A cloud of inevitability

“To Bedlam with him!/ Is the man grown mad?” —Shakespeare. The pace at which conditions are deteriorating in the country is pregnant with an unmistakable streak of inevitability, yet no one seems to be stirred, much less take notice of a comprehensive and all-encompassing fall impacting all sectors of national life, most importantly the political discourse and economy. With no agreement with the IMF in sight and little hope pinned on bilateral support, warnings of the impending doom are clearly audible.

Simultaneously, society is rent asunder along religious, social, cultural, and political lines with little appetite for sitting across the table to debate the causes and try finding a healing course. Instead, more fuel is being incessantly poured into the cauldron to further ignite the flames of enmity and hatred.

The promise and hope of our creation make for a distant anguished echo from the youth of the country drowning in far-off seas in their battle looking for opportunities to survive and carve a better future for their progeny. A day of mourning and a spate of arrests is all that we remain capable of showcasing in our bid to make the suffering people forget a gruesome tragedy which has devastated their lives. Compassion is missing from our discourse and empathy does not figure in our conversations. Even the facilities meant exclusively to provide relief to the poor bearing the mark of the previous government are being systematically demolished.

A monolith is being raised on the carcasses of the mass of people who have remained at the receiving end of the arrogance of the ruling elite. Their thinking and policies are reflective of their egotistical lust for more power and pelf. The poor do not figure in their calculations as they constitute a cumbersome commodity which is remembered only at the time of elections where they are cruelly exploited in exchange for a pack of lucrative promises which are never meant to be realised. Otherwise, they are treated as worms to be evaded and avoided.

It is patently clear that policies being made neither reflect the national interests, nor those of the impoverished communities which have been toiling through ages for relief. They are primarily designed to perpetuate the hold of the traditional corrupt ruling elite which, having successfully escaped the prospect of being held to account for their corruption and misrule, has resurfaced with full might in the current times. They are now trying to move the clock backwards through enactment of laws to ensure that, never again, do they appear in the dock to answer piercing questions about their conduct in power.

Under the circumstances, the critical question that arises is that, in the presence of the constitution and other statutes regarding the dos and don’ts of governance, whether such self-serving changes can be incorporated in the books of law to ensure that the corrupt ruling elite, despite having erred grievously, would remain safe from the arm of the law, and continue perpetuating their hold on the pillars of power?

Because of lawlessness having spread its tentacles through all echelons of the parliamentary, executive, and judicial organs of the state as well as through the entire societal fabric, the immensity of this challenge is difficult to fathom, even more difficult to remedy.

But it is also true that if this is left unattended, it will further infect the state apparatus and render it weak and vulnerable. Apparently, there is no one who is paying attention to this aspect as they remain engrossed in securing their continued advancement in the annals of power and enrichment of their coffers.

The absolute infatuation with efforts to eliminate their political opposition is another element of this tenuous structure that the ruling elite is trying to erect. The impunity with which flimsy, frivolous and fraudulent cases are being registered throughout the country against their nemesis, Imran Khan, is reflective of their desperation which has cultivated further divisions and acrimony.

The chequered history of the country has proven many times over that political parties and leaders cannot be eliminated through use of draconian measures by the state as is the wont of the incumbent dispensation. In fact, it only enhances their legitimacy and relevance. It has also been proven that denial of rights can lead to imponderable crises as was evidenced in the creation of Bangladesh. Infliction of such jaundiced decisions has always come back to haunt the perpetrators to the detriment of the state and its interests. The fact that the myopic exercise continues unabated only speaks of the desperation which has crept into the ranks of a corrupt and insecure ruling elite.

With the prospect of default looming, does further accentuation of the political fault lines provide a remedy to the myriad grave challenges that the country faces? Has the element of sanity been completely banished from the thinking caps the ruling elite may still be wearing? Do they seriously believe that Imran Khan can be eliminated from the political menu of the country and that his ouster will do any good? One would be aghast if these be the constituents of the ruling elite’s strategy to counter a formidable political adversary. This has never been done before and this shall not be done now. As time has proven, it has made Khan even more relevant and powerful within the political equation in the country. At this juncture, he is dictating the narrative for the state and its people to espouse.

So, why does the ruling elite continue to suffer from this persistent mental block to engage in a political dialogue when that provides the only practical remedy to move forward? Why does it remain shy and, instead, focus exclusively on engineering the political elimination of Khan through exercising the brutal state apparatus and all its attenuating implements, not even sparing women leaders and workers?

The palpable umbrella of fear that they have generated cannot solve the problems that the state is grievously inflicted with. These will be resolved only by terminating the exercise of state brutality against PTI workers together with initiating a meaningful dialogue among the political forces to create consensus about the objectives, strategy, and the operational mechanism. A continued indulgence in efforts to neutralize Khan will not only boomerang but also plunge the country deeper into chaos and mayhem.

Notwithstanding a cloud of inevitability hanging over, the immensity of challenges calls for sanity to return to the fold. It is time to take stock of the issues in their entirety and find a remedial course to tread. Continued fratricide engineered to advance a criminally congenital agenda will compound problems beyond remedy.

The writer is the information secretary of the PTI, and a

fellow at King’s College London. He tweets @RaoofHasan