Pakistan - Revolution packs up

He came, he saw but in the end Tahirul Qadri did not conquer anything. For 70 days he held Islamabad hostage affecting life adversely. For 70 days he vowed not to leave his container until he was killed by the imaginary PML-N brownshirts he thought surrounded him or till he brought his revolution. It was apparent at the time that Qadri was concerned only with feeding his considerable ego. He was never able to articulate what kind of revolution he wanted and why a revolution was even needed. Now that the media oxygen which sustained Qadri is being denied to him, he has wisely decided to pack his bag. He now promises to hold rallies around the country but many here think he is just trying to make his exit more palatable to his supporters. Going by what he himself says he now wants to be a part of the system he decried as rotten. He says the PAT will participate in the elections even if electoral reforms are not introduced. It took over two months for Qadri to realise that this is exactly what the ‘revolutionary’ in him was ever capable of doing. Some will wonder if he can pass on the same advice to his friend and ally Imran Khan. We need to move beyond dharna politics to become a functioning democracy.

The government should resist the temptation to breathe a sigh of relief now that one thorn has been removed from its side. The large matter of the Model Town killings still looms. The deaths of the PAT activists should not be forgotten. The PML-N may regret the incident only because it allowed Qadri to credibly don the mantle of moralism, but the rest of us should avoid crass political thinking. We still need to find out who ordered the policemen to shoot and there may be need for senior officials in the Punjab government to resign. The end of Qadri’s dharna should not mean the end of the investigation into the case. On a similar note, Qadri now needs to answer for the violence he unleashed on Islamabad. The storming of Constitution Avenue is a shameful chapter in our history as is the sacking of the PTV headquarters. Qadri has no credible defence against the accusation that he purposely incited violence. He may have achieved at least part of what he – and any ‘scriptwriters’ directing him – set out to do. The Nawaz government has been weakened and the future of the political setup is apparently a little more uncertain than before. Imran Khan has once again reiterated he has no intention of leaving his container until the prime minister resigns, although lately there seems to be some stepping back from this demand. Right now, the PTI and its relatively small band of supporters stay on alone in Islamabad and the winter is coming. The full force of the early days of the sit-ins has faded away. What impression is left behind we wait to see.