Ever since the episode of the vote of no-confidence in the parliament in April 2022, the people of Pakistan have revisited the core democratic terms, such as upholding the constitution and reservations towards custodial torture.
The recent events revolving around the arrest of Imran Khan’s chief of staff, Mr. Shahbaz Gill have opened a gateway to the discussions of freedom of speech and other fundamental rights in the country. On one side of the pole are those rejoicing the arrest claiming that the PTI members are tasting the taste of their own medicine, and on the other side of the pole are those who are voicing their concerns over the violations of human rights. In the middle of the pole are those fighting with the deflating economy, energy shortfalls, unemployment, and devastating floods.
However, considering the political landscape in the country, the democratic graph has never been satisfactory. Especially in the terms of human rights. It has been a repeated history in the country that the ruling party is always the one following the paths of its predecessor while the opposition on leaving the throne becomes a revolutionary party. The current events manifest the same.
The PTI followers are calling out the names of the liberals and human rights activists in the country to condemn the ongoing events. Well, human rights violations, if there are any, deserve to be condemned. But the perpetrators of human rights violations only care when the same violations are committed against them. But even in that case, these violations deserve utter condemnation. It doesn’t matter if the victims themselves have put sanctions on news channels, harass journalists, and passed draconian laws in the past.
The norm of uplifting human rights must be preserved in this country. No institution should be above the law, and none of them is sacred to public criticism. This is a sheer dilemma to see that just in order to meet the political ends, the narrative of freedom of speech is plummeting. Political leaders are playing one another’s clips on record to recall to the public the so-called anti-state narratives of their rivals. They are making comparisons of their respective speeches.
The Muslim League (N), back in 2018 and onwards seemed to have educated the folks on the illegitimate role of the establishment in the political sphere of Pakistan. As a result, they bore bans and arrests that were criticized by the public at large. But, the current scenario presents a totally opposite image. Nowadays actually no one is criticizing the political involvement of the establishment but rather everyone is trying that the establishment only favors them.
The problem with Imran Khan’s anti-establishment narrative is that he only rants about his ouster and doesn’t bother to speak against the establishment’s involvement in the political sphere (that must be done away with), and rather gives a signal that there must not be any neutrality and only he must be supported by the big boss. Once Khan is restored to his previous position, status quo ante, rare is the chance that he will follow the path of the true democratic spirit.
The ruling government coalition has a major role in maximizing the public support in the favor of Imran Khan by first bringing the unneeded vote of no confidence against Khan’s government and then by launching operations of bans, arrests, and F.I.Rs against the PTI members and their supporting journalists. It seems that the whole system is working in favor of Khan where his voters have multiplied many folds who do not care to ask Khan about his performance during his tenure but have become intolerant of any other political leader to lead the country other than Khan.
The bottom line is, that the real issues that seriously engulf this country are no one’s concern. The people barely bother to come out against unemployment and poverty but do flood the streets when their leader and his philosophy are in danger.
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