STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan
The tiger is a cool and beautiful animal. It is the largest cat found from Anatolya in Central Asia to Bali, Indonesia. Acharismatic animal, it is a part of mythology and folklores since ancient times. It is the national animal for India, Bangla Desh, Malaysia and South Korea. Tragically the cruel elite prided themselves in hunting this majestic feline. King George the Vth boasted about killing 39 tigers in 10 days during his visit to India. The Romans would watch tigers ferociously fight the gladiators in their large arenas.
Tigers are fearless, territorial, strategic and have a royal bearing. Its invincible spirit has been glorified by multipleauthors and in many movies. Books have been written about human resemblance to different animals. When Imran Khan was a rising star in cricket, his feline balling posture and his attacking game was likened by commentators to a tiger. As he moved on in life, he embarked on building cancer hospitals offering free treatment to the poor. Then he transitioned to national politics taking up the cause of the poor and deprived segments of our society. Throughout his struggles for a fair and just society, the likeness to a tiger’s traits persisted in media and people’s minds.
That image re-surfaced in my mind reading and hearing stories about IK’s tight prison cell in Attock jail. His bold and brave messages conveyed by his lawyer conjure up images of a caged tiger refusing to submit; ready to fight on. The inhuman conditions that he is being held in are despicable. It puts a spotlight on the pettiness of his captors desperately trying to break IK’s spirit. This is a depraved joint venture between the criminals of PDM and their shortsighted backers. This attempt like previous ones, driven by greed and large egos, is destined to fail. When you are driven by anger, logic takes a back seat.Thus they have miserably failed to appropriately profile IK. For past fifty years IK has struggled every day of his life. Determination and commitment is what he lives and breathes, whether on a cricket field, fundraising for Shaukat Khanum or struggling to build PTI by reaching out to Pakistanis.
This mindless Junta has no ideology or belief; their sole motivation is to capture power and fulfill their ambitions or conceal their ill-gotten wealth. After sixteen months of crazed pursuit to undo PTI, just look at the stupidity of their grande finale. The best they could come up with was to obtain an atrocious judgment from a depraved judge who broke every rule in the book. Judge Hamayun Dilawar’s actions have dishonored the entire judiciary. He announced a pre-written judgment because he had a flight to catch. Convicting a former PM on false grounds is the greatest travesty of justice. Convicts are known to flee the country to avoid arrest; this is a first to see a Judge fleeing to avoid the fallout of his stupidity. He will face the wrath of the Pakistanis anywhere in the world.
All eyes are on the Honorable Chief Justice, Islamabad. He has many achievements to his credit. While condemning the manner of arrest of IK on May 9th, hewent on to declare the arrest legal. He declared Judge Dilawar’s findings incorrect, yet reverted IK’s Tosha Khana’s case to him on three occasions. He sat on applications filed by IK’s lawyers to facilitate this dubious judgment. He seems to get his facts right but his rulings wrong. History will judge him whether he can grow a spine or serve out his term as a spineless pawn kowtowing to his unseen masters. Even a petty jailor is spurning and flouting his orders.
A previous article of mine was titled “memories don’t wipe like blackboards.” This simple statement of truth appears to be beyond the Junta’s comprehension. They are building sand castles that will get wiped out by one big wave. The Junta is planning their future based on an extremely flawed premise. First, they assumed their ban on IK in the media would lead to voters forgetting him or giving up on him. His message has spread and it dwells in the hearts and minds of Pakistanis. Both PDM and deviant role of Army leadership stands exposed. Harder you push down a coil spring, the greater the force of its bounce back. Jailed IK will only make him more popular.
Second, the ambitious plan being pushed by Junta for a prosperous Pakistan has all the traits of a still born baby. I will repeat a segment of my previous article to increase this emphasis. “They are treading on thin ice. Do those in power really take the investors as fools? Capital is always risk averse and shy. Would investors embark on risky ventures when political stability takes a nose dive as PTI is pushed out of the election mix?” Who will invest in a strife torn economy?
Truth has a habit of resurfacing. The cipher that led to the birth of PDM regime has re-surfaced through theintercept.com. A conscientious military man unhappy with the sharp decline of respect for his institution leaked the contents of this communication. Americans were misled through the machinations of Bajwa- Haqqani combine. They gave a green signal needed by a scheming Chief. The rest is recent history. IK stands redeemed once again. Cipher is a reality. Shame on the corrupt media pundits who derided him.
