Overkill from all sides

EDITORIAL: The latest wave of controversy, triggered by the arrest of PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) leader Fawad Chaudhary, is completely unnecessary and would never have got so ugly if both sides had exercised restraint expected of mature political parties and leaders.

The Chaudhary should not have crossed the line and issued veiled threats to the families of ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) members in the first place.

And the government should not have overreacted by charging him with sedition and ordering his arrest; especially by barging in to his house so early in the morning and whisking him away without due process. Now the headlines are filled with accusations and counter-accusations, with each side trying to get the upper hand by hook or by crook.

That PTI was disenchanted with the ECP was hardly breaking news. Their chief, Imran Khan, himself has led a very vocal charge against the Commission, openly accusing CEC (Chief Election Commissioner) Sikandar Sultan Raja of taking a very partisan, anti-PTI position; though neither he nor anybody else in the party has ever bothered to present any proof to back this conviction.

In that sense Fawad Chaudhary only echoed what his party has been hollering about all along. He did, however, go overboard when he let his own personal front-foot, even insulting, style of politics mix with the party position and drag the families of ECP members into his tirade before the press.

In cricketing terms that Imran Khan loves to apply to politics, this was a loose ball and Fawad should have known that the federal government would take full advantage of it. But did they really have to roll out heavy artillery to counter one provocative comment? The government’s response was in equally bad taste, and only those who ordered it can explain why sedition charges were also slapped on to the PTI spokesman.

The move has not gone down well with the public either, with even PTI’s, and Fawad’s, most bitter opponents and critics condemning it. And instead of being chastised for his silly remarks, Fawad has come out as quite the hero so far. Yet this drama is far from over.

Police has booked Farrukh Habib, another PTI spokesman and former state minister for information, and the word on the street is that it is preparing to round up a number of other senior party leaders as well. You can bet that PTI will take to the streets and denounce these moves as fascist tactics and this controversy, which should never have been triggered in this way, will steadily get much worse.

There are some lessons to be learned from this episode. First, of course, is that two wrongs do not make a right. And the kettle does not get very far by calling the pot black in return. But, more importantly, it goes to show how quickly things can spiral out of control when bitter political foes go for overkill in their approaches to counter each other.

Surely, nobody needs to be reminded, especially politicians at each other’s throats in the fight for power, that Pakistani politics has never been as polarised, or even as bitterly contested, as it is today. Instead of playing their part in making the overall atmosphere more tolerable for everybody, they are doing exactly the opposite. And, with time, this divide and the fierceness it has brought to politics has trickled down to society as well, with nobody willing to tolerate the slightest disagreement any longer.

There is an urgent need to take note of these trends and do whatever is necessary to reverse them. But if the political elite will not take the lead in such matters, then who will? Especially when they are guilty of the overkill that is responsible for them in the first place?

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023