In the blink of a dharna.

Byline: Arifa Noor

THE dharna began and seems to be ending just as inexplicably if maulana's garbled Sunday night speech is any indication. Despite the countless conspiracy theories attributed to multiple sources, this piece will cast a vote in favour of none. I am just not important enough or high-profile enough for anyone to share the real story with!

Read: Govt, opposition begin talks to end political crisis

As a result, this piece will, sadly, provide no explosive, exclusive, or inside information about what is happening. Or what will happen (I am missing a crystal ball too).

In other words, those distant from the movers and shakers have no choice but to write vague pieces and hope to sound intelligent.

So with the caveats out of the way, let the pontifications begin.

The 'long march' or dharna has now become a part of post-2008 politics. From the PPP government in 2009 to the PML-N in 2014 and now the PTI, each government has faced an onslaught of protesters roughly a year after coming into being.

The 'long march' or dharna has now become a part of post-2008 politics.

Each dharna, sadly, is triggered by a false sense of overconfidence on the part of the newly elected; the PPP went back on its promise to restore the judiciary and aggravated the problem by sacking the PML-N government in Punjab; the PML-N ignored the PTI's rona dhona (lamentations) over the four constituencies and the PTI's short-sightedness has been its unwarranted aggression towards the opposition. If it wasn't enough to imprison the major leadership, it added to the problem by name-calling, threatening to withdraw facilities in jail, refusing to issue production orders, etc.

Of course, it has to be said that a march is also triggered by what is happening behind the scenes - for instance, it is now widely believed that the 2014 march/dharna was used to pressure the then PML-N government and weaken its resolve to try Gen Musharraf. The dharna ended in the beginning of 2015, and a year later, the former dictator left the country. Similarly, the 2009 march also weakened the PPP government considerably and there are chances the fate of the present government will be no different. But it will take time before us mortals discover what this dharna cost this government, if it did.

But despite the behind-the-scenes machinations, one is tempted to ask if each government would have faced a less uncomfortable position if it had not been so dismissive of other political parties and...