The adventures of Gandapur

We have so many players strutting on the large stage of Pakistan’s politics. And the play is becoming curiouser and curiouser. But the spotlight this week has particularly been on one character: Ali Amin Gandapur. What is exciting about it is that we do not really understand the role that he is playing. Is he a hero, a villain or some kind of comic relief?

I may be excused for this specific focus on this person in a week that endorses that adage of a week being a long time in politics. One measure of it is the fact that while Gandapur was leading the PTI’s protest last week, he was not even a participant in the emergency meeting of the party’s political committee that decided on Friday to protest at D-Chowk in Islamabad on October 15.

Meanwhile, of course, a great transformation has taken place in the role that the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is playing. On Friday, newspapers published a front-page picture of the PTI’s firebrand hero sitting between Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. Who would have imagined it to be possible?

The occasion was the jirga hosted on Thursday by Gandapur in his capacity as the head of the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It related to the holding of the Pashtun Qaumi Jirga by the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM). The plot had thickened because the government had banned the PTM. Here is an issue that relates to a complex situation in a sensitive region. But I would want to continue with the Gandapur story.

It has to be kept in mind that Gandapur almost personifies – or personified – the aggressive stance of Imran Khan. There is a history of how his transgressions were applauded by the leader. After all, he was chosen for the only position of power the PTI had won in the disputed elections of February 2024. It may have helped (or may have been decisive) that his name begins with the Urdu alphabet ‘Aain’ – like Imran.

Anyhow, Ali Amin Gandapur was the warrior who led the assault against the enemy, so to say. His tirade at PTI rallies would steal the show, lifting the spirits of the PTI rank and file. It did not seem to matter much that the threats he made were not meant to be carried out.

Still, when the PTI activists were mobilised to march on Islamabad and reach D-Chowk on Saturday last weekend – a replay of the protest a month ago – it was Gandapur who led the charge, with his formidable forces. There was some talk about one province attacking another. With the blockades and barriers set by the police in Punjab and mainly in Islamabad, the encounter had the making of a violent clash.

How did Gandapur fare in this conflict? He did reach Islamabad but then disappeared from the scene. He was missing for about 28 hours. Imagine the chief minister of a province becoming incommunicado for such a long time. PTI leaders readily blamed the authorities for his disappearance, alleging that he was abducted.

The mystery was partly solved when Gandapur surfaced, as if out of nowhere, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. Obviously, he was required to tell his story. Which he did, twice. And, in matters of detail, there were two different stories. Essentially, it was a heroic account of an escape across rugged terrain. Many questions remained unanswered.

This episode, worthy of a Netflix serial, has understandably left the PTI cadres in a fix. The story told by Gandapur lacked clarity and credibility. Was this a villainous lapse on the part of the hero? Gandapur’s account promptly created confusion in the minds of PTI workers and also the leadership, with Imran Khan himself not being able to intervene after Adiala Jail visits were suspended till October 18.

There is certainly a touch of adventure and thrill in the story that Gandapur has narrated about his mysterious disappearance. Very interesting comments were made on social media and talk shows. Had he acquired the power to become invisible for a short time, like that hero of an old Indian movie?

But it is also possible to consider this as a serious matter, deserving of a proper inquiry and analysis by the media and the PTI. Gandapur is the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and his performance and policies must have some bearing on the PTI’s obsessive confrontation with the rulers and its resolve to agitate for the release of its leader.

It so happens that Gandapur’s exploits and his collaboration with the federal authorities in dealing with the banned PTM have been overtaken by the potentially alarming decision of the PTI to protest at D-Chowk in Islamabad on October 15. If this decision is not revised, things could go out of hand. The timing is simply explosive.

In Islamabad, the stage is set for the holding of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on October 15 and 16. Already, a three-day public holiday has been announced in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and the Red Zone is being sealed. The SCO is an important economic and security bloc and Pakistan holding its summit is an occasion to celebrate.

Unless it is some kind of a bargaining chip, PTI’s decision to descend on Islamabad when leaders from India, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are there as state guests cannot be appreciated. This is bound to be a hectic time and a number of developments are likely between the writing of this column and its publication.

Finally, there is Gandapur and there is the question of what role he would play in the planned protest. He has led large caravans, using the authority that he wields, to remain the pride of the protest. As I have noted, he was not in the emergency meeting of the political committee that announced its plans on Friday evening.

What is a PTI protest without Gandapur at its helm, breathing fire – and then mysteriously disappearing for many crucial hours?

The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com