Introspect, don’t slam!
WHEN the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir was decked to welcome the maiden G-20 summit in Srinagar, the neighbouring Pakistan remained muddled in two problems. One, the Pakistan Army started a massive manhunt to nab arsonists who torched the General Headquarter of Army on May 9 when former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested by the security forces. Second, the G-20 meeting in Kashmir did not go down well in the political and army circles of Pakistan. The government of Pakistan tried its best to rope in its allies to scuttle the sheen of G-20 summit in Srinagar. It started online propaganda and its foreign office contacted a number of allies by requesting them not to visit Srinagar. Eventually, it failed to garner support and the success of G-20 in Srinagar is a huge diplomatic win for our country.
- A deepening crisis
After the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan is finding itself in an even more deepening crisis. The army has started a manhunt to arrest the leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party headed by Imran Khan. The coalition government headed by Shahbaz Sharif has made it clear that his government will come down heavily on the miscreants who torched and threatened institutions during the protests this month. His target is solely the PTI party whose top leaders are detained and have threatened to quit their allegiance with Imran Khan.
Albeit, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has granted bail to Imran Khan and cleared him from any role in the protests. But the government and the present chief of Army, Asim Munir is hell-bent upon pushing the country into a deeper crisis by starting massive defections in the PTI to isolate Imran Khan.
During his national address, Imran Khan accused the Shahbaz Sharif government of pitting the army against his party – the PTI. He said, “Sharif’s family is least concerned whether the country’s constitution is desecrated, state institutions are destroyed or even the Pakistan army earns a bad name. They are looking for their vested interests of saving the looted wealth alone”.
Interestingly, Imran Khan accused his predecessor Nawaz Sharif of corruption – who was later sentenced by the Supreme Court, paving the way for Imran to climb to the prime ministerial chair.
Imran has warned the countrymen of the 1971 like crisis when East Pakistan got independence from West Pakistan due to brutalities by the Pakistan Army with the Bengalis. Imran’s statement reiterated India’s stand that Pakistan had a tyrannical past in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) which forced India to help Bangladesh to attain their independence and wrest the country out of the clutches of Pakistan.
- On the G-20 summit in J&K
Former Pakistan Ambassador to India Abdul Basit was hopeful that half of the G-20 countries would skip the Srinagar summit. From television studios to his Youtube channel, he was articulating on how the government in Pakistan had tried hard to talk to ‘like-minded’ countries in order to bring a bad name to the G-20 summit in Jammu and Kashmir.
The ‘boycott diplomacy’ of Pakistan failed and the G-20 meeting witnessed unparalleled success in the heart of Srinagar. Peddling lies, Basit tweeted: “Glad to know that Saudi Arabia, along with China and Turkey, has not registered for the G-20 meeting in Kashmir”.
Pertinently, Saudi Arabia had sent its delegate for the summit while China and Turkey, the old allies of Pakistan, are the only two countries to have skipped the meet.
- Economic crisis
The political crisis in Pakistan started after the worst-ever economic crunch. High inflation, zero Forex reserves and inefficient leadership have made the life of the common man miserable in the country. According to South Asia Index report, “Pakistan’s economy has shrunk from last year’s 6.1% growth to 0.30% growth in the ongoing fiscal year. Last year, there was 6.1% growth rate – at the end of last government, which was highest in 4 years”.
The mega free-fall in the economy has pushed the country into a deeper crisis. According to Dawn, “Already, this government has ceded so much space to unelected forces that it will be extremely difficult for anyone to wrest back control. The country is in the depths of economic, social and political despair, and more misery awaits”.
- The royal army?
As the crisis gets more dangerous, Pakistan’s dispensation has garnered the support of the army to safeguard power. Today, the army is up against Imran Khan while the same army was blamed, a year ago, of projecting Imran as the premier and overthrowing the Nawaz Sharif government in 2018. The politics in Pakistan is changing every moment today. The country is on the brink of collapse. Investment has stopped, global institutions aren’t ready to provide loans to Pakistan, citizens of the country have started to migrate and the 24-hour circus of the army, government and Imran Khan is changing dimensions all the time.
Imran Khan’s party – the PTI – is on the verge of collapse but his lone popularity has gained a huge leap. Most trusted colleagues of Imran have announced retirement from active politics. This will turn the country into a more dictatorial one as was in the times of Zia-Ul-Haq and Parvez Musharraf. Time has proved again that the army calls the shots in Pakistan. The civil government in the country is subordinate to the army. It lacks the statesmanship approach and credibility to shun the army. Imran attacked the army, the army, in return, is imploding his party by top-notch defections on a daily basis.
India is right in calling the Pakistan government a puppet of the army and maintaining that it bears no fruit to talk to the Pakistan government when the army is at the helm and dictates terms to the Prime Minister.
Before raking up Kashmir at global forums, Pakistan needs to set its house in order and work to rebuild the nation for a stronger region. Else, the present situation depicts a grim future when it comes to the survival of the country.
