cadre for being ‘lewd’, others have encouraged it as a liberating experience for women. But PAT is a religious organisation that supports all reactionary laws in the country and has a conservative outlook. Even if PAT women are not ‘daily-wage activists’ as some media reports suggest, is mobilization of women by the forces of status-co a ‘liberating’ experience?
To me, it is. You see, the social aspects of the sit-ins have been quite the opposite of their political dynamics. The politics of the sit-ins have largely been anti-democratic, demagogic and regressive, whereas the social dynamics of the same sit-ins have been rather progressive and liberating, if not entirely revolutionary as such. They have been spontaneous and don't seem to be engineered.
Dharnas have not merely received no support from Sindh and Baluchistan, both Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri have ignored the Baloch question. Also, the way VBMP (Voice for Baloch Missing Persons) march was harassed while PTI-PAT marches were accommodated, if not facilitated, raise many questions. Your comments
If you remember, the anti-Musharraf Lawyers Movement too didn't get any support in Sindh and Balochistan. These sit-ins, like the movement against Musharraf, too have a lot to do with the jostling for political space between the right, centre-right and far right forces in the Punjab. The rightest side of the ideological divide in the Punjab is now packed and overflowing. Mainstream as well as clandestine forces of the right - both moderate and radical - are now pushing and shoving one another to keep themselves afloat. Sindh still doesn't have that problem. Here clandestine far-right elements might be setting up shop, but the political space here is still dominated by forces who are either in the centre or on the left, or on whatever that is left of the left. These include the PPP, the MQM and the many Sindhi nationalist parties.
Have these dharnas re-defined civil-military relations?
Too early to make a call on this one. Because if they have redefined the relations, one hopes it's for the best.
’Dharnas ended already. What is happening now is the aftermath of script’s collapse’
Source: Viewpoint
