Well, the wheels of justice are turning ‑ or for the Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf (PTI) they’re churning ‑ and the immediate tension and upheaval (nothing new for the PTI) are all the more palpable given the damning sentence of 10 years in jail, passed on former Punjab province’s PTI governor Umar Cheema, Dr. Yasmeen Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry and Mian Mahmood-ur-Rasheed.
Not surprisingly though, the PTI’s erstwhile vice chairman and former Pakistan People’s Party stalwart ShahMehmoodQureshi was set free and absolved of the charges of incitement to violence etc that was perpetrated by the PTI on 9th May, 2023. Now, this was bound to happen. You’ll ask why.
Well, Mr. Qureshi (Shah Jee) was a relatively late entrant to Imran Khan’s PTI, in fact this came about when the faltering of this hodge podge of political aspirants called PTI (has never acted like nor gone through the motions of inculcating characteristics of a political party) decided to include ‘electables’ after deriding such people and saying the PTI would have nothing to do with such tried and tested ‘elements’ who’d already led Pakistan astray.
However, gloating with pride on his penchant for purloining the credibility of his promises and his position, Imran Khan (or rather the person running the PTI – and we all know that general’s name) decided to do the ‘electables’ trick and add them to PTI pish pash, so in came Shah Jee as the first of these, installed in no less of a position as second in command to PTI Chairman Imran Khan as vice chairman.
Now even though Shah Jee had made some boo boos vis a viz US Secretaries of State Condoleeza Rice and Hillary Clinton, he had the requisite political clout, acumen and stature to take over from Khan if and when need be, sort of like waiting in the wings, according to the plan. Apt with the PTI, when things really started going south and the faeces was about to hit the fan, no one quite worked out how Mehmood from Multan would extricate himself from the mess and in fact, Shah Jee just went with the violent flow of the PTI’s ‘politics’ and got caught in the crossfire.
All his acumen and stature notwithstanding, he landed up in jail with a seemingly very bleak future when the ‘Pindi Boys’ decided that they’d had enough of Shah Jee’s boss and their loose cannon Imran Khan, who’d very recklessly and blusteringly broken loose of his ‘GHQ moorings’. Most of us haven’t really pondered over the deafening silence on Shah Jee’s incarceration, although he was treated relatively well and was cared for far more sympathetically than was/is Imran Khan. Again, why? Well the Pindi Boys decided they could use him because better post-jail sense was expected of him rather than his boss.
It seems he always was waiting in the wings! Indeed, his demeanor and manner spoke volumes for ‘where he was coming from’ when things were hunky dory for the PTI before they overstayed their ‘welcome.’
Now he’s out; and like a sulphur crested cockatoo who’s playfully pottered about in a pond, he’s flapped his wings and set the new and hapless PTI coterie on tenterhooks, who now will be in a quandary as to welcome Shah Jee back ‘As You Were’ or will he rock the PTI boat or not? Will there be an effort to salvage the PTI and save it from going under by relenting and putting Shah Jee at the PTI helm? Will magnanimity prevail in the political caldron called PTI? How will Imran Khan’s sisters, particularly Aleema, acquiesce to the new and emerging reality? Last but least, will Shah Jee sit and wait to see if he’s welcomed back to his former position? Will Shah Jee’s reappearance give the PTI a fighting chance at redemption? Will he play second fiddle to Gohar or will Imran Khan shuffle the cards again?
Though all seems quiet on the PTI front so far, the knowing will be biting their nails!
