Qadri – The Problem Child

The funniest part of the year in TV talk shows is when Tahir ul Qadri pops up out of nowhere and starts telling how this system is corrupt and why it needs to be changed. Well, that’s not funny at all but it becomes funny when a counter question is asked. That question can be anything. Yes. Anything; Ranging from his dual nationality to the funding of his movement, from his support to Musharraf to the start of his career when he was an Imam Masjid in Ittefaq Mosque, Model Town and from his dreams to his political flip-flop. I have been an ardent follower of Qadri sahib to be honest but that was only related to his knowledge of religion. I confess that I have learnt a lot from him but at the same time I always doubted his credentials as a politician.

He has been in the world of politics since the late eighties but was only able to win one seat and that too was in 2002 when he contested the election under the umbrella of Pervez Musharraf’s revolution. How he won those elections is a separate question but his politics since day one has remained confusing for most of us. Allama once developed problems even with Allama Shah Ahmad Noorani, the veteran Islamic scholar and one of the most respected politicians of Pakistan, when the Dr. Tahir ul Qadri asked him to exploit the love of Prophet (s.a.w.) for the sake of political gains. The words stated above were stated in the following video by Liaquat Baloch, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Lahore. There were several other points also raised by the participants during the same program, which remain to be answered even today. The point mentioned by Qari Zawwar Bahadur on the same show is pretty valid even today.

Jirga With Saleem Safi - 12th January 2013... by PakDramas2012

The above points are related to his character only though. Nobody on the political scene of Pakistan is an angel and these allegations can be overlooked but even if we try to understand his reform slogan objectively, there doesn't seem to be a clue about what he actually wants. On one side he claims that the system is corrupt and therefore he wants to change it but at the same time he is clueless about how he wants to implement the new system; the one that he proposes. On 11^th of May, 2014, he claimed that he wants to make Pakistan a welfare state and announced various welfare projects that need billions of dollars to be implemented. For example his claim that under his proposed system, every person who earns less that Rs. 15,000 a month will be entitled to some monetary benefits from the government, the details of which can be seen on their website, is incomprehensible on grounds that he does not know where the money would come from.

Making simplistic arguments such as tax net will be widened and tax collection will be increased is mere sloganeering. We have all seen how PTI raised its voice about tax collection but when came to power, was only able to reconcile with the system and allow something that no other party has ever officially allowed in Pakistan. Their MPA in Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa, where PTI rules, has legalized “Kunda” system in just Rs. 700 for each household. There was never such a precedent ever set before by any political party and thus can be called a CHANGE. So we can understand from this example that over simplifying things never works in practical world. There are political realities and other factors that must never be forgotten while making such tall claims. Your targets must be achievable and backed by some wisely drawn courses.

The way Tahir ul Qadri and his followers are calling every politician as corrupt and a product of rigging and corruption is not the proper way of even defining the problem, let alone solving it. There are people of integrity and credibility sitting in this parliament and they include some from the top brass of their party. We all know Javed Hashmi, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Khawaja Asif and the likes who have never even been accused of corruption by their opponents. There are religious scholars sitting in this parliament and calling all of them the products of a corrupt system is extremely unfair to their struggle. Even Dr. Tahir ul Qadri does not fit the description of an ideal Pakistani citizen as stated in the Article 62 and 63 of the constitution.

He was declared a liar and cheater by the Lahore High Court and even if he was not a dual national, the judgment of the court is enough to disqualify him from elections. But let us discuss a few of the points that he is raising. He is not at all wrong when he says that the system is corrupt. He is right about the stranglehold of feudal lords and capitalists on the parliament and he is very much to the point when he points out the irregularities and corrupt practices with regard to the civil rights of the citizens mentioned in the Constitution of Pakistan. But that is nothing unheard of. We all know about these problems yet the missing link, the solution, remains missing in Tahir ul Qadir’s agenda too. And even if he has a solution and a clearly carved out policy, he doesn’t know how to implement it.

Besides, it is also true that this very system has produced some great politicians. This system also allows the space and ways for improvement in it and such improvements have been made too. Isn’t it a fact that people like Siddiqul Farooq, Mushahidullah Khan, Dr. Saeed Elahi, Raza Rabbani, Taaj Haider and several others have made it to the highest houses in this country remaining in this system? Isn’t it a fact that the Election Commission, the judiciary and the media have gained strength step-by-step while all remained within the system?

Dr. Qadri is also against the election process because according to his point of view, it benefits the rich only but when asked about an alternative, he chooses to leave the question unanswered. At one such instance (when he was asked the same question by Saleem Safi during an interview) his answer was, ”Time will decide about it”. He has contested elections in the past though.

But he is a brilliant orator. He can spell bound millions with his speech and has such command over his words and gestures that leaves many of the finest of speakers amazed. And that is the big problem. With his exceptional oratory skills and a massive following among middle class religious population of Pakistan, he can draw thousands of people on roads and can literally paralyze the state apparatus.

“The Hidden Hands” love such jugglers. People who have no idea how they want to achieve their ends but can exploit the miserable conditions of the common citizens through their propaganda are exactly the kind of tools that they can use for toeing their agenda.

Just take a look at the direction in which things have moved during the past few weeks. After Nawaz Sharif met Imran Khan at his home in Bani Gala, there was a clear sign that both parties were coming closer and when Imran Khan appreciated Chaudhry Nisar’s and Prime Minister’s efforts in the Peace Talks with Taliban, it was evident that Khan was ready to reconcile but we must remember that the spoilers are never at rest.

All of a sudden, their rose a forward block in Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa Assembly among the ranks of PTI with a vague set of demands. Although Imran Khan said that he would prefer his government to be toppled instead of kneeling to the demands of the defected group, the later events showed that he did not really mean it. The “genie of rigging” was brought to life again. Imran was back to his old ways i.e. crying about rigging and is holding public rallies now. Tahir ul Qadri has also re-emerged on the scene and held sit-ins in three major cities of the country on 11^th of May.

The timing of these events is critical. Exactly when there was some tussle between the government and the “hidden hands” on Musharraf issue, the events started to shape in a strange manner. The sudden re-emergence of Dr. Tahir ul Qadri, the re-birth of the rigging genie and the new tirade of suicide attacks in Peshawar all point in the same direction. There is something that the “hidden hands” are not happy with. They want to pressurize the government while Tahir ul Qadri and the PTI are just tools. According to the latest reports, the problems in the KPK assembly have been sorted out and Imran Khan has agreed to the demands after consultation.

I am sure that if the government allows Pervez Musharraf to leave the country today, all things will start to fall in place from tomorrow. But it is not that simple. If they kneel down today, there will be more demands tomorrow. The only respectable way is to let the law take its course. It will be good for the civilian government, it will be good for the armed forces as an institution and it will be good for the future of Pakistan that we set an example.

The most important man amidst all this fuss is of course the man in charge of the things; Mian Nawaz Sharif. And he must devise some strategy to come out of this mess while remaining the man in charge of the things too. Choices for him are tough but this is where his thirty years of experience in politics must come into play. He has seen it all. Governments made and toppled, prisons, exiles, establishment, civil-military relations and of course the politics. The game is tough and so is the player. Who comes out as the winner is yet to be seen. Let’s hope that democracy wins and people remain the masters of their fate in this country.