What happened in Pakistan was on expected lines. Imran was forced to give up power but he played a big game while quitting power. The deputy speaker of the House rejected the no-confidence motion against the Imran government following which Imran Khan recommended the dissolution of the House and the President accepted it. The opposition was thinking that as the numbers are with them, Imran will resign and Shahbaz will become the prime minister. But Imran’s bet looks inclined in his favour. He has openly lashed out at America and tried to sway public opinion in his favour.
Imran’s departure from power not only broke his dreams but also shattered the hopes and aspirations of his countrymen who had reposed faith in him.
In Imran Khan’s own words, the game of cricket has given him so much fame and wealth that he would have been living a life of luxury in London if he wanted, but he had always nursed the dream of a better Pakistan. His wish was to shape Pakistan according to the dreams of the youth of the country. Even when he was not in politics, he was building schools, colleges and hospitals. And all these services were being given to the people for free. He says that he entered politics with the dream of bringing Pakistan out of the clutches of greedy politicians who had robbed the country.
It is a fact that he got a landslide victory and started on a happy note too. The Pakistani army also kept supporting him, but finally, he had to leave. Therefore, the million-dollar question is, why has the situation changed so drastically? To understand this, the whole existence of Pakistan has to be understood. We all know that Pakistan has been living at the mercy of America. What happens in Pakistan is what America wants. America decides everything including who will occupy the chair of the army chief or who will be the chief of ISI. General Pervez Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif might have been hanged like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had America not spared their lives. I have already written in my column that the US intelligence agency CIA keeps an eye on every corner of Pakistan. This was also felt by the people when Osama bin Laden was killed by the US SEAL team. The Pakistani establishment staged a drama that they did not know anything about it. In fact, the CIA knows the credentials of every leader and every officer from the army to the ISI and that is why nobody speaks out. America has been pouring millions and billions of dollars into Pakistan’s begging bowl so that Pakistan could dance to its tune. There was a time when the rulers of Pakistan gave the entire air space to America for use. Pakistan also supported America a lot in the war in Afghanistan, but when America stepped out of Afghanistan and wanted to access the land and sky of Pakistan for conducting drone attacks, Imran Khan refused. This upset the global grandfather, which keeps international politics in its grip. It felt that this language of defiance is not that of Pakistan but that of Russia and China! You may recall that an upset US President Joe Biden did not even call Imran Khan even once.
It is important to mention here that Imran Khan was not alone in throwing his fist in defiance against America. It so happened that Russia and China took the Pakistani army and ISI into their hands with great intelligence. The Pakistani army pushed Imran Khan forward and showed a new attitude of defiance to America. America naturally did not like the idea of Pakistan going with Russia or China. China and Russia are together at the moment and America is already worried about it.
The US was also shocked by Imran’s visit to Russia just before the start of the Ukraine war and felt that it was not in America’s interest at all for this man to remain in power. Simultaneously, the CIA united Pakistan’s smaller opposition parties, including the Pakistan People’s Party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), for an alliance. It is the result of CIA activity that even the close allies of Imran Khan also quit. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), a coalition partner of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, has also joined hands with the opposition. Imran Khan lagged far behind the magic figure of 172 in the 342-member National Assembly. Imran’s defeat therefore, was inevitable. The opposition was thinking that he would resign but Imran had the Parliament dissolved.
As far as the army is concerned, it knows that the time is gone when a general like Ayub Khan, Zia-ul- Haq or Pervez Musharraf could rule over Pakistan. Now the army can rule in the realm of democracy only by having its stooge in the top chair. The military was on an even wavelength with Imran but America created such a situation that the army also kept quiet. It is also not averse to opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif because Sharif will walk in tune with the army and he also has good relations with America.
The current economic condition of Pakistan is also a major factor in creating an atmosphere against Imran. Leave aside petrol and food grain, the prices of potatoes, onions and tomatoes are touching the sky. Would you believe that the price of tomatoes in Pakistan is Rs 300 per kg? And the prices of many things have become five times costlier than in India. Pakistani people had dreamed that industries would flourish under Imran’s rule and people would get jobs, but if there is no electricity in a place like Lahore for as many as 10 hours a day, how will industries flourish? People had dreamt that terrorism would end, peace would return and the country would move forward on the path of progress, but Tehrik-i-Taliban and other terrorist outfits are continuously flourishing. The Tehrik-i-Taliban has even threatened a major attack. It is obvious that with the exit of Imran Khan from power, the big dream of the common Pakistanis has also been shattered. These developments have thrown cold water on the aspirations of the common Pakistanis. I am reminded of a song:
Dil ka khilona hai toot gaya
Koi lutera aa ke loot gaya!
Even as I am writing this column, the matter of dissolution of Parliament has reached the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The situation will become clear only after the decision of the Supreme Court. Imran supporters are claiming that the restoration of Parliament does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court because all the activities have been carried out inside the Parliament. The opposition believes that if Parliament is restored, it will have a chance at government formation. Let’s wait and watch!
The author is the chairman, Editorial Board of Lokmat Media and former member of Rajya Sabha.
How could America, the self-styled superpower of the world, tolerate that under the leadership of Imran Khan, Pakistan started ignoring America and speaking the language of Russia and China! America created such a situation that Imran was forced to give up power. But by dissolving Parliament, Imran has tried to hit a sixer on the last ball. He has proved that he is a big player in politics too.
