24 hours before May 9, DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry issued a detailed charges sheet aganinst Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and its founding figure Imran Khan. However, it is interesting that while it was a 2-hour long briefing, he did not directly name the party in question nor its founder. He resorted to using the phrase ‘ek makhsoos jamaat’ (a particular party) instead. What harm would there have been in using the party’s name and of its leader who is currently in jail. PTI is nothing without Imran Khan like Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) without Bhuttos and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) without Sharifs. Therefore, it is foolhardy to have opted for such a strategy while giving the briefing as it is known to all who he is referring to.
In the military establishment’s past experiences, they have banned the Awami League, National Awami Party (NAP) but their names remained relevant in the mainstream media just like the PTI today. However, it seems that the establishment hasn’t learnt from its past experiences. Today, not only the private and the public media but even social media has become a resounding source of information with people, the masses staying in touch with what is happening even in the back channels. Most importantly social media has become a reality the government and the establishment cannot escape. Without naming PTI or its founding figure, DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif claimed that the makhsoos jamaat’ and its leader were involved in the May 9 riots but without evidence. Without any evidence thousands of party workers have been found missing or jailed without access to a fair trial, including several women.
It is even more interesting, that after a year he is now speaking about the formation of a judicial
commission. Who had stopped the military establishment or the caeretaker government or the current government from forming it earlier on? And why now? The timing could be seen as being ominous.
But we never know when it comes to the machinations of the military establishment. One factor could be, that they are aware that at the time of the Fall of Dhakha, the Hamood-ur-Rehman report had leaked without them officially releasing it. Here it is important to mention that the times we are living in are being compared to time of the Fall of Dhakha, such is the dystopia of our times and such is the polarisation found in the society.
Hence there is still time that the military establishment and the Sharif government forms the judicial commission swiftly and judiciously where both PTI and establishment stand on the same page.
The sitting Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Qazi Faez Isa seems like the best candidate to form the judicial commission albeit responsibly, and make sure the commission’s report is bound to a specific time period and not left unattended for ages so that the reality comes out in front of the masses and the political stakeholders. This would be a merry sign for the state, the military, the present Sharif government and most of all the people of Pakistan
