Beating the Wall

There is in sharp contrast to the realities of then and now. The playing field has changed. Contrary to the 70s, now the civilian government and the armed forces are on the same page. Players have also changed. Spotless Mufti Mehmood has been replaced by the Diesel-contaminated Fazlur Rahman, visionary Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani has been replaced by a novice Maulana Anas Noorani, a mediocre Sirajul Haq is in place of the renowned scholar Syed Abul Ala Moudoodi and the stalwart politician Khan Abdul Wali Khan is represented by a weak Asfandyar Wali Khan. It goes without saying that by any standards, they are no match to their predecessors. Moreover, the ground realities have also changed. With the rise in the literacy percentage in Pakistan, there are many reasons for a very lukewarm response or no response to the call of APC from the general public. The main reason of course is the worry that the whole exercise may prove ineffective. With Maulana Fazlur Rahman in command, such worries are quite understandable.

To sell his leadership , the Maulana decided to give a demo and, in November last year, gave a call for an Azaadi March with the support of other opposition parties. As expected, there was a lukewarm response from Bilawal and Shahbaz and the Maulana was left with no option but to call off the March after a 13-day long Dharna in the federal capital. The Maulana did claim that he had called off the anti-government sit-in after he was assured that Prime Minister Imran Khan would resign followed by fresh elections.

The Maulana had egg on his face when, while calling off the dharna from atop his container on November 14, he said, “Azaadi March would now spread to every nook and corner of the country as part of ‘Plan–B’ that envisages blockade of major arteries and highways – and even bylanes and streets. We’ve decided that we would not stage sit-ins in cities as this would affect the lives of fellow citizens [which we don’t want]. We’ve decided that we would stage sit-ins on main roads and highways outside the main cities.”
But due to a lack of initiative from the PPP and PML(N), he had to call off his Plan ‘B’.

The PNA movement to oust Bhutto was strong, impactful and effective. The present movement is so loosely knitted that the APC parties have never been able to develop a common understanding of the issue and, as such, have failed to make their presence felt as a combined opposition united on a single agenda - to oust Imran Khan. Only a week after an announcement by its leaders to start a joint anti-government movement after Eid, PPP and PML (N), contrary to the stand of the APC, helped PTI in getting the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-related bills passed in parliament. The JUI-F protested and announced it would no longer cooperate with these parties in parliament in future.

Despite this confusion, the PPP leader Syeda Nafeesa Shah in a statement said recently that the APC will definitely yield positive results and the people will get good news soon because all parties will play their role. Talking to media, she said that the role of the PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto was important in mobilizing the anti-government movement for the APC and added that the APC will devise a strategy for the movement and the decision whether to bring an in-house change or move towards mid-term elections will be made. Electoral reforms would also be part of the APC.

Both the PPP and PLM(N) know it very well that the APC is a zero-probability event. They also know that for them there is nothing much to do and it’s a good pastime at the expense of Maulana Fazlur Rahman. The better option for them, however, is not to spend time beating a wall and hoping that it will become a door. False optimism sooner or later means disillusionment, anger and helplessness.