By
Sushant Sareen
04-08-2020
Two years
after Imran Khan got ‘selected’ as Prime Minister of Pakistan, his biggest
contribution to Pakistan's political development has been the unveiling of the
Oxonian version of Pakistani Islamofascism.
Recently a
photoshopped image of Imran Khan has been doing the rounds on social media.
This picture shows him dressed up as a Pakistani general and sporting a Hitler
moustache, and pretty much sums up the sort of regime he represents – a
military-controlled fascistic government. In the last two years, Imran Khan has
more or less functioned as a civilian version of the former military dictator
Zia-ul-Haq.
Hurting
Democracy
Not
surprisingly, in the two years, he has been in office, Imran has caused more
damage to Pakistan's fledgling democracy than any of his predecessors.
Displaying
fascist traits, he has crushed political dissent, victimised political
opponents, muzzled the media, bludgeoned religious minorities, inserted the military
in virtually every aspect of national life, unleashed a thought police which
will decide what can be published and read in the country, neutered an already
pliable and compromised judiciary, and of course, moved to Islamise an already
Islamised country through the obnoxious Tahaffiz-e-Buniyad-e-Islam law passed
by the Punjab provincial assembly.
main_imran-khan_reut_080420104011.jpeg
Imran Khan has caused more damage to Pakistan's fledgeling democracy
than any of his predecessors. (Photo: Reuters)
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The signs
of Imran Khan’s fascist worldview were all over the place even before he was
manoeuvred into the Prime Minister’s office by the military. That he was an
intolerant and undemocratic person became clear during his dharna against the
Nawaz Sharif government. The street language he used against his political
opponents and the vile and vulgar behaviour he has displayed, and which he has
always encouraged and promoted among his cronies (including members of
government) revealed his mindset.
Media as
Target
In
opposition, his storm-troopers had physically assaulted and verbally attacked
journalists and media houses which didn’t buy the snake oil he was selling or
had the temerity to criticise his political stunts.
But after
he became Prime Minister, the media has been muzzled like it was during martial
law. In the last two years, journalists have been forced out of their jobs;
newspaper owners have been jailed for refusing to sack inconvenient
journalists; TV programmes are yanked off the air during transmission;
newspaper and TV channels distribution is prevented and nobody, not even the
“independent” judiciary, can do anything about it; media houses have been
financially strangled if they don’t sing paeans for Imran Khan and the
military; TV panels and newsrooms are stacked with appointees of the ‘deep
state’; media persons have been forced to self-censor; journalists and
activists have been abducted, beaten, threatened, forced into exile,
disappeared, even killed. In the words of a Pakistani journalist, “we are being
controlled by [intelligence] agencies, we get calls from ISPR [the armed forces
spokesman] about what we can say and what we can’t”.
Under the
garb of fighting corruption, political opponents have been arrested and thrown
into jail without a shred of evidence against them. A top opposition leader has
been booked under patently fake charges like drug smuggling, a former Prime
Minister had been kept in prison for months on alleged transgressions which
even the investigators were not sure about. A former planning minister was
thrown behind bars without even a reference being filed. Any politician with
the spunk to speak against the government has a case registered against him. In
a recent judgment granting bail to two opposition leaders, the Supreme Court of
Pakistan observed that the accountability “laws were successfully employed as
tools to change political loyalties, for splintering and fracturing political
parties. Pygmies were selected, nurtured, promoted, and brought to prominence
and power. People with notorious backgrounds and criminal credentials were
thrust to rule us in various capacities with predictable results. Similarly,
those, who caused death, destruction and mayhem in our society were trained,
financed, protected, promoted and eulogised, thus, turning them into
Frankensteins.” The judges who rule in this case were, however, an exception.
Normally under the current dispensation, judges kowtow to the demands of the
‘deep state’. Those who have an independent mind and don’t kowtow are
humiliated, intimidated and sought to throw off the bench.
Not content
with emasculating the judiciary, enchaining the media, and reducing the
legislature into a nonentity, now the executive branch of the government is
also sought to be made subservient to the military and its foreign masters –
China. A new draft law to transform the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
authority into a virtual parallel government which will subordinate existing
government departments and ministries is now sought to be rammed through the
Parliament. If this happens, it will mean that instead of CPEC serving
Pakistan, it will be Pakistan which will be serving CPEC.
A
Miserable Failure
In the last
two years, Imran Khan has proved to be a miserable failure who has in many ways
turned the clock back for Pakistan. Frankly, India should send a Thank You card
to his ‘selectors’ – Pakistan Army – for foisting him on Pakistan. India really
couldn’t have asked for anything more.
Sushant
Sareen is Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation
Original
Headline: How Imran Khan unveiled the Oxonian version of Pakistani
'Islamofascism'
Source: The Daily O
URL; https://newageislam.com/current-affairs/none-imran-predecessors-damaged-pakistan/d/122536