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Islamabad Diary

Calm Before the Storm

The winds of seclusion, degeneration, and parochialism are getting stronger in KP and Balochistan. They need a jadoo ki jhappi and not to be shunted out.

By Ishtiaq Ali Mehkri | November 2026

Pakistan’s Capital has a unique allure of power captivation. Those who have ruled it by hook or crook since the 1960s were firm believers in centralisation. They had little or no regard for peripheries, and, to be precise, nursed contempt for voices of egalitarianism. The secession of the Eastern wing is a case in point. That is why federal politics here is all about acceding to the Law of Necessity, and prostrating the rising sun.

This metaphor of cold pragmatism lives on to this day. While the picturesque city designed by Greek architect Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis has to a great extent been successful in balancing modern urban infrastructure with nature, it has failed to do political justice to centripetal and centrifugal forces. This psyche is breeding discontent and is now turning out to be an existential threat. This is post-Independence Neo-Colonialism, per se.

The tale of meddling with the Federating units dates back to 1947. A week after attaining freedom from the British Raj, the wise and the prudent who founded a nation-state for the Muslims of the Indian Subcontinent axed the majority government of Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan in the Frontier Province. That venom continues in our body-politick.

Father of Democracy, Z. A. Bhutto had no qualms about getting rid of elected dispensations of Balochistan and NWFP in 1973 and 1975, respectively. Then his scion, Benazir Bhutto, slapped Governor Raj in KPK in 1994; President Zardari followed suit in Punjab in 2009, and again in 2013 in Balochistan. Nawaz Sharif took a dig at Sindh in 1998. The ‘elected’ behaved as aristocrats by throwing the constitution to the wind and by undermining provincial autonomy. Their hubris could not reconcile with political pluralism, as they were intolerant of dissent.

Fast Forward: a two-thirds elected government of Sohail Afridi is now under the clasps of Emergency and Governor Rule. He and his cabinet members are the new addition to ‘missing persons’. Islamabad thinks it has rightfully asserted itself, but an overwhelming majority of the electorate begs to differ. It’s the calm before the storm. The point of discord with the Center was once again provincial autonomy, and a Chief Minister asking for his due is condemned.


The exit of PTI from its last fiefdom will surely push it into a deeper sense of exclusion. The party literally has exhausted all avenues for seeking justice and its due political space. It stands snubbed and marginalized. Nothing to cheer for those who are at the helm of affairs in Islamabad. The winds of seclusion, degeneration, and parochialism are getting stronger in KP and Balochistan. They need a jadoo ki jhappi (hearty embrace), and not to be shunted out.

G.M. Syed, Wali Khan, Attaullah Mengal, Mujibur Rehman, Akbar Bugti, Altaf Hussain and Imran Khan were no traitors

At a time when saner elements are espousing more federating units and decentralisation, the decision to alienate popular politics is myopic in essence. We have tried this prescription of hate time and again. G.M. Syed, Wali Khan, Attaullah Mengal, Mujibur Rehman, Akbar Bugti, Altaf Hussain and Imran Khan were no traitors. They all had a mandate that was ridiculed by the Babus and their henchmen. Political engineering and disarray among organs of the state have dented public confidence. The trust in the republic is at an all-time low.

Pakistan today is mired in a societal crisis. The country is failing on the matrices of hunger, terrorism, and poverty. A debut study by Hamdard University says one in three adults is living with a diagnosable mental and behavioural disorder. Even the happiness index is extremely low, rather negative. All owing to an uneven distribution of resources and denial of justice. Global developmental forums are wary of our future. Having experienced brain drain, now even the laborious class wants to call it a day. With more than 70% of our populace under the age of 30, the bomb is ticking.

POSTSCRIPT: Yet, we are obsessed with the illusion of geopolitical strides. It has been a distraction. The borders of three out of four neighbours are shut. Even the Chinese have their own yardstick for vetting green passports. The magnanimous Emiratis and Saudis are now skeptical. Our desire to fight others’ wars has taken us down.

Geo-economics was never our cup of tea. RCD, ECO, Atari-Wagah, CPEC, and Afghan transit were a mirage. Now the carrot on display is minerals. With no technological base and a soaring provincial discord, not much is there to read between the lines. Voltaire, the French philosopher, had quipped: …it’s dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.

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