Imran Khan bowls a political yorker, with some help from the umpire

Election results coming from Pakistan suggest a victory for Imran Khan and his PTI party. At the time of going to press, PTI was clearly in the lead over rivals PML(N) and PPP, setting the stage for Khan to once again wear the captain’s hat for Pakistan – this time as its prime minister. Khan campaigned on an anti-corruption plank and called for ushering in ‘naya’ or new Pakistan. And like the shrewd fast bowler he was during his cricketing days, Khan made full use of the conditions to bowl out his opponents.

But allegations have been rife that Khan has been bowling on a doctored pitch and had the help of the third umpire – Pakistan’s army-ISI complex. Concerns have been raised by many quarters – both inside and outside Pakistan – that the elections were rigged. According to an Islamabad high court judge the ISI had asked the chief justice of the court to keep Nawaz Sharif – who crossed political red lines in Pakistan by questioning the links between army-ISI and jihadists – in prison till the election.

Add to this a record number of police and military forces being deployed for the polls, with army officers being granted the power of magistrates. The evidence suggests that the Pakistan army, which has carried out several coups in the country’s history, opted this time for a plan to extensively re-engineer Pakistan’s political landscape. Coups may be a blunt instrument as the army is left carrying the can for governance failures. It is a tribute to the Pakistani voter’s instinct for moderation, though, that terror groups sought to be mainstreamed by the establishment haven’t done well at the hustings.

If the army continues to enjoy power without accountability, that means little will change in Pakistan. That said, if the army gets the government it wants there’s a possibility that formal talks with India could be restarted. After all, Rawalpindi GHQ is the real author of Pakistan’s India policy, but crossed wires and distrust between the civilian government and the military – under the PML(N) government as well as PPP government before it – impeded progress in India-Pakistan ties. But how well captain Khan – perhaps Pakistan’s last charismatic politician left after the incarceration of Nawaz Sharif – will get along with the generals remains to be seen. If he asserts himself, he may find some nasty bouncers headed his way.

Courtesy: Times of India: July, 2018