Bullying tactics

A Supreme Court (SC) judge was heckled by a few PTI activists in London on Saturday when he was leaving the campus of the London School of Economics (LSE) after addressing the Future of Pakistan conference organized by Pakistani students. Reports suggest that around a dozen PTI activists had arrived at the LSE after an appeal was made in a WhatsApp group for the activists to attend the event and ask questions from the judge. Some of those who heckled the judge were the same PTI activists who had earlier chased Judge Humayun Dilawar at the University of Hull. The PTI’s UK chapter has issued a condemnation, distancing itself by saying that those involved did not represent the party. This bullying culture by the PTI is nothing new. We have seen how PML-N women were heckled in London and PDM government representatives in Madina; how Imran Khan lashed out at those who left the PTI during the vote of no-confidence and said that their children would be bullied in schools; and how PTI has been at it even with those who have stood by them despite being their victims. Journalists and media houses who were at the receiving end of the PTI’s attacks have condemned what’s happening to the party at every point. Women’s rights activists, digital rights activists and human rights organizations have all condemned the crackdown, and yet they are being bullied at every point by the PTI.

As with all populist parties, the PTI believes that it is ‘either with us or against us’. This tradition started more than a decade earlier, first on social media, and then on mainstream media. When the party came to power in 2018, they targeted their political opponents as well as journalists and media organizations that were critical of the government’s policies and governance. From social media trolling to real-time attacks on people and their opponents, this party has mastered the art of bullying. From gagging the media to going after their political opponents and putting them in jail, from social media trolling to harassing journalists and activists, the PTI has alienated everyone.

The party should realize that this will not go in their favour. Even those who are taking a stand for them will eventually think twice about whether they should take a principled position or remain quiet. Other political parties tend to avoid such tactics and extend respect to people they disagree with. Hopefully, the PTI will learn something. The onus lies on our political leadership. If they keep using violent language and keep encouraging their supporters to do whatever they want to their opponents, it will lead to results that will be extremely dangerous for our society and the future of politics. With so much hatred around us in this country anyway, political differences becoming a reason to attack someone means we may have truly lost the plot.